Evening star. [volume], April 12, 1937, Page A-8, Image 8

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

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THE EVENING STAR
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
MONDAY___April 12, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES ..Editor
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Your Taxes.
It seems to be generally agreed that
the imposition of new taxes here will be
confined to budget needs and that from
the list of new revenue-raising measures
presented to the House only those will be
selected which furnish the money neces
sary to balance the local budget. The
process of selection, then, becomes im
portant and must be based on careful
study not only of the provisions of the
bills, their rates and their administra
tion, but of the taxation principles in
volved.
Nobody wants to pay new taxes and
the Federation of Citizens’ Associations
has expressed local sentiment in taking
the stand that the $5,000,000 lump-sum
payment does not represent the National
obligation. If this payment were in
creased in some proportion to the pro
posed increases in the local taxation, the
prospect of higher local taxes would be
more acceptable. But as some increase
in local taxes seems inevitable now, little
is to be gained by blanket opposition and
much may be gained by the correction
of inequities which study of the local
bills reveals and in the avoidance of
harmful or unwise principles of taxation.
It is in this spirit that The Star today
begins publication, elsewhere in its col
umns, of a series of articles examining in
detail the bills proposed and some of
the taxing principles involved.
As far as principles are concerned,
action of the Federation of Citizens’ Asso
ciations at its meeting Saturday evening
is indicative of a sound point of view
which will doubtless receive acknowledg
ment in consideration of at least some
of the tax measures. The federation did
not oppose an increase in the gasoline
tax, but did express its opposition to an
increase in the gasoline tax which is
coupled with diversion of gas tax reve
nues to uses other than those associated
with the responsibilities of motorists.
Substantially the same position was
taken, in a signed article in yesterday’s
Star, by Washington I. Cleveland, man
ager of the local motor club of the Amer
ican Automobile Association. Both Mr.
Cleveland and the federation point to the
Inconsistency in diverting gasoline taxes
here while Congress penalizes States
that practice diversion by withholding
from them a percentage of highway
grants otherwise available.
In much the same spirit the federation
opposed the provisions in the pending
District bill for boosting water rates in
order to create a surplus, usable at some
later date for water system improve
ments. Although other considerations are
Involved, an increase in water rates—or,
rather, a resumption of the rates of a
few years ago—might be justified to
finance improvements actually author
ized by Congress. But until the im
provements are actually authorized, the
accumulation of such a surplus above
authorized expenditures represents a
form of excessive taxation and should
be avoided. Even now Congress is not
appropriating all water revenues or all
gasoline revenues available from current
rates of taxation. Preparation and
authorization of improvement programs
should precede, not follow, the increases
of taxation, and the increases should be
confined to the needs actually existing—
and appropriated for—not the needs that
are contemplated at some indefinite time
In the future.
One of the problems of slum clear
ance is deciding where the slum is to go
next. It naturally gravitates to some
spot in the suburbs, not so well policed.
Memorial and Blossoms.
Although the weather was unpro
pitious for several days during which
the cherry blossoms in Potomac Park
were in the final stage of development
and the program of ceremonies at the
Tidal Basin was hampered by rain, the
display of these lovely tokens of the
Spring drew great numbers of people,
climaxing yesterday in a visitation of at
least a quarter of a million. So dense
was the throng that a traffic jam re
sulted.
This display is one of Washington's
most cherished features. It is world re
nowned. It draws countless numbers
every Spring to the Capital. It has be
come a veritable national institution.
Yet now it is proposed to destroy the
scene of loveliness created by these
trees, with their softly tinted blossoms,
to make room for a great architectural
symbol of the reverence felt by the Na
tion to one of its great statesmen, whose
fame cannot be too highly honored or
expressed.
When the plan to place the Jefferson
Memorial in Potomac Park on a site that
would require the removal of a large
number of the older trees, in order to
provide a scenic setting on a geometrical
axis with the White House and in rela
tion to the axis formed by the Mall ex
tending from the Capitol to the Lincoln
Memorial, objections were raised on the
ground that this placement would entail
at least the transplantation if not the
destruction of many of the trees. It
was then stated that care would be
taken to replace the trees to accord
with the geometrical design of the
Memorial location. But no assurance
has been given that the result would be
in conformity with the natural park
setting of these growths that has caused
them to be the object of the admiration
of millions who have made pilgrimages in
blossoming time to view this unequaled
spectacle.
Apart entirely from the question of
the suitability of the proposed site for
the Memorial on other grounds, and
from that of the design itself, which has
been subjected to the criticism of archi
tects, there arises the question of
whether by any means the replacement
of the trees can be effected without long
interruption to their blossoming, per
haps their destruction. If it be true, as
averred, that many of the older trees
are at an age when they must soon be
replaced with others, there could be no
such setting, to accord with the now
adopted design of the Memorial em
placement, as would result in the scene
of natural artistry that is presented
annually. Fortunately, the decision re
garding the site of the Memorial is not
so definitely fixed that a change is im
possible. A revision of the general plan,
whatever may be the style of the struc
ture itself, should be effected.
Little Acorns.
Recurring predictions that the Nazi
regime is headed for collapse have
proved to be so illusory that the world
long since learned to take them with a
grain of salt. In most cases they were
merely wishes that were father to the
thought. Communism in Russia and
Fascism in Italy likewise have been
periodically and prematurely sent to
their doom by soothsayers, only to
emerge from the welter of prophecy as
strongly intrenched as ever. The exist
ing order, respectively, in Berlin, Moscow
and Rome, gives no sign of petering out.
The exact contrary, indeed, appears to
be the case in all three dictatorship
ridden countries.
Nevertheless and notwithstanding, tall
oaks from little acorns do grow'. So it
would not be altogether the part of
wisdom to banish to the limbo of the
innocuous the emergence in Germany
of the “German Liberty Party,” which
has just embarked upon a bold and mili
tant campaign of anti-Nazi propaganda.
It is, of course, carried on surreptitiously,
but, despite the secret police, is in more
or less active progress. The mails are
now filled with a manifesto summoning
loyal Germans to free the nation from
National Socialist rule and demanding
a plebiscite respecting the Reich’s par
ticipation in the Spanish civil war w’ith
a view to an immediate end of that ad
venture. The declaration asserts that
General von Fritsch, army chief of staff;
retired Vice Admiral von Foerster and
“millions of other German men and
w'omen” oppose the unholy alliance with
Italy and Franco to foist Fascism on the
Spanish people.
The Liberty Party movement thrusts
vigorously at all the tenets of Hitlerism.
It calls for religious freedom without
discrimination against any race or creed,
for academic liberty for youth and
teachers in schools and universities, for
abolition of the monopoly-breeding sys
tem of “autarchy” in industry and
finance, for free speech, and generally
for a return to the democratic system
which prevailed before the Nazis tram
pled it into the dust. The Liberty Party
program is alleged to have the support
of citizens of all classes and professions,
denominational confessions and political
hues, including National Socialists them
selves, but no mention is made of Com
munist co-operation.
It is a far cry from this budding bid
for social justice in Germany to any
thing approximating its realization. But
it is an undeniable sign of the times.
It reveals that Hitler no more rules a
united Reich than Stalin lords it over
a harmonious Soviet Union. Ruthless
repression doubtless can and will stifle
anything in the nature of revolt against
der Fuehrer’s dictatorship. If Germany’s
economic plight drifts from bad to
worse, if the burden of gigantic arma
ments becomes unendurable or menaces
peace, the Liberty Party threat, now no
bigger than the shadow cast by a man s
hand, may easily become a cloud be
tokening a devastating storm.
There is a trace of feminine ir
reverence in some discussions of the
Supreme Court which go into details of
personal life that have nothing to do
with the case. There have even been
analytical observations not merely on
the art of the President in tossing the
base ball for the opening game, but on
the deftness wdth which a high official
may toss a boot-jack with the intention
of dispersing feline serenaders from an
area way.
It is expected that a memorial to
Thomas Jefferson will be a shrine of
independent patriotic interest and not
be pointed out to future visitors as the
place where the beloved cherry blossoms
used to be.
A shake-up among Maryland office
holders has taken place and health au
thorities are conferring with university
doctors as to the effects on the body
politic of a sudden change of political
temperature.
Week End Impressions
Thirty-six hours of leisure between
one week and another certainly is im
portant only for what it signifies in use.
An average Washington man, interested
in rest and recreation, last evening
“checked up” on his experience Satur
day and Sunday, April 10 and 11, and
found that the record ran something
like this:
Saturday, late luncheon with friends
from New York en route home from
Florida; conversation turned on the
problem of the declining popularity of
the New Deal; there was hearty laughter
over the story of the evangelist who in
K
sisted that President Roosevelt is a
greater benefactor of the multitude than
any other leader past or present be
cause, allegedly, he said: “Sit down and
we will bring it to you!” The evening
was spent taking snapshot photographs
of children, listening to the radio and
reading English magazines devoted
to plans for the coronation of King
George VI.
Sunday, church in the morning; a
nap after luncheon; guests for supper
with talk about food, music, pictures,
travel, people and other “inconsequen
tial” themes; short motor drive; the
evening broadcasts, including Mr. Cam
eron's “sermon” on “more good than
evil, more right than wrong” in the
world; preparations for the new week;
bed with a book.
Nothing very exciting in such a his
tory, surely. But was the time wasted?
Perhaps, yes; yet, more probably, no.
Humanity needs an occasional “let
down" from tension. The week-end in
terruption of routine striving, then, is
blessed. No one, however, would envy
an individual on permanent vacation
from duty. It follows that the best
thing about Saturday and Sunday is that
they lead to Monday morning and its
pattern of work and reward. For hun
dreds of years the race has been march
ing on in the same path. The momen
tary recess gives it opportunity to plod
along the better, but it is the plodding,
really, that matters.
Whenever a contradiction of Mr.
Roosevelt’s kindly manner of address
is ventured, it is James Farley who bears
the brunt not merely of innuendo but
of direct attack. Construing the rela
tionship as a political identity expressed
by contradictory phases of personality,
the situation recalls the picturesque but
somber fable of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde;
the more somber because Mr. Hyde tri
umphed in the end.
... ■ -- > ^.
Inspection of records for the purpose
of ascertaining incomes is roundly de
nounced. The practice can be defended
only on the theory that for the purposes
of economic identity a citizen’s cus
tomary wage may be analyzed along
with his health, the size of his family
and the color of his hair. The spirit of
the time favors intimate disclosures, no
matter how much politeness may resent
them.
— ■ ■■ ■ » «■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Objection to race track gambling has
not gone so far as to advocate conduct
ing the king of sports without the use
of pari-mutuel machines. Base ball does
not require gambling, yet its popularity
is maintained at white heat by sheer
intellectual enthusiasm, which celebrates
it in every literary form from poetry to
popular dialect.
Old folks are being so ruthlessly at
tacked and young folks are burdened
with so much responsibility that a vague
impression asserts itself that the future
of civilization rests on the Dionne
Quints. This may be an improvement on
some ancestral assumption that art
ideals were concentrated in the Flora
dora sextette.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
A Wild Hook-Up of Events.
My radio! my radio!
A mix-up you present
Which, like a jigsaw, seems to show
A state of puzzlement.
Sometimes, in raucous tones, you wail
Of things you can’t explain,
And through an incoherent tale
Suggest a mood profane.
With each day’s news, my radio,
In you a means we find
Of letting everybody know
Our present state of mind.
The Best Part.
“You have given the best part of
your life to politics,” said the admir
ing friend.
“No,” answered Senator Sorghum.
“Affairs are growing so interesting, it
looks to me as if the best part were
just ahead.”
Suspicious Conduct.
“What is your boy Josh doing just
now?”
“I'm worried about that,” said Parmer
Corntossel.
“Don’t you hear from him?”
“Regularly. He's sending so much
money home I’m afraid he must be
some kind of a racketeer.”
Starting a Scare.
We always find, ,
Amid content
Some human mind
On mischief bent.
When we rejoice
In peace anew
Some pranksome voice
Will holler VBoo.”
Things Are Cooked Up.
“Women in politics have not yet abol
ished the so-called pie counter."
“No,” answered Miss Cayenne, “I sup
pose another generation will be talking
about the political pies mother used to
make.”
“Patience,” said Hi Ho, the sage of
Chinatown, “is of little value when it
takes the form of comfortable indiffer
ence to the sufferings of your fellow
man.”
Business.
That statesmanship will bring a smile
And show where sunshine is
That cuts out politics awhile
And starts in talking biz.
The honey bee its duty does
Without complaint or quiz
And says “I have no time to buzz;
I’ve got to tend to biz.”
“When a mule balks,” said Uncle Eben,
“he attracts more attention dan when
he works. Maybe he jes’ naturally gits
tired •' bein’ de forgotten mule.”
o '
Threat to the Structure of
Constitutional Government
To the Editor of The Star:
Great credit is due to the framers of
our constitutional form of government
to have provided a Supreme Court to
review the acts of the executive and leg
islative branches of our Government.
The Supreme Court exists by express
grant contained in the Constitution
(Article III, Section 1).
To tamper or alter the Constitution is
not only to weaken but to destroy the
whole structure of constitutional gov
ernment.
It is the duty of Congress to curb the
powers of any Chief Executive who vio
lates his oath of office. To belittle the
Constitution does not coincide with the
solemnly sworn oath: ‘‘I do solemnly
swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the
United States, and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States.”
Likewise Congressmen have a duty to
perform. They have no right to know
ingly enact laws that conflict with the
fundamental laws of the land; by so
doing, they find them null and void.
Here is their oath: “I do solemnly
swear (or affirm) that I will support the
Constitution of the United States against
all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I
will bear true faith and allegiance to the
same; that I take this obligation freely
without any mental reservation or pur
pose of evasion, and that I will well and
faithfully discharge the duties of the
office on which I am about to enter, so
help me God.”
Too many of our public men are
politicians; too few are statesmen. One
works for his own ends; the other for
the public good. As a comparison this
is much worse than the greed of reg
ulated trusts, for it is undermining our
democratic form of government.
The whole function of government is
to regulate and not to destroy. Its duty
is to guard and protect the public which
benefits from created wealth!
An old saying: "He who makes two
blades of grass grow where only one grew
before is a benefactor to human kind.
The destruction or reduction of more
abundance retards civilization.
The material and intellectual attain
ments of our Nation are due to the
spirit and influence of individual lib
erty; its destruction can be brought
through the dictatorial power of packing
the Supreme Court!
FREDERICK C. MARCY.
immigration Quotas
And Population Figures
To the Editor of The Star:
The handwriting on the wall about
the future of our American government
and institutions is becoming very plain.
The present law permits immigrants
to enter in numbers limited to a quota
from each foreign nation. Not every
citizen knows that these quotas are based
upon the number of people in the United
States in 1890. not the present time.
The year 1890 was chosen because the
sources of immigration changed con
siderably about that time. Before that
date most of our immigration came from
northwestern Europe, from countries
where the people had shown that rare
ability of developing self-government.
Self-government develops very slowly
and history shows that only a very few
nations and their people have ever at
tained it.
After 1890 immigration became very
heavy from southern and eastern Eu
rope, from countries where democratic
institutions have been virtually un
known and where dictators rule today.
Immigrants which came from countries
where the people had never been able
to govern themselves were not likely to
develop such ability by the mere act of
crossing the ocean. To hold immigra
tion from such sources to a minimum
the present law bases the quota of each
foreign country upon the sources of the
population of the United States in 1890,
but the restrictions were late. The heav
iest immigration came after 1890 and
millions came in before the immigration
was restricted. John L. Lewis’ mine
union is well known to contain a large
foreign element of the type of immi
grant who came in after 1890. Lewis
copied the foreign sit-down strike idea
from Europe and his mine union is fur
nishing a large part of the money to put
across this foreign idea in this country.
Our American institutions are prob
ably doomed. Two prejudices wmrking
with foreign elements are to blame.
Anything labeled “labor union” is con
sidered sacred and must have the right
of way over all other principles; and the
Civil War prejudiced the southern part
of our population so they support any
thing that carries the label “Democratic”
regardless of what is under the label.
Whenever a considerable portion of the
people warp their reason with such prej
udices foreign influences can, once they
get control of those prejudices, do any
thing to the American system and to its
institutions. ADRIAN COLCRES.
A Quotation From
The Constitution
To the Editor ot The Star:
I have read your paper for years and
believe it is the best paper in the world.
Your Supreme Court view is wrong. You
could not have read article 1 of the
Constitution, which specifically provides
that "all legislative powers therein
granted shall be vested in Congress.”
There are 400 lawyers in the Senate
and House who at a cost of $100,000,000
a year pass laws to promote the health
of cattle, hogs and sheep, which are
never questioned, but when New York
State passed a law to benefit children
and charwomen, the Supreme Court de
clared that law unconstitutional.
The Constitution itself does not ex
pressly grant the Supreme Court the
right to invalidate Federal statutes upon
the grounds that they are unconstitu
tional. Five judges do this. *
Seabrook, Md. JOHN RIGGLES.
Memorial School Proposed
In Honor of Jefferson
To the Editor of The Star:
As I have read so much discussion over
the proposed building of the Thomas
Jefferson Memorial may I offer a sug
gestion.
Instead of having another monument
for the public to gaze on it seems to me
a new school building, where so many
are badly needed, called the Thomas
Jefferson Memorial School, would be an
honor to the memory of any great man.
A memorial that could not be a greater
benefit to the future race.
MRS. MORAN.
Not Quite Everything
Prom the Baton Rouge State-Times.
Tallulah Bankhead makQg page one
by telling the modern woman that “being
glamorous and sophisticated isn’t every
thing.” Of course, not, Tallulah; as any
theatrical publicity expert will tell you,
one has to be exotic also.
Sit-Downs and Patriotism.
Prom the Oonnellsville Banner.
Will the sit-down custom become so
nearly universal that there will be no
body to stand up when the band plays
“Star Spangled Banner"} «.
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
“One More Spring.”
Fortunately, one does not have to be
a poet, to enjoy one more Spring.
All that is necessary is to be here.
Combined, of course, with a reason
able amount of freedom from pain,
and worry, that intellectual pain.
Combined, it is true, with a reasonable
amount of what has been called this
world’s goods.
All is relative, however. Maybe that
is a good thing for most of us.
A little of the world's goods will do,
if it will, if you can make it do.
Determined persons even can endure
suffering, and still see the good in the
flowering world of this season.
* * * *
One doesn’t have to be a poet, a
painter, an artist, to appreciate Spring.
That is one of its best features.
You just accept it.
Some people don’t seem to be able to
accept things gratefully.
Maybe they are too suspicious.
It is hard to be suspicious of one of
these fine fresh days of real Spring
at-last.
Pseudo-Spring days tried to fool us,
but they were too cold, or too dry, or
something.
It remained for true Spring to remove
all doubts.
* * * *
Being relieved of the necessity of
being a poet, the plain average citizen
is able to enjoy Spring at its true worth
for the first time in history.
How fortunate, all of us, and we per
haps hadn't realized it!
It is easy for any one to see that
Spring is swell, if not under the neces
sity for bursting into verse about it.
The poetry business formerly asso
ciated with the season, and especially
with mankind’s idea of the season, must
have held back millions of persons from
admiring it.
Today the trade of poet no longer
stampedes men as once it did. Poetry
still is written, and some good poetry,
but the old-time admiration for it has
fallen away from the multitudes.
Verse once was a hall-mark of culture.
One may feel that people, by and
large, no longer feel that way about it.
It is no longer necessary to admire it,
or to profess to admire it, in order to
impress others.
* * ifc *
This sets Spring free!
It really was a silly idea, that Spring
had to be greeted with poems.
What it really needs is admiration.
Poetry was just one form of admiration,
and a great many persons today will
think a rather effusive one.
It is not necessary, in watching the
buds open, to fall into rhythm.
As honest an admiration can be given
in silence as in the greatest poem.
Many a person, without the gift of
gab, as it is called, has watched with
true feeling the flight of birds in the
sky. It is good for us that Bryant, for
instance, wrote his "Lines to a Water
fowl.” They have been an inspiration
to thousands of readers.
It is possible, however, for the least
poetical person to look up into the sky,
and get the same sort of wonder in his
I '
heart and mind, at the sight of a band
of starlings headed toward Rockville.
The enjoyments of Spring are a com
bination of physical and mental appre
ciations.
One has but to look out the window,
on an early Spring morning, to see that
all things are different.
There is Old Man Robin, strutting
around on the lawn.
There is the fresh grass, greener after
the rain. There is Old Man Sparrow,
making up to Old Lady Sparrow. This
he proceeds to do by stalking majestic
ally around her in a circle, keeping
about a foot away.
When he turns to depart, having per
mitted her to see l?im in all his fresh
Spring colors, she Starts after him, such
is their charm in her eyes.
♦ * * *
One steps out the door, and immedi
ately sniffs with appreciation the fresh
cool air.
Still cool, but a new something in it.
Polks used to call it "ozone,” but that
word has little scientific standing in this
day, and we must be scientific nowadays,
if not poetical.
Yes, Spring air is different.
It is as if a far headier brew were
offered to us, from which we need not
hesitate to drink.
Who shall say that the new leaf
buds everywhere, as we go along, are
not partly responsible for this fresher,
keener air?
It is impossible for these marvelous
laboratories, moving forth all down the
line of every street and avenue, every
place, square and terrace, every lane, im
possible for them not to have their be
nign influence.
Benign is their influence. No other
word will do. We realize, in the broad
adjustment of life to the universe, and
the universe to life, its "sport,” that
there are certain points in the great
entanglement at which life is better.
* * * *
opring is one oi tnem.
Here physical and mental meet In
perfect balance. Every man. and maybe
every woman, too, is a philosopher in
the Springtime.
It is because of this that the poetical
temperament, always ready to overflow,
often does so in April and May.
“What is so rare as a day in June-”
well, maybe. Can a poet ever be wrong?
Quite as often as any one else!
April and May are the real Spring
months. Let us make the most of them.
* * * *
Making the most of the season de
mands that killer-w'agons be left in their
garages as much as possible.
Not only would this help reduce the
number of maimings and killings, but
it would enable more persons to greet
Spring properly.
That is where the pedestrian wins.
He who walks, knows Spring; but he
who rides, shall have gasoline for his
reward. ( And maybe a broken fender).
Fresh new leaves on shrubs, flower
buds on the lilacs, these are too small
to be seen except leisurely. Too small,
and too great, for the human being in
a hurry.
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
It’s a two-fisted son of the North
American soil—Premier Mitchell Fred
erick Hepburn of Ontario—who has de
fied the C. I. O. and John L. Lewis to
transplant the sit-down “technique” to
Canada. Just past 40 years of age, Mr.
Hepburn is still a dirt farmer by occu
pation, owning and operating several
extensive properties of his own in the
Ontario wrheat and cattle belt. His
official career began in 1926, when he
was elected to the House of Commons
at Ottawa, after active participation in
the affairs of farm organizations. A
Liberal in politics, he also entered the
Ontario legislature, becoming the leader
of his party in 1930. He has been premier
of the Dominion’s most populous prov
ince since July, 1934, and was a factor
in bringing about the Liberal victory
which placed the Mackenzie King gov
ernment in national power in 1935.
Hepburn's resolute stand against the im
portation of C. I. O. methods comes as
no surprise to his admirers and polit
ical supporters, among whom he ranks
as one of the most forthright figures in
Canadian public life. He is famed as a
spellbinder and whirlwind campaigner.
Atlantic City in Summer and Florida in
Winter are regular vacation resorts for
the Ontario statesman. Should there be
serious industrial strife across the border
as the result of the General Motors
strike at Oshawa, Washington fears the
possibility of a certain unfavorable re
percussion in Canadian-Amerlcan rela
tions.
* * * *
New Dealers chortle that late events
banish all doubt as to whether President
Roosevelt still rules the roost on Capitol
Hill. Senate defeat of the Brynes
amendment to the Guffey coal bill,
which would have required F. D. R. to
commit himself on the sit-down, and
House rejection of the Dies resolution to
investigate C. I. O. strike strategy are
heralded as prima facie evidence that
White House influence in Congress re
mains invincible. It is everybody’s secret
that administration heat was turned on
full force to kill both the Byrnes and
Dies propositions. Each might otherwise
have easily prevailed. Rooseveltians’ con
fidence of victory in the Supreme Court
fight mounted perceptibly after they
blocked the anti-sit-downers. In gloat
ing that “we have the votes” they don’t
pretend they have any to spare, but as
zero hour approaches, they count in
cocksure terms on enough Senate
strength to win by 53 to 43, or there
abouts. When they use these figures,
they mean the bill as is, without com
promise of a jot or tittle. The opposi
tion has by no means thrown up the
sponge. It still hints darkly at un
covered reserve strength among the un
committed senatorial group.
* * * *
Current reports that President Quezon
and Gen. MacArthur are proposing that
the Philippine commonwealth should be
admitted to the Pan-American Union
arouse little enthusiasm in that quar
ter. By no stretch of the political
imagination or rearrangement of the
map of the world, it is held, can the
Philippines possibly be considered as
coming within the definition of an
“American” government eligible to part
nership with the 21 republics of the
Western Hemisphere. If the proposition
ever assumes formal shape, it would
probably be submitted for the approval
of the Eighth Conference of American
States in Peru in 1938. The alleged am
bition of the Philippines to join the Pan
American lodge is supposed to spring
from their claims to Spanish origin and
Latin traditions.
* * * *
Grover A. Whalen’s expanding Now
York World’s Fair organization is now
manned at two important posts by re
cently retired officers, respectively, of the
United States Army and Navy. Maj.
Gen, Dennis E. Nolaij| Gen. Pershing's
famous chief of intelligence in the
A. E. F., who lately commanded the
2nd Corps Area at Governors Island,
has been appointed director of participa
tion by the 48 States of the Union. Rear
Admiral William H. Standley, former
chief of naval operations, is director of
foreign participation. Big national or
ganizations, commercial and otherwise,
are constantly on the lookout for execu
tives with distinguished Army or Navy
background. Maj. Gen. Robert C. Davis,
former adjutant general of the Army, is
now executive director of the extensive
New York chapter of the American Red
Cross, the most important unit of that
organization outside of national head
quarters in Washington.
* * * *
Prince Chichibu, brother of the Em
peror of Japan, and his consort—the
former Washington schoolgirl, Setsu
Matsudaira — after attending King
George's coronation and touring
Europe, will recross the Atlantic for a
visit in the United States next October.
They will tarry in Washington for sev
eral days as guests at the Japanese Em
bassy and be the recipients of distin
guished official and private hospitalities
here. Princess Chichibu’s former com
rades at Friends School look forward
with particular excitement and joy to
the privilege of entertaining their one
time hockey and tennis playmate in her
august capacity as a member of the
Japanese imperial family.
William R. Castle, assistant to Repub
lican National Chairman Hamilton, sig
naled in a New York speech the other
day that the minority party may pres
ently renounced the role of passive resist
ance on the Supreme Court and other
currently controversial issues and take
the offensive, instead of leaving it ex
clusively to the Democrats to fight things
out among themselves as a family feud.
Many congressional sons of the elephant,
it appears, are beginning to hear from
back home that a mere sit-down attitude
in times like these does not become the
Grand Old Party and that the hour has
come to abandon Gandhi tactics and
put on war paint.
* * * *
M. Gilbert Chinard, a brilliant French
man who a few years ago was a member
of the Washington press gallery as
American correspondent of Le Petit
Parisien, and who combined journalism
with lecturing at Johns Hopkins in Balti
more. has just been appointed Pyne
Memorial professor of French literature
at Princeton. He will fill the chair
created in honor of Percy Rivington
Pyne, a son of Old Nassau, who died of
World War injuries suffered while fly
ing in France.
♦ * * ★
In the midst of repeated and insistent
White House denials that President
Roosevelt plans some spectacular move
on behalf of international peace, this
week’s annual meeting of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science
at Philadelphia will discuss exhaus
tively thb topic of “The United States
and World War.” Special stress will be
laid on the questions whether war is
imminent and whether Uncle Sam “can
or should be neutral.” Senator Thomas,
Democrat, of Utah will participate in a
symposium on “How the United States
Can Aid in Maintaining Peace.” Dr.
Stanley K. Hornbeck, chief of the Far
Eastern division of the State Depart
ment, will speak on “The Cause and
Occasion of Our Entry into the World
War.”
(Copyright, 1837.)
No Predictions.
From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. •
No agricultural forecasts have been
made of the Spring planting of minimum
wage law seed bound to follow close on
the heels q| the Supreme Court decision.
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. j
Q. How much money has been paid
Into the Treasury by employers and em
ployes under the Social Security Act'’— -
F. J.
A. Employers who started payments
January, 1936, have paid $8,792,723.22.
Employes who began paying January"
1937, have paid $13,928,433.92, according
to the Social Security Board. Larger
sums undoubtedly have accrued but have
not yet been reported. The number of
persons now under the provisions of the
act is approximately 26,000,000.
Q. How did the Ramos gin fizz get '
its name?—N. P.
A. It is called after its inventor, Henry A
C. Ramos, a master mixologist who flour- M
lshed in New Orleans from 1886. His ^
place was ^o popular that at one time
he employed 33 bartenders to serve the
customers who stood before his bar sev
eral row’s deep.
Q Do clowns often change the manner
of making up their faces?—S. H.
A. Each clown creates his own style
of make-up, and it becomes identified
with him. No clown copies the make
up of another clown.
Q Can a toe dancer dance without
shppers with padded toes and stiffened
soles?—E. L.
A. It is possible but unusual for a
toe dancer to dance without padded
slippers. The early Greeks practiced it
to some extent, and in Spain it was done
by La Gitanita. She was taking part in
a competition in a dancing event, when
she threw off her shoes and stockings
and danced the "Copla de las Sevillanas”
on the point, and won the contest.
Q What was Earle Sande's final vear
as a jockey?—J. H. D.
A. His final races were ridden in 1932.
Q. How many people attend conven
tions in Washington, D. C., during the
month of April?—F. H.
A. Fourteen thousand delegates are
expected to attend 31 conventions sched
uled for this month. In 1936 there were
26 conventions attended by 12,000 dele
gates.
Q Were the original Hawalians tall
or short?—R. T.
A. They had excellent physiques and
great strength. The chiefs were well -
over six feet tall and weighed 250 to 300
pounds.
Q. Which weighs leas, dry' air or damp ^
air?—W. P.
A Damp air weighs less than dry air,
as the dampness is due to the vapor of
water in the air, and vapor of water is
lighter than mo6t of the other gases of "
the atmosphere.
Q. Will Louisville. Ky., get out a city
directory this year?—S. K.
A. Due to the flood, the directory will
be a little late, but the Caron Directory
Company is rechecking all addresses and
will issue a directory recording the
changes made by the flood disaster.
Q. Do mules and horses travel faster
than oxen with a load?—T. L.
A. Mulgs and horses travel much
faster.
Q. Who was the first woman to prac
tice dentistry in the United States?—
M. B.
A. Emeline Roberts Jones of Connecti
cut. After her marriage to a dentist in
1854. she learned dentistry in his office
and began work as his assistant in 1854.
She became his partner in 1859. In all,
she practiced for 60 years.
Q. Is there a collection of Shaviana in
this country?—W. R. M.
A. Dr. Archibald Henderson of the * •
University of North Carolina, author
ized biographer of George Bernard
Shaw', has made a gift of his entire col
lection of Shaviana to the library of
Yale University. J
Q. W’hy are imitation windows
painted on barns?—V. R. S.
A. The custom was brought to the
United States from Europe. It was
started there in order to avoid window
tax and at the same time to give an
appearance of affluence.
Q. At what time will Summer, Fall and
Winter begin this year?—J. McC.
A. Summer, 2:40 am , June 22;
Autumn. 5:50 p.m., September 23; Win
ter, 1:06 p.m., December 22.
Q. Where are insane Indians cared
for?—H. W. R.
A. They receive hospitalization at St.
Elizabeth’s Hospital, District of Co
lumbia.
Q. How many men and how many *
women are employed under Federal
executive civil service?—R. T.
A. On December 31, 1936, there were
668,577 male and 162,518 female em
ployes; 80 per cent were men, 20 per
cent women. In Washington. D. C.,
there were 69,551 male and 46,413 fe
male employes; 60 per cent men and 40
per cent women.
Q. What is the Scotch word for a
scholarship?—D. T.
A. It is called a bursary.
Q. How much money is spent in ad
vertising in comic, roto, color and maga- * «
zine supplements of newspapers?—W. H.
A. These forms of newspaper adver
tising brought in more than $41,000,000
in revenue to publishers in 1936. #
Perilous.
From the Cincinnati Times-Star.
A lie-detector was tried out on a
politician the other day. What were they
trying to do—blow out a fuse? „
After You!
From the Indianapolis News.
The European idea seems to be that all
the other fellows must carry out a dis
armament policy, first.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
v
The Vernal Season.
Days of hope and days of gladness,
Routing desolate hours of sadness;
Song birds caroling;
In the gardens green things growing;
In the pastures cattle lowing;
Wake, heart; it is Spring!
Woodland streams with life a-quiver;
Sunbeams dancing on the river;
Fruit trees blossoming; .
Nature, a glad promise voicing,
Sets the whole, wide earth rejoicing.
Wake, my heart, and sing!