Evening star. [volume], April 09, 1937, Page A-10, Image 10

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Moraine Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
FRIDAY___April 9, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES_Editor
The Evening Star Newspaper Company.
Uth St and Pennsylvania A$e.
New York Office: 110 East 42nd St.
Chicago Office: 436 North Michigan Ava.
Rate by Carrier—City and Suburban.
Regular Edition.
The Evening and Sunday Star
65c per month or 15c per week
The Evening Star
45c per month or 10c per week
The Sunday Star_ _5c per copy
Night Final Edition.
Night F nal and Sunday Star__ ,70c per month
Night Final Star___55c per month
Collection made at the end of each month or
each week. Orders may be sent by mail or tele
phone National 6000
Rat* by Mail—Payable in Advance.
Maryland and Virginia.
Daily and Sunday_l yr.. $10.00; 1 mo . 85c 1
Daily only _1 yr.. $rt.OO; 1 mo., 50c
Sunday only_ 1 yr.. $4.00; 1 mo., 40c
AH Other States and Canada.
Daily and Sunday. 1 yr., $111.00; 1 mo. $1 00
Daily only_ _ 1 yr.. $8.00; 1 mo, 75c
Sunday only _ 1 yr$5.00; 1 mo.. 50c
Member of the Associated Press.
The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to
the use for ^epublication of all news dispatches
credited to it or not otherwise credited in this
p*pcr and also the local news published herein.
All riRh s of publication of special dlspatchea
herein are also reserved.
Fresh Spanish Tension.
Although after five months of the siege
of Madrid military conditions have
never been so favorable for the Loyal
ists, the international aspect of the
Spanish civil war has suddenly taken on
new tension. It is the consequence of
Italian charges that the French general
staff has flagrantly intervened in the
strife by sending a general and twenty
five officers actively to direct operations
of the government armies, including an
imminent large-scale offensive. Recent
rebel defeats northeast of Madrid and
on other fronts are attributed in Rome
to the fact that Loyalist operations have
passed under the supreme control of the
Paris war office, plus the alleged circum
stance that extensive French and Rus
sian military equipment, especially pow
erful aircraft and field artillery, has
latterly been placed at the disposal of the
Madrid-Valencia authorities. Categori
cal claims of high-powered French inter
vention are put forth in newspapers
known to speak Mussolini's mind. They
are coupled with a sweeping indictment
that both France and Russia are now
openly violating the non-intervention
agreement.
Paris is persuaded that this officially
inspired Italian outburst springs from
two causes—first, from remorse over the
crushing repulse of blackshirt forces at
Guadalajara, and, secondly, from a desire
for a plausible pretext to dispatch Fascist
reinforcements to bolster Franco's tot
tering fortunes. Whatever the motive,
Italy's accusations and alarms amply in
dicate that the Spanish fire is by no
means divested of the danger of flaming
Into a European conflagration. Musso
lini is chafing bitterly under the blow
to Italian military prestige. He is
strongly suspected of hankering for an
opportunity to avenge it by sending the
Insurgents enough additional troops to
turn the tide in their favor. Reported
Impending arrival of Gen. Goering, the
German air minister, on a second visit
to Rome is associated there with Italo
German plans to wipe out the stain on
the Fascist escutcheon. Any substantial
move in that direction would almost cer
tainly provoke Anglo-Franco-Russlan
hostility, and perhaps even counter
measures.
At the moment these developments
within Spain are aggravating the inter
national situation, the insurgents find
themselves in conflict with Great Britain
over an air attack on British warships
near the Island of Mallorca. The Medi
terranean fleet has been instructed to
awing into instant action in the event of
further molestation, and destroyers have
been detached to protect British ship
ping. Ever since Mussolini’s spectacular
expedition to Libya and proclamation
of his "protectorship" over Islam, British
suspicions of Italy's underlying interest
in Spain—to augment Fascist power in
the Mediterranean—have been height
ened. Altogether, the tragedy that
turned the peninsula into a shambles
has once again assumed a phase threat
ening the peace of all Europe.
A1 Smith’s devotion to orderly govern
ment is well known. The people like to
hear him talk, but his views are being
so ably expressed far and wide that he
may have taken a trip to Europe under
the impression that radio just at present
does not need him.
No Need of Park Cross-Cuts.
Before any serious consideration is
given to the project of establishing a
series of through traffic routes across
Rock Creek Park—whether by dikes or
bridges—an exhaustive study should be
made of the traffic conditions which it
has been suggested are such as to re
quire this trespass upon the public res
ervation, one of the most attractive and
valuable features of the Capital. Such
a study would unquestionably disclose
that there is no urgent need for such
straightaway short-cuts at the expense of
a large percentage of park area if dikes
were created. As has been already
stated, by far the greatest volume of
traffic at present is north and south or
parallel to the general lines of the park.
The park roads are undoubtedly used
to a great extent for convenience because
the roads there permit an uninterrupted
flow of traffic. Those who now use the
roads do so largely because of the com
fort and ease of park driving in a set
ting of beauty that is not equaled any
where in the world in the vicinity of a
large city.
To carry this traffic across the park
transversely by either dikes or bridges
would doubtless facilitate the movement
of vehicles, but those using such routes
would deny themselves the pleasure that
is now derived from passage through
scenes of sylvan beauty.
As for the proposed dikes or embank
ments for carrying the roads, which it
is alleged are necessary foj the accom
modation of transverse traffic, it is to be
borne in mind that these embankments
would require Immense fills of earth of
great area at the base in order to assure
stability. These fills would encroach
upon the park space in terms of scores
of acres, utterly destroying a large part
of the forest growth the preservation
of which was one of the specific purposes
of the establishment of this reservation.
Even bridges, however artistically de
signed, would intrude upon the scene de
structively and in complete inharmony
with the general setting.
The cost of any form of transverse
roadmaking would be enormous, by fill
or by bridge construction. No estimate
has thus far been attempted of this ex
pense. The District, which would have
to bear the greater part of such a cost,
has not sought and will not seek such a
perversion of the park space for a du
bious advantage. The best course would
be to cut the item out of the District
bill. If the subject is considered as of
sufficient importance to warrant an in
quiry into the need, let there be an
authorisation for a study which will em
brace not only the engineering features
of the plan but the actual conditions
which are now—it is to be believed er
roneously-advanced as warrant for this
innovation, which is close to vandalism.
Mr. Ford and the Unions.
When Henry Ford makes the flat
declaration that "we'll never recognize
the United Automobile Workers’ Union
I
or any other unions" he is not defying
merely John L. Lewis and the C. I. O.,
but all organized labor as well, and, in
a sense, the laws of his country. Sit
downs aside, the right of workers to or
ganize and to gain recognition for pur
poses of collective bargaining is plainly
established and generally supported, not
only by the statutes and the courts, hut
by public opinion.
Mr. Ford may rely for the present, on
a belief that his own workers would
prefer to remain free of union affiliations
and that even under the Wagner act the
union cannot command in his plants
that majority which the law recognizes
as the agency for collective bargaining.
But it is inconceivable that the tide of
unionization now’ sweeping the country,
aided not only by the spirit of the times
but by the force of Government policies
in Washington, will leave Mr. Ford's
plants high and dry, like islands in a
flood. It may take a year, or two years
or ten years before the unions can claim
the strength of a majority in the Ford
plants. But ten years is not a long time
in the life of what the present labor
movement portends. As a categorical
refusal to recognize any union, Mr.
Ford's statement is Injudicious, as time
will doubtless show.
There are at least two considerations,
however, which enter into study of Mr.
Ford's policy. He is, first, in a much
stronger position than his competitors
in the automobile business to withstand
the siege of a sit-down, if he has to
contend with that illegal seizure of his
property. There is a story that has been
going the rounds recently of a mythical
notice from Mr. Ford to his employes:
"I can sit down for two years; how long
can you sit down?’’ There may be sub
stance to the thought if not to the story.
Mr. Ford is not responsible to thousands
of stockholders. His empire is scattered
over the world. He is not tied up with
his old friends, "the bankers.” He can
probably sit down himself about as long
as any industrialist in the world can sit
down. The union organizers know’ this
and no move for a sit-down in the Ford
plants will be undertaken without some
assurance of success. The sporadic
strikes Which temporarily closed down
some of his plants were doubtless due to
impetuous action by subordinates, and
were not in accordance with union
strategy.
The other consideration is that public
sentiment, despite the Senate's straddle
on the issue, is plainly set against the
sit-down strike and the longer one con
tinues, the more untenable becomes the
position of those who condone it, wheth
er it be the union chieftains or the ad
ministration guardians at Washington.
That has been indicated in the case of
the General Motors and the Chrysler
strikes. The sit-downs came to an end
in time to prevent the show-down that
the union heads, as well as the watch
ful politicians in Washington, were
anxious to avoid.
The time may come when Mr. Ford
will be challenging not only the poten
tial sit-downers in his plants, however,
but the Government at Washington. And
the ability of the Government to move
specifically against him would depend,
in turn, upon the forthcoming court
decision in the Wagner cases. If they
are upheld, Mr. Ford spoke too soon.
If invalid, he will, for the time being,
retain the upper hand.
There is the possibility, of course, that
Mr Ford and his company might choose,
if faced with that alternative against
the surrender of his principles, to shut
up shop permanently and to go out of
business. That possibility is fantastic,
indeed. Mr. Ford is a man of strong
convictions. But if it ever came to that,
he would doubtless live in history as
King Pyrrhus II.
Some of the comments on the U. S.
Supreme Court seem inclined to contem
plate it as a new and startling discovery,
without feeling sure whether to go after
it with a microscope or a telescope.
Peculiar Amish.
The Amish are peculiar. In many
curious ways, their neighbors in Penn
sylvania agree, they are “different.”
For instance, their clothing habitually
is shapeless and colorless. They make
a fetish of monotony in appearance.
Personality is a factor which they dis
count in favor of a least-common-de
nominator type of social conformity.
They exist according to regimen and
rule—with every detail of conduct and
manners provided by a philosophy of
drastic simplicity.
But they seem to be happy. Visitors
to Lancaster County And them con
tented with their lot. They labor tlre
>
lessly—and the result is prosperous
farms; they are rigidly conservative—
and the harvest of their traditional
independence is a degree of social har
mony and progress rare in any country
in any period of history. Years pass
without the placidity of their valleys
being even temporarily disturbed.
Not long ago, however, a New Deal
serpent invaded their Eden. The Federal
Government offered them sixty thou
sand dollars for the construction of a
so-called "consolidation” school. Most
communities would have been delighted
with the proposal. But the Amish are
peculiar. It happens that they object
to borrowing. Debt is a thing they
abhor. Also, they are possessed of a
passionate prejudice against being ob
ligated to strangers. They have been
self-sufficient for generations, and even
in a season of general distress they wish
to continue so to be. To take money
on any terms from President Roosevelt
would violate their religious convictions.
What they can earn, they want; but
nothing else than the proper reward
for their hire will they consent to re
ceive. At the moment, a delegation of
elders is appealing to the courts for
protection against the grant they have
rejected in conference assembled. The
spectacle leaves their fellow citizens
gasping. But little can be done about
it. The Amish are peculiar.
A sit-down strike attracts Interest be
cause of a novelty in terminology. It is
related to the old stand-up strike as the
ancient horse and buggy is related to the
modern automobile. The same appli
cation of power to overcome the ltw of
gravitation is involved. The chief ques
tion is one of technique with incidental
embarrassments through the Intrusion
of the human element.
Base ball players go to the highest
bidder, but they enjoy life without fear
of any Simon Legree to chase them
across the Ohio River on floating cakes
of ice. Their fate is never so harsh as
to diminish their personal enthusiasm
when the President of the United States
follows the time-honored custom of toss
ing out the ball at the opening game.
A plain thinking and yet an eloquent
man of unostentatiously studious habit,
Thomas Jefferson's own opinion of the
idea of destroying the cherry blooms in
order to make room for a marble classic
memorial in his honor would be worth
while if there were any means of de
ducing it from his writings.
The Dionne quints have reflected
honor on Doctor Defoe. His ideas for
rearing children to a safe and happy
maturity are interesting and his pro
teges should esteem it a debt of grati
tude to demonstrate the correctness of
his precepts for development into mature
life.
Attack on the Supreme Court did not
measure the fact that each of its mem
bers is a popular figure on his own ac
count, recognized before appointment for
legal knowledge and for devotion to the
cause of humanity.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
Neglected Slogan.
Where is that motto that was shown
In the old days, so swiftly flown,
That sought the best and feared the
worst—
That admonition, “Safety First!"
Men risk their hearts in frail romance,
On fortunes vast they take a chance.
We see our hopes like bubbles burst
And give no thought to “Safety First."
In vanity the braggarts shout
While common sense is ushered out.
Strange foibles soon may be dispersed,
As we recall plain “Safety First.”
No Filibuster Inspiration.
“Do you feel inspired to make a
speech?”
"Not just now,” answered Senator Sor
ghum. "There is no legislation offered
which I feel the slightest interest in
delaying.”
Jud Tunkins says when you get past
the First of April you wish in vain
that this one day could render the rest
of the year foolproof.
The Merciless Mike.
My Radio! My Radio!
To you I am a debtor,
As you enable me to know
My . neighbor somewhat better.
You let me hear by his own voice
Of all his kindly measures
To help this weary world rejoice
In simple well-earned pleasures.
Although my neighbor you exalt,
You make sad revelations
Of grammar now and then at fault
And mispronunciations.
“Only those should seek to look down
on the world,” said Hi Ho, the sage of
Chinatown, “who are willing to climb
to the mountain top where it is cold
and lonely.”
Silenced Authority.
“Do you enjoy listening to the radio?”
“Yes.” answered Mr. Meekton, “espe
cially if Henrietta is by my side. It is a
pleasure to find a number of persons
expressing opinions with which I agree
without her being able to talk back.”
Pride of Authorship.
How strange is the misguided man
Who to bring proof will undertake
That his mistakes are better than
The kind the other fellows make.
“Don't tell me about de songs I learnt
at my mother’s knee,” said Uncle Eben.
“Wheii I was acrost her knee I was
hollerin’ so loud I couldn’t have heard
her even if she was keepin’ time to
music.”
k 1
THE POLITICAL
MILL
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
The House of Representatives yester
day voted to table the Dies resolution
for an investigation of the sit-down
strike—a companion piece to the Senate
action a few days ago when that body
defeated the Byrnes amendment to the
Guffey coal bill denouncing the sit
down strike. The unwillingness of the
administration to go on record in con
nection with the sit-down strike is held
by many persons to be the reason for the
defeat of the Dies proposal in the House
and the Byrnes amendment in the Sen
ate. After the exhibition of adminis
tration strength in the Senate, which de
feated the Byrnes amendment, it was
clear that the Dies resolution, calling for
an inquiry into sit-down strikes, might
not only have hard sledding in the House,
but might well be defeated. It was de
feated, although a direct vote on the
resolution was avoided by the device of
a motion to lay it on the table.
* * * *
The Dies resolution had been reported
favorably by the House Rules Committee,
although administration leaders had
sought to prevent such action. With
the backing of the powerful Rules Com
mittee, a resolution usually does not have
much trouble getting through the House.
The House leaders expedited considera
tion of the resolution, which had a privi
leged standing, as having been reported
favorably by the Rules Committee. The
rank and file of the House, however, not
only understood that the administration,
represented by the President, had kept
a hands-off policy in the sit-down strike
issue, but also believed that the House
leaders were lukewarm to the Dies reso
lution. It did not take much, under
these circumstances, to prevent favorable
action on the resolution.
The charge was made that the anti
sit-down strike resolution was being fos
tered by Republicans and by anti-New
Deal Democrats. These seemed to put
a cap on the whole controversy, and the
resolution was doomed. The opponents
of the resolution also issued a warning
that if the Representatives voted for it
they had better watch their step—that
they would suffer when next election
rolls round. It was too much. The ‘'lib
erals" in the House on general principles
opposed the resolution, which called for
an investigation of labor leaders’ activi
ties, although Mr. Dies, the author, in
sisted that it was to ascertain whether
the employers also had had a hand in
fomenting these disorders.
* * * *
Representative Harlan of Ohio, Dem
ocrat, was effective in the debate, de
claring that the Republicans—particu
larly those who wished to succeed Dem
ocratic members of the House—would
benefit by the passage of the Dies reso
lution and the ensuing Investigation of
labor in Northern cities. In fact, he
made it clear, to some of his colleagues
at least, that the Republicans would ben
efit a great deal from Democratic dis
sensions. A row over the sit-down
strike, with the President and a minority
of the Democrats on one side and the
Republicans and a majority of the Dem
ocrats on the other, on this or any other
question would be a hard blow for the
Democratic party. And so the party issue
was forced into the sit-down strike row.
But underlying it all is the fact that
the administration has insisted upon
keeping a hands-off policy. It is per
fectly apparent that had the administra
tion taken an open stand against the
sit-down the Dies resolution would have
gone sailing through the House.
* * * *
Mr. Harlan said to the House, com
menting on the Dies resolution: "It is
very poor politics. I am going to talk
now to the Democratic side of the
House.” And he continued in this vein:
"There are certain members on our
side of the House whose political success
does not depend upon whether or not
there is a national Democratic party.
Most of us, though, who constitute this
great majority, come from sections of
the country where conditions are such
we do not want questions of this kind
needlessly stirred up for political capital,
and that is all there is to this. Why is
it that the other side of the House is
almost unanimously for this resolution?
It seems to me when you cannot find
the leadership of our party back of a
resolution, and you find the opposition
solidly in favor of it, you ought to want
to look into the common sense of it.
You ought not to have to look very close
ly into that rat role for poison.”
♦ * * *
After the Dies resolution had been
tabled. Representative Warren of North
Carolina, who had made the motion to
table, sought to bring up for considera
tion the concurrent resolution, which the
Senate has just passed, which calls sit
down strikes illegal, but seeks to placate
the sit-downers with a declaration against
the use of spy systems by employers and
another declaration denouncing those
employers who do not fall in line with
the Wagner labor relations act. Withrow
and O'Connell of Montana objected to
the unanimous consent asked by Warren
and nothing was done about the matter.
It is expected, however, that the Senate
resolution, which has apparently not
aroused the opposition of the adminis
tration—and which had the support of
the administration leaders in the Senate
—will eventually be adopted by the
House.
± * * *
The manner in which the sit-down
strike resolutions and amendments have
been defeated in House and Senate may
not be directly connected with the fight
over the President’s bill to increase the
membership of the Supreme Court, but
at least there is a strong implication that
the President can have his way in both
Houses. After the Senate had turned
down the Byrnes amendment denouncing
the sit-down strike as illegal by a vote
of 48 to 36, it seemed to many persons
pretty clear that the President will be
hard to beat on the court issue, although
the alignment of Senators will not be
just the same. Senator Borah of Idaho,
for example, stepped out against the
Byrnes amendment, but is a strong
opponent of the plan to increase the
membership of the Supreme Court. But,
taking it by and large, the manner in
which the administration was able to
line-up Senators against the Byrnes
attack on the sit-downers seems indica
tive of what may be expected when the
court bill comes up finally.
* * * *
The sit-down strike, a violation of the
rights erf the owners of property—and
of other persons who wish to work—does
not stop there, it is apparent from what
happened the other' day at Hershey,
Pa. Another group, the farmers and
workers who did not care to give up their
jobs in the Hershey plant, also violated
the law, beating up and ejecting the sit
downers. Both groups were culpable.
But if the sit-down strike is to be con
doned by the officials of government, it
may easily happea that others, ill-affected
by such strikes, will take the law into their
own hands, just as the sit-downers have
done. Incidentally, the sit-down strike
may stir up feeling against labor on the
part of farmers elsewhere, if persisted
in where the farmers are counting on
selling their products. A sit-down strike
of large proportions in peeking plants,
r
THIS AND THAT
MY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
A dry, dusty Spring
A most unusual season it had been
before the rain, but still the leaves were
uncurling on the shrubs and the flshln’
worms coming up to light and air.
Normal rains bring ’em up, but this
year tne dryness seems to have had the
same effect.
Three living creatures are fond of the
worms—the robins, the fishes and the
human interested in fishes.
There are two species of humanity,
in this regard, the fisherman, who wants
to fool the fishes with worms, and the
aquarlst, or aquarium enthusiast, who
wants to feed them with worms.
There is no better "live food” for all
types of fishes, both goldfish and tropical
specimens, than this same earthworm.
Smaller specimens may be fed to all
fishes larger than guppies; large ones
need to be pulled into pieces, except when
fed to large goldfish and the largest of
exotic specimens.
Since the stomach of the earthworm
contains vegetable matter, the fish which
eats it gets both animal and vegetable
food. A mixed diet is best for practically
all animals, evidently.
* * * *
One of the truest signs of Spring is
the leaf of the Virginia bluebell, now
pushing its way through the soil.
This small favorite does not come into
bloom until early May, but it is an almost
infallible sign of the season.
By the time it bursts into its little
flowers, it will be Spring beyond doubt;
the first leaves already apprise us of
the season.
Usually there is distinctly more of a
Springlike •feel” in the air than this.
Moisture is essential to this feeling, but
Spring may come without it, even though
everything happens to have been dry
before.
There is moisture in everything. It is
at the heart of all fiber. Living things
may last a long time without having an
added supply. This is possible because
there is a hidden intelligence in all things.
This intelligence begins to conserve mois
ture for its purposes, once it realizes that
the supply is not normal.
That is why rhododendrons, for in
stance, curl up their leaves when the
temperature drops below 25 degrees
above zero. These plants will survive
an entirely dry Summer, such as was
experienced hereabouts in 1930.
The leaves will be too dry and yellow
The ground will be so baked that it will
be cracked all around them, with real
fissures showing. Still, the plants will
survive, because Nature has a way of
utilizing what moisture is left in the
tissues of the plants themselves.
* * * *
Those earthworms which came up in
such numbers that cloudy morning were
doing so. without doubt, because in their
queer intelligences they realized that the
day was cloudy.
They were, in other words, seeking
moisture.
They do not like their habitat too
moist, but neither do they prefer it dry.
Their constant rustling through the soil,
according to researches, ameliorates the
world s topsoil. Without them, some
claim, there would be no agriculture as
we know it.
Certainly the robins, fine birds, would
be hard put to it to live without them.
Nothing in bird observation is more in
----
te resting than the sight of a fine robin
seeking Its dinner In the grass.
What wonderful fellows these robins
are! No one ever saw a puny robin, a
robin with a headache, or even a robin
with a stomach ache.
Each specimen Is perfect. It may be
that Nature never made a sickly robin.
Surely It would be hopeful to believe
that in some one department of life and
living, at least, she turned out a perfect
race. When we contrast the beautiful
birds, each one as like its ancestral type
as can be, with the sickly specimens of
humanity which are observable on all
sides, we may wonder why it Is that
animals so tend to be perfect and man
so Imperfect.
Go to the Zoo and see the lions and
tigers. Though caged away from the good
earth, which they love, confined so that
their great muscles get practically no
exercise, they nevertheless seem as lithe
end supple as any specimens could be.
Maybe they are, although they have their
ailments, too, without doubt. Authori
ties say that caged animals are, in a
sense, better off than uncaged ones and
have a better chance to live long. Preed
of the necessity for constant watchful
ness, they soon grow accustomed to their
new lives. Cats, including the domestic
sorts, easily form habits. These habits
may be entirely at variance with the
ancestral patterns, but grow to be no
less strong, In a few years.
* * * *
In an exceptionally dry Spring, such
as this had been at the time this was
written, it may be necessary to use the
old hose.
Surely few amateur gardeners look for
ward with any pleasure to the use of
the garden hose too early. Normally
that is necessary only in the middle of
Summer, when hot suns and lack of rain
combine to dry out the soil.
This season winds have taken the
place of hot suns. A good wind has a
very drying effect, as every one knows.
Often the amateur gardener does not
stop to realize how winds may dry out
the soil to a considerable depth. Thus
a season of coolness, combined with
winds, can do more to dry out the earth
than warmer and hotter days.
It may be necessary, then, to unlimber
the garden hose ahead of time, if the
season has been such as to cause the
ground to become baked, when normally !
it would be moist.
Many persons have a bad habit of
really not watching soil conditions. Ask 1
them, on a cloudy day, when rains seems
eminent, whether the ground is moist,
they take their cue from the skies, evi
dently, and declare it is, not only without
thought, but even without looking down
at the ground.
Actual Inspection of the earth is essen
tial. This is the only way to know
whether a garden is dry or moist. Look
ing at the clouds won't do! It is neces
sary to look at the earth, and then to
act on what one sees.
If the ground is really dry, no matter
what the month, in Spring, it should
receive water.
This especially applies to grass and
particularly to newly seeded areas. Grass
seed will not germinate in dry soil. And
after watering has once begun on such
plots it must be kept up, unless, of course,
adequate and seasonable rains follow.
Artificial watering is never as good as
the real thing, but often enough it is
much better than nothing.
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
One current explanation of White
House reluctance to condemn the sit
down strike is that labor groups closely
identified with the C. I. O. have become
the spearhead of the campaign to popu
larize the Roosevelt Supreme Court plan.
The burden of the drive rests on the
broad shoulders of Labor's Non-Partisan
League, in which John L. Lewis is one
of the controlling spirits. The League
is about to hold a series of Nation-wide
mass meetings on behalf of the bill.
Culminating on “Patriot's day,” April 19,
practically every Important city in the
country will be the scene of demonstra
tions to whip up favorable sentiment.
The opening gun will be fired at Chi
cago tomorrow. Other places in which
later meetings will be held are Bir
mingham, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Denver, New Haven, Atlanta, Indianap
olis, Des Moines, New Orleans, Balti
more, Kansas City, Boston. Detroit,
Minneapolis, St. Louis, Omaha, Pitts
burgh, Philadelphia, Nashville and
Houston. Speakers already announced
include Senators Black of Alabama, La
Follette of Wisconsin, McKellar of Ten
nessee and Gulley of Pennsylvania, Rep
resentatives Connery of Massachusetts,
Patman of Texas and Eicher of Iowa.
When Labor s Non-Partisan League met
in Washington on March 8, to lobby
en masse for the Judiciary scheme,
Maj. Berry stated that its purpoee was
to come to President Roosevelt's “res
cue,” just as it had cleared for action
to save the New Deal in 1938.
Under imprint of the “Public Infor
mation Committee,” which is supposed
to derive its authority and sinews from
the Democratic National Committee, a
15-page pamphlet entitled “Who Bald
That About the Supreme Court?” has
just left the press. It reproduces va
rious utterances by Chief Justice Hughes,
Justice McReynolds, Senators Wheeler of
Montana, Borah of Idaho, Glass of Vir
ginia, George of Georgia and Tydlngs of
Maryland, and four one-time Presidents
of the United States—Lincoln, Wilson,
Theodore Roosevelt and Taft—all pur
porting to show that the authorities in
question, both living and dead, once
espoused views in line with Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s judiciary reform project.
* * * *
Many authorities, both in the admin
istration and Congress, are beginning to
reflect anxiety over the hamstringing of
the legislative program by the court con
troversy. A vast array of urgent public
business—which F. D. R. insists should
be called “ought” and not “must” leg
islation—is sidetracked while proponents
and opponents of the judiciary bill
maneuver and counter maneuver. Meas
ures affecting Industry, agriculture, ship
ping and revenue—only to mention out
standing propositions—await the break
ing of the log-jam now drifted into its
third month. The President, of course,
can say the disentangling word any time
he pleases. Apparently he looks upon
court reform as a paramount condition
precedent to further development of the
New Deal. Until it is out of the way,
slow motion at the Capitol is the order
of the' day.
'vf * * * *
Foraier, ©overnor Gifford Pinchot of
Penn llvsnia has just returned from
North" ©arollna where he inspected the
earliest systematic forestry in the United
States—at the Vanderbilt estate, Bilt
more. That tract, then of 7,000 acres,
was taken in Hand in 1803 under Pin
flour mills or factories manufacturing
prepared foods is not going to sit well
on the fanner.
chot's direction as consulting forester.
The governor was anxious to see the
effect on the forest after almost 50 years.
He finds that it still shows in striking
degree the results of the earlier cutting,
which not only improved the timber
stand, but also paid for itself and a little
more. From that humble start, Mr.
Pinchot says, scientific forestry in this
country has spread until the need for it
is now universally recognized. The gov
ernor is hard at work in his Washington
home on a monumental book dealing
wdth the long fight for conservation in
America and his lifetime connection
with it.
* * * *
While Washington is host to the an
nual throngs of cherry blossom pilgrims,
Tokio is abloom with the 4.650 American
trees presented to the Japanese people
by the Garden Clubs of the United
States. Consisting of mountain lilacs,
dogwood and other flowering Yankee
trees, they were formally presented to
Japan in February by Mrs. Joseph C.
Grew, wife of the United States Am
bassador. The trees, which adorn one of
Tokio’s famous parks, were intended
both as a return gift for the cherry sap
lings presented to Washington by the
Mikado during the Taft administration,
and as a token of appreciation of hos
pitalities extended in Japan to touring
delegations from the Garden Clubs of
this country.
* * * *
When Secretary Hull asked the House
Appropriations Committee the other day
to approve the State Department budget
for the fiscal year 1938, aggregating *13,
234,968, he trotted out figures comparing
the cost of Uncle Sam's “Department
of Peace” with other executive branches.
State's budget is lower than that of any
other department—less than half what
Justice costs; only 3 7/10 per cent of the
Navy budget, and 3 4/10 per cent of the
War Department’s appropriation. State
gets approximately only a tiny one-fifth
of one per cent of Uncle Sam's current
total appropriations. “It is worth while
to keep these figures in mind,” said the
soft-spoken Tennessean, “for in the
realm of international affairs the De
partment of State is the first line of de
fense. It is only when it fails in its
efforts to adjust by peaceful means con
troversies with other nations that the
hillitary and naval branches of the gov
ernment are called into action.”
* * * *
All Washington is agog over the duel
between those twin titans of industry
and labor—Henry Ford and John L.
Lewis. Already it's dubbed the capital
labor battle of the century. Betting odds
on the outcome are about even, with a
slight preponderance of view that the
magnate who for all these years has
successfully defied both organized labor
and high finance will come out on top
in the unionization combat.
* * * *
Coincident with the effort of the ad
ministration David to slay the Goliath
of high prices, including steel, that giant
Industry has just issued statistics de
signed to show that the rise in steel costs
exceeds revenue increased by new prices.
Advances in wages and materials are
said to total *215,000,000, while prices
are up a mere *200,000,000. Steel em
ployes are stated to earn 140 per cent
above the average foreign wage, with
annual pay rolls at a new peak of $!,
055,000,000. Pay in American mills dtff
lng the last year ran from 81 to 740 per
cent above wages in eight foreign coun
tries. The present hourly average of
83% cents here compares to eight ceits
in Japan and 37 cents in France. Great
Britain comes next with 34% cents.
(Coprrlcht. 1037.)
A
ANSWEIS TO
QUESTIONS
BY FREDERIC J HASKIN.
A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writif The Evening
Star Information Bureoi, Frederic J.
Haskin, Director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for ■eply.
Q. How many police ratio stations ara
there In the United States—B. F.
A. Current reports show jg7 municipal
and county police radio stations in
operation.
Q. How deep is the sal mine near
Geneseo, N. Y.?—H. M.
A. The Retsof Mine of the Iiternational
Salt Company is 1,063 feet below the
surface of the earth. It is rached by a
cage which drops this dista.ee in less
than a minute.
Q. What is the Ringling Cirus worth?
—L. M.
A. It is spoken of as a $4,000)00 show.
Q. How long will the giant :park be
which is to be shown at the Hris Ex
position?—M. P.
A. This spark will be nine feet In
length, between two metal sphees nine
feet in diameter. It takes a d;charge
of five million volts to produce his gi
gantic spark.
Q. How many members has the Jockey
Club?—H. L.
A. The membership of this go^rning
body for racing is restricted to fiftu
Q. How- many people visit the ;Vorld
War battlefields in France each year?
—V. G.
A. About 300,000. Of these vsitors
about 70 per cent are French; Begian,
10 per cent; German. 5 to 6 per -ent;
British about 3 per cent; Ameican,
under 1 per cent.
Q. What college holds the Culural
Olympics?—H. J.
A. They are under the auspices ofthe
School of Education of the Univemty
of Pennsylvania.
Q. Please name several of the at
standing works of the late Frederick W.
MacMonnies.—J. H.
A. Some of the best-known works of
the famous sculptor are the statue of
Nathan Hale in City Hall Park, New Yck
City; the groups on the Soldiers a.d
Sailors’ Memorial Arch, at the entrane
to Prospect Park in Brooklyn: the Prino
ton Battle Monument at the head >f
Nassau stretit in Princeton and tie
Marne Memorial Monument at Mean,
France.
Q. How many criminals are there n
the United States? Of these, how maiy
are under 21?—C. R.
A. There are 3,500,000 known criminas
in the United States, of whom 700,00
are under 21 years of age.
Q How much has the Navy Depart
ment spent on lighter-than-air craft?
—M. A. M.
A. It has spent approximately $43,000
000 on lighter-than-air craft since ;
began to use this type of aircraft. Tl»
figure includes cost of hangars, etc., a
well as cost of the aircraft.
Q Please give some information abou
the castle in Franklin, Me.—K. L.
A. Theodore P. Austin, a New Yor
jeweler, Invested heavily in gold an
copper mines of Hancock, Sullivan an.
Blue Hill during the Maine mining boon
He purchased 6,000 acres in Franklin am
on it erected a forty-room mansion will
a stone observation tower, a *25,000 stabl
and other buildings. The mining boon
collapsed and he died before the housi
was finished, leaving carloads of ex
pensive furniture and ornaments in thet
packing cases. The house was left ti
his two daughters, Altea who is ove"
seventy today, and Neva who is sixty
three. Both sisters live in the hous*
which remains just as it was left sixt'
years ago, without interior finish.
Q. Were Gilbert and Sullivan knightel
at the same time?—P. L.
A. Sullivan was knighted by Queen Vic
toria in 1883. The Queen did not approvi
of Gilbert, however, and he did not be
come Sir William until 1907 when Kin;
Edward VII gave him the title, sevei
years after the death of his collaborator
and four years before his own death.
Q. Is there a machine with which i
man operating a keyboard in one cit’
can set type simultaneously in othe’
cities?—G. T. B.
A. There is such a machine, known ai
the teletypesetter.
Q. Please give some information abou;
Grimaldi, the famous clown.—E. W.
A. Joseph Grimaldi, the most cele
brated of English clowns, was bom ii
London on December 18, 1779, the sor
of an Italian actor. When less than tw«
years old he was brought on the Drur
Lane stage and at the age of three hi
appeared at Sadler's Wells. As the clowi
of pantomime he was considered withou;
equal, his greatest success being ii
"Mother Goose at Covent Garden.” Hi
retired in 1828 and died on May 31, 1837.
His memoirs were edited by Charle:
Dickens.
Q What is the most popular comi<
strip?—J. W.
A. According to a survey conducted bj
Fortune, Little Orphan Annie is the mos
popular comic strip, while Popeye h
second.
Q. Who was it who said of Washingtor
that he was the President who knew nc
glory but his country’s good?—T. G. V.
A. Edward Everett.
Q How much sap does the averag«
maple tree yield?—B. B. R.
A. About eight gallons. When this it
boiled down it makes about three pounds
of maple sugar.
A Safe Sit-Down.
From the Fort W»yne New«-Sentln«;.
Two Bloomington, HI., wives staged a
sit-down strike for Easter clothes. Evi
dently they were not concerned over
any harm that strikebreakers might ac
complish.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
Nightfall.
The sunset had been gorgeous; vivid rayi
Trailing to rose tints in the Easterr
sky;
As the sun sank a vagrant breath oi
wind
Wandered among the tree tops with
a sigh.
Then came the night. On dense, mys
terious wings
It swept the heavens of each crimson
bar;
While thru its darkening pinions then
shone forth.
Detached and beautiful, a single stai
L »