Evening star. [volume], May 19, 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.
WEDNESDAY...May 19, 1937
THEODORE W. NOYES.Editor
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Principle First.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, put
ting principle above partisan demands,
has rightly voted adversely President
Roosevelt's bill to increase the member
ship of the Supreme Court. Is it too
much to hope that the administration,
reading the handwriting on the wall and
sensing the sentiment of the country
against this attempt on the part of the
Executive to dominate the court, will
withdraw the measure, or at least allow
It to die?
Here was no partisan or sectional de
cision. Of the fourteen Democrats who
are members of the judiciary commit
tee. seven voted against the President’s
bill and seven voted to support it. Not
all the efforts of the political organiza
tion of the dominant party, headed by
National Chairman James A. Farley,
succeeded in shaking loose a single Sen
ator from what he deemed his duty in
this matter. Democratic Senators from
the great States of the Middle West and
the West and from the traditionally
Democratic States of. the South are in
cluded in the list of those who voted
against the measure.
The plan to pack the Supreme Court
In order to obtain decisions desired by
the Executive—the clear purpose of the
bill—has been decisively defeated in the
committee. Despite the claims advanced
by the administration leaders, it now
appears probable that defeat awaits the
bill in the Senate itself if it is pressed
to a vote. It is no secret that many
of the Senators who have been willing
to go along with the President in this
matter will be well satisfied if the bill is
not enacted into law.
11 'h o o /■} rvo i rt t i J 1. __
-- —-- — V 41AJ UUV.I\ Vii
any “compromise" and now it appears
that the time for compromise has passed.
There should be no compromise with
principle. The opponents of the meas
ure have accepted the challenge hurled
at them when the President and his
leaders declared against any change in
the demand for a maximum court of
fifteen members, which would have
meant an increase of six additional
justices of the Supreme Court. With a
seeming lack of the elemental proprieties,
spokesmen for the administration have
suggested that Senators were to be
whipped into line to support the bill;
that they were to be purchased. If neces
sary, by favors granted. The inde
pendence of the Senate, as well as the
Independence of the court, has been
threatened.
When the court reorganization bill
was first put forward by the President
last January stress was laid upon the
need of additional justices of the Su
preme Court to conduct the business
of that tribunal. Very quickly the rec
ords of the court and the opinions of
the members of the court were produced
to clear away the idea that the Su
preme Court is not keeping up with its
docket and its work. Then, more frankly
as time went by, the issue was made
one of "new blood,” new justices who
would render decisions in keeping with
the ideas of the President, who had
prevailed upon the Congress to pass
legislation even though it had a reason
able doubt as to the constitutionality of
the laws demanded.
Here was a clear effort to rewrite the
Constitution without the submission of
an amendment to the people of the
United States—the only rightful agency
to amend the fundamental law. The
administration was opposed to a con
stitutional amendment on the ground
that it would take too long to bring
about its adoption. Rather it preferred
remaking the court, so that not one
amendment but many might follow with
out the action of the people themselves
upon the amendments.
Men who have followed the lead of the
New Deal President in the past and
supported the legislation he has asked
recoiled from a plan to make the judici
ary merely subordinate to the Executive,
to throw to the discard the independence
of the judges. It was too great and too
fundamental a price to pay for any
temporary gain. The Senate Judiciary
Committee has deserved well of the
American people.
A Judicial Ketirement.
Associate Justice Van Devanter of the
Supreme Court leaves the Supreme
Court of the United States with an en
viable record of public service. For
twenty-six years—he is the oldest man
In point of service on the Supreme
bench—Justice Van Devanter has given
wise counsel and wise interpretation of
the law. His colleagues have paid him
tribute and expressed their sense of per
sonal loss because of his announced re
tirement.
Aligned with the more conservative
members of the court—in the interpreta
tion of the Constitution and the law—
Justice Van Devanter has been one of
those upon whom the New Deal critics
*
have directed their fire. His withdrawal
from the court now weakens still further
the preposterous demand that six addi
tional justices be appointed to the
Supreme Court. For his retirement gives
to President Roosevelt the opportunity to
place on the Supreme Court a new Judge,
fresh from the stream of life outside the
courts. His retirement makes it possible
still further to strengthen the liberal
group, so-called, in the membership of
the court. No longer will it be possible
to say that there is a “one man’s land”
in the decisions of the highest court—
meaning thereby that a single justice
can by a change of vote shift the
opinion of the court from conservative
to liberal or vice versa. That is, if the
premise be true that new judges, ap
pointed by the President, will necessarily
be liberal.
Justice Van Devanter has desired for
a long time to retire from the bench.
He would have done so a year ago, it is
said, had Congress enacted at that time
the law recently passed permitting the
voluntary retirement of members of the
Supreme Court. If there has been delay
in his retirement now it may have been
due to the unprecedented situation creat
ed by the President last February when
he sent to the Congress his bill to add a
maximum of six members to the court.
But now he has deemed it his duty to
take himself off the bench. In the per
formance of that duty he has perhaps
more clearly indicated to the American
people the lack of need for the legisla
tion which the President is seeking.
The Fair way Out.
There is discussion of a proposition to
enact a local tax program by riders on
the District appropriation bill, attached
by the Senate Subcommittee on District
Appropriations. It is perhaps more rea
sonable to view the proposition as indica
tive of the general confusion relating to
a local tax program than as a possible
attempt to circumvent the seventh sec
tion. First Article of the Constitution,
which provides that revenue-raising
measures shall originate in the House.
Even if the Senate committee found a
rider already in the bill—such as the
provision increasing water rates—to
which it might add amendments con
stituting a general revenue-raising pro
gram. it is unlikely that Congress would
sanction such irregular procedure.
The situation relating to local revenue
deficits is. of course, enough to give the
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
cause for anxiety. But as serious as may
be the apprehensions of the Senate
committee, it is hardly comparable to
the alarm felt by the taxpayers who
have been silently watching the develop
ments of the past few weeks.
A prospective deficit of about $6,000,000
in the general fund now threatens to
become $7,500,000 as the Senate sub
committee prepares to take up the bill.
If House cuts below budget estimates are
restored and additional funds appro
priated to meet needs outlined—for ex
ample, by the Board of Public Welfare—
the deficit may exceed $8,000,000. On top
of the taxes needed to make up general
revenue shortages a gas tax increase and
automobile weight tax are proposed for
highway purposes only, while the ap
propriation bill as it passed the House in
creased water rates and reduced mini
mum consumption allowances in a man
ner adding $575,000 to water taxes.
The possible tax increases facing the
District, in other words, would amount
to close to $10,000,000—representing an
increase in the total tax burden ap
proaching 30 per cent. It is doubtful
if any city in the country today is facing
any such drastic increase in the tax
burden, or one that is more wholly un
justified by the conditions which
threaten it.
xncac cuuuiiiuiis result irom me
studied policy of lump-sum reduction in
the face of growing demands occasioned
largely by the needs of the American
Capital and by national appropriations
policies—as distinct from the needs of
the local Capital community.
Without grave injustice and excessive
taxation, local taxpayers cannot assume
the prospective burdens in increased
revenues which seem to be in the
making. The Senate subcommittee
should avoid the threatened injustice
by an Increase in the lump sum. The
prospective deficits are not due to any
under-taxation of the District. They
will not be avoided even by the heavy in
crease in local taxation originally pro
posed. From the standpoint of equity,
an increase in the lump sum becomes
unavoidable.
In distributing photographs journalism
has worked with unusual industry in the
past year or so. It may be found desir
able for a.time to reduce our amount of
travel, at least, to the kind that carries
men to where they are needed.
Trees for the States.
Officers of the United States Consti
tution Sesquicentennial Commission have
announced a distinctive recognition of
the part played by the original thirteen
States in the founding of the Union.
Trees representing each of the baker's
dozen of Commonwealths, they propose,
shall be planted in the George Washing
ton Memorial Parkway between the
Arlington and Key Bridges. Prospering
in that location, these living monuments
will symbolize the vitality of the Nation.
They will grow as American civilization
has grown.
Further, it is worthy of note that each
tree will differ from its neighbor just
as one community differs from another
in the national scene. A white pine will
connote New Hampshire and a pecan
Georgia, while a hemlock will be the
arboreal delegate of Pennsylvania and
a red cedar that of Virginia. The elm
has been chosen for Massachusetts, the
walnut for Connecticut, the beech for
New York, the tulip tree for Delaware,
the oak for Maryland, the long-leaf
pine for North Carolina, the live oak
for South Carolina and the sugar maple
for Rhode Island. Naturally beautiful in
concept, the line should be nobly im
pressive in execution. Its effect will be
r
composite, yet each separate Integer
will contribute to the picture. The spot
is certain to be an objective of pilgrimage
for visitors to the Capital.
Indeed, it probably is not too much to
hope that the passing throng will And
a sermon in the spectacle.** Trees have
their roots in the soil and their branches
reaching for the stars. So, human so
ciety, to continue the metaphor, is estab
lished on the earth, but aspires to the
zenith of the heavens. The sponsors of
the plan are to be commended for their
imagination. Patently, they are adding
to the attraction of the Federal City
and its historic environs. Thousands of
citizens in years to come will applaud
their vision. Perhaps one day every
State in the Union will be represented
in the congress of trees. Such a dream
needs no argument. It will appeal to
everybody.
An eighty - eight - year - old farmer
preached his own funeral sermon the
other day at Coatesville, Ind. It could
have waited a few years, at that, but
having been in readiness for some time
it was decided to let it go and accept,
in reward, the assurance that a pleasant
time was had by all. The assignments
of funeral dates is one of the most em
barrassing features of the life insurance
business.
A lady who says everything is in good
order for friendly results at her diplo
matic post is expected to look, hesitate
and seem embarrassed. If she had ex
pressed an opposite opinion she would
have been studied until she almost
wished she hadfiot accepted the honor,
but remained at home where they can
at least talk things over in a friendly
way at the tea table.
New York theaters join in protest
against suppression of a show on the
ground that it is considered “immoral.”
After all, the morals of a show depend
on the ease with which new suggestions
of immorality are Indicated and the j
amount that may be collected under
different circumstances.
Young refugees from Bilbao find haven
in France, which is now regarded by
them as. the country containing the
answer to prayers for the future. The
man that will pray most effectually is
one who will show a readiness for honest
work as emergency arises.
Whatever an opinion may be of an
minority view of a Supreme Court tax
decision, Qne will after reading it care
fully lay it aside for further reading and
proceed to do business in appreciation
of a clear understanding of the law.
No greater charm is shown in Amer
ican music than the melodies borrowed
from Ireland. They may yet hold as
influential a place in our politics as they
have in our art.
The Federal Air Commission is getting
back to the method that built up rail
roading, which was not permitted to
sprawl as it chose, in disregard of orderly
human relationship.
In order to make taxes fit a new deal
it may be necessary to increase the tax
and allow the New Deal to fit the ex
pansion at will.
Shooting Stars.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
The Raconteur.
There used to be a man whose way
Would cause a lot of worry.
He'd stop you on the street and say
“Old friend, what is your hurry!”
New stories he would learn offhand,
He never seemed to miss one.
He'd stop you on the sidewalk and
Exclaim “Have you heard this one?”
Then he would loudly shout, “Ho! Ho!”
And seize me by the collar,
Remarking, “Wait a bit—I know
This one will make you holler.”
And though the chat would interfere
With serious employment,
You always laughed, when he drew near,
With genuine enjoyment.
Now I must hear in figures grave
Financial calculations.
And leam ideas that will save
The credit of all nations.
While I admire the wondrous store
Of intellectual glories,
I long to greet that friend once more
Who Just told funny stories.
Second the More Important.
“After all,” said Senator Sorghum,
“there are only two great financial prob
lems.”
“What are they?” asked the lady
with a note book.
“Where did the money go and, more
important, where is more coming from?”
Jud Tunkins says the Government
has been wasting more money by not
charging high prices for ringside seats
at investigations.
Impalpable and Mysterious.
This stuff called gold seems Just about
A ghost to folks like me.
It’s something that we talk about,
But very seldom see.
Social Study.
"Why do you attend so many recep
tions?”
"For two reasons,” answered Miss Cay
enne. “I wish to. see my friends and
my enemies.”
"War,” said Hi Ho, the sage of China
town, “causes hatreds that survive. You
can make It, but it cannot be unmade.”
Difference Only in Words.
The linguist I no longer cheer,
While envious of his glory.
In every language he will hear
The same old hard-luck story.
"Imitation,” said Uncle Eben, "is de
sincerest flattery, but you don’t appre
ciate de compliment when somebody
admires yoh clothes so much dat dey
Insists on carryin’ ’em off.”
A *
NEW BOOKS I
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERMOND.
NEIGHBOR TO THE SKY. By Gladys
Hasty Carroll. New York: The Mac
millan Co.
Strong and good as the soil from which
it springs is the story of Luke Oilman
and Margery Lee, whose experiences
during eight years of struggle for suc
cess in an alien atmosphere focus at
tention upon the unwholesomeness of
the trend of youth away from the good
earth and toward the bright lights which
proclaim the victory of only a favored
few of the vast army of seekers after
fame and fortune in the great centers
of population.
Luke never expected to be uprooted
from his native soil and transplanted
in unfamiliar surroundings. The Maine
farm, nurturing three generations of
stalwart, happy Gilmans, completely
satisfied his fine, sensitive nature. Fol
lowing his father’s example and advice,
Luke had learned a trade. “No man
with a trade,” Big Luke had said, “has
to ask quarter of anybody. He’s got
security. He can go where he will over
the face of the earth and stop wherever
he chooses. Always there will be work
for his hands and bread for his mouth."
Luke had chosen carpentry. Family,
friends and neighbors called him Car
penter in affection for his fine, uncom
promising goodness amd in esteem and
respect for his ability.
And then Jeff Gilman, younger brother
of Luke, Induced their mother to furnish
room and board to Margery Lee. new
teacher of the country school. Frail, in
tense and determined, Margery saw in
Luke Gilman an opportunity to fulfill
her own ambition. Aside from the com
fort of a warm, cozy room and an
abundance of good food, the Gilman
household represented nothing to the
young school teacher except the things
she wished to get away from. To her
own discredit, the healthy, wholesome
affection that marked the family life
passed over her head. She had come
from a farm in Vermont for which she
held no tender feelings. In dirt, poverty
and sordid misery she had grown up.
With a heart full of bitterness she
hated everything relating to farms and
to small towns. She prepared herself for
teaching with the sole idea of progress
ing from country school to small town
school and eventually to an appoint
ment in New York, where there was no
limit to the fame she might reach. 8he
wanted to be somebody. She wanted
to be an actress and to see her name
flaming in electric lights on Broadway.
And the Gilmans were only farmers, no
matter how likable and kindly they
were from “Grammum” down.
♦ * * *
Margery's decision to win Luke's af
fection and to marry him is reached
after careful deliberation and is carried
into effect with machinelike calculation
and precision. She is not in love with
him. but she knows that through his
love for her she can drive him to a
position of importance in the professional
world. While she is forcing him onward
she plans to use his prestige and his
money to make her own way to success.
She marries him and they leave the farm,
Luke to become part-time teacher in a
technical high school in New Denham
and an undergraduate in a nearby col
lege, and Margery to keep house for
him and keep him fired with ambition
to occupy a professorial chair. From
Massachusetts they go to New York,
where Luke graduates from Teachers’
College of Columbia University and
eventually is appointed to the faculty of
a Wisconsin university. Meanwhile
Margery has helped earn their living
whenever opportunity offers, never com
plaining, yet never ceasing to drive Luke
to the limit of his endurance.
Along the road of progress new ex
periences and contacts with new people
are the breath of life to the warped soul
and frail body of Margery. Acquaintance
with the wives of teachers and with
the families of Luke’s associates brings
her step by step nearer to the coveted
goal of security in the world of cultured
society Patiently, doggedly and nearly
always cheerfully, Luke dances to Mar
gery's tune, not because he wants to,
but because he loves her and earnestly
wants to help her realize her ambition.
Actually he is miserably unhappy in
surroundings he does not like and among
people whose pettiness, selfishness and
narrowness he does not understand. He
longs for the peace, the beauty and the
friendliness of the Maine farm, for the
sense of well being that accompanies
contact with the soil and communion
with nature.
As the years roll by and the intensity
of Margery’s concentration in promoting
Luke’s professional status increases, she
gradually loses all of her earlier ambi
tion to write her own name on the scroll
of fame. In Wisconsin she rides the
crest of society's ceaselessly rolling wave
for a while and is happy. They buy an
imitation Cape Cod cottage—as out of
place in Wisconsin as a palm tree would
be in Newfoundland—which Luke hates.
But Margery is tasting success in a big
way. She furnishes the cottage with
antiques, wins the admiration and adula
tion of the faculty wives and entertains
somewhat lavishly. Like sheep, her
neighbors follow her lead and the com
munity goes Cape Cod. Luke is popular
as a member of the faculty, is promoted
to the rank of assistant professor. A tiny
new Luke arrives and all goes well until
the dean of the college of medicine brings
his bride into the university circle.
Jacquel Kessler’s sophistication and
style introduce a new fashion of life in
the exclusive community. Her new house
and its furnishings, her clothes, her
reading, her opinions and her manners
are in violent contrast with all of White
Cloud’s previous overturns of custom.
Inward revolt against the hideosities of
ultra-modern idealism is accompanied by
outer tolerance for a while, but soon the
sheep respond to the irresistible urge of
the new herder and Margery, still be
lieving in her power to hold her own
against the heaviest of odds, goes down
to defeat.
It is then that Luke takes into his
own hands the shaping of their lives.
Eight long years of study and struggle
have taught both of them a great deal
more about life than they needed to
learn and left them stranded on the
road to nowhere. In addition, Luke is
more keenly aware of his unshakable
conviction that the soil is the source of
all wealth and that the fashioning with
his own hands of a piece of fine wood
into an object of beauty is an honorable
and noble occupation.
w + m w
Mrs. Carroll is an accomplished novel
ist. In this story, as in its predecessors,
her characters are finely drawn and
endowed with the normal human quali
ties of all men and women who are
earnestly striving toward the common
goal of contentment.
Consistent.
From the Kanaas City Star.
A stanch partisan of that useful article
known as the rubber stamp indignantly
protests against the too-common appli
cation of that term to the present Con
gress. "And besides,” he adds, "a rubber
■tamp Is always consistent.”
4
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.
Qualities fostered by the home aqua
rium are many, among them being:
1. Faithfulness.
2. Duty.
3. Care.
4. Attention to detail.
5. Intelligence.
6. True estimation of facts.
7. Acceptance of the inevitable.
8. Realization that what sometimes
seems inevitable is not so.
9. Understanding the difference be
tween the sheer animal and man.
10. Comprehension of the difference
between nature and man.
* * * *
It is safe to say that even the young
est child, with a couple of goldfish in
a small tank, will begin to receive some
of these benefits.
At least a few steps will be taken
along each of these paths toward under
standing.
*The older person, according to his
capacity, will go farther and derive a
great deal more benefit.
The greatest gain, of course, comes
to him or her who possesses an in
nate love of animals. This is a thing
in itself, something apart, a gift which
not all possess.
The possessor has the greatest pleas
ure and excitement merely in the con
templation of a noble dog, a fine cat,
a really first-class specimen of tropical
fish.
Faithfulness to the pact undertaken
is the first thing one learns on taking
over the care of a few finny fellows
in an absurdly small quantity of water.
Even the most unthinking person re
alizes at once that the inmates have no
way of getting food unless he puts it in.
He sees, within a few days, that he
is the god of this outfit, with the
powers of life and death in his hands.
It is a sobering thought for the sensi
tive, and no doubt intrudes Itself,
though unconsciously, on the insensi
tive, who make up about 99 per cent
—or is that too low?—of humanity.
* * * *
Faithfulness, then, in the small but
Important chores of the aquarium is a
real lesson in a big world wherein the
very idea of "lesson” has grown repug
nant to many, but which is, neverthe
less, still a very real and important
thing.
People have to get ideas of faithful
ness somewhere and somehow if they
do not want to miss something great.
The world for centuries has found this
quality high and mighty, and it does
not seem that any smart-alec lacking
essential breeding and true background
is going to find it otherwise, really.
Faithfulness is something to be glad
of and rejoice in and benefit from.
It is given to many persons in lowly
places and often to those in high.
The fish anil die unless it is fed,
given oxygen to breathe and otherwise
made physically comfortable.
In the determination of these simple
but important duties toward another
living thing, the aquarium manager
learns the first principles of duty, if
he have them not already.
Many persons, highly cultured and
skilled, nevertheless seem to have the
most rudimentary ideas of duty. Duty,
they think, is Just one-sided!
Often it comes as a shock to them,
as the result of living, to discover that
the better and higher sort of duty is
toward others.
Maybe a glass tank filled with swim
mers will help start them on the road
to self-discovery.
* * * *
The care needed in aquarium man
agement can be learned only by experi
ence. through the true estimation of
facts. There are so many factors, some
of them uncontrollable, entering into
this slice of life that the utmost care
is needed at all times to insure success.
This care, bringing in both the ideas
of faithfulness and duty, immediately
teams up with intelligence. The idea
some persons have, that aquarium man
agement is too simple to dignify with
words, is soon found to be as wrong as
wrong can be.
Intelligence is not something to use
one place and not use some place else.
This first principle of human thought
works itself out splendidly in the hand
ling of a bowl of guppies, even.
As long as we think, we have a right
to try to use intelligence where we
please!
The only question that should worry
us is: Have we any to use?
* * * *
This question is triumphantly an
swered in the affirmative when it comes
to home aquarium management.
The life of living creatures depends
upon us. We have a duty toward them
which demands faithfulness and care
based on intelligent understanding.
The manager—every one with a guppy
is an executive—soon discovers that one
must never underestimate the part any
thing plays in life. You never can tell!
The things invisible are as "big,” in a
certain sense, as the things we see.
The idea carries over and on into the
affairs of everyday life. The faithful
aquarium executive comes to see that
nothing is either great or small, “but
thinking makes it so"—at least in part.
* * * *
Acceptance of the inevitable is the
supreme lesson of life, but it brings
with it the realization that often what
we regard as inevitable is really not
so, but something which may be rem
edied upon occasion.
Hence we search as surely as we may,
investigating all things, especially those
we doubt and instinctively think are
not true and of which we are naturally
suspicious. This is the doubter's faith.
In handling the aquarium we see the
difference between the sheer animal
and the sheer man, between nature
and man, if we choose to put it that
way. These creatures in the tank are
living, breathing, eating, much as we,
but there is a great gulf which it is
the privilege of man, not nature, to
bridge.
We have a last comprehension, per
haps, that fish life is not man life.
"The thoughts of the turtle are all
turtle,” said Emerson.
We hold in an aquarium, in two
hands, another world than ours, which
we must try to understand, if only for
a moment, by thinking turtle and talk
ing turtle, too.
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
Associate Justice Van Devanter’s resig
nation, though long rumored as an im
minent possibility, took most of Wash
ington by surprise. Belief, supposed to
rest upon direct word from Chief Justice
Hughes and his colleagues, has per
sisted that none of them would retire
under fire—that is, while the court con
troversy remained in the legislative
stage. Unless Van Devanter’s example
is emulated by others eligible to quit
under the new retirement act, his action
is not expected to alter the situation
from the President’s standpoint or halt
F. D. R.'s determination to secure enact
ment of the bill just reported adversely
by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The
78-year-old jurist, who will relinquish
his place on June 2, is the ranking mem
ber of the court, with roundly 27 years
of service to his credit. He first entered
the Federal judiciary by appointment of
President Theodore Roosevelt to the
Circuit Court in 1903 and was elevated
to the Supreme Court seven years later
by President Taft. A native of Indiana,
Justice Van Devanter w^ent to Wyoming
in early manhood. His initial judicial
post was given him by President Harri
son, who in 1889 made Van Devanter
chief justice of the territorial supreme
bench at Cheyenne. Despite consistent
identification with the conservative wing.
Van Devanter has the reputation of
being one of the soundest and most
seasoned legal minds on the Nation's
tribunal of highest resort.
* * * *
Dramatic suddenness of the Van De
vanter resignation strengthens the view
that any number of things equally as
unexpected may happen to alter the
court conflict with lightninglike rapidity.
This includes the possibility of com
promise on Mr. Roosevelts part, not
withstanding the adamant front pre
sented by the White House. Evidence
of the intensity and size of the Demo
cratic revolt, indisputably illuminated by
the Senate Judiciary Committee vote, is
thought certain to be having cumulative
effect upon the New Deal high command,
especially the politically-minded branch,
which thinks in terms of campaigns and
elections. There's no doubt whatever
that the President has been taken com
pletely and disagreeably by surprise by
the magnitude and stubbornness of the
opposition to court-packing. He ap
parently remains convinced, nevertheless,
that the people, broadly speaking, are
far more favorable to the scheme than
Congress. This reputed conviction ac
counts for late reports that the Chief
Executive will not shrink, if necessary,
from taking his cause straight to the
country at large in a great and solemn
referendum, either before or in the 1938
election.
* * * *
With at least one supreme uourt ap
pointment already at his disposal, specu
lation is instantly revived as to Presi
dent Roosevelt’s preferences for "new
blood” on the high bench. Two men
continue to rank as top possibilities—
Assistant Attorney General Robert H.
Jackson and James M. Landis. Securities
and Exchange Commission chairman and
dean-designate of Harvard Law School.
8enator Bob Wagner of New York is also
held to be strongly in the running.
Should Justice Brandeis’ place become
vacant for any reason. Prof. Felix Frank
furter would mount into prominence as
his logical successor. Donald R. Rich
berg, supposed co-architect of the judici
ary bill, is seldom left out of account
when additional justiceships are under
discussion. One factor bound to be con
spicuous in the President’s mind when he
begins to think about new men will be
their confirmation prospects, as well as
their eligibility from the standpoint of
"enlightened liberalism.” Not. every one
so far honorably mentioned is assured
of smooth sailing through the senatorial
* waters.
t
Jim Farley's “We have the votes” dic
tum is altogether likely, before the Su
preme Court fray passes into legislative
history, to cause close scrutiny as to just
how “we” got the votes, provided “we”
do get them. Deep-seated resentment
is understood to have been aroused every
where on Capitol Hill by the subtle sug
gestion. attributed to the Democratic
national chairman, that legislators who
oppose the administration’s plan might
regret their hostility when it comes to
patronage and projects in which they
are interested. There’s now certain to be
careful X-raying of the vote of each
and every member of the Senate, at
present uncommitted, who eventually
lines up for the court-packing program.
This situation does not yet apply to
the House, in which there has been no
detailed count of noses because the lower
branch has so far not been called upon
to face the music. Whenever it is. it's
expected to register an adequate, if not
overwhelming, majority in favor of the
measure.
* * * *
There is growing interest among Amer
ican seaports in the creation of foreign
trade zones like the first one recently
established in New York Harbor, at
Stapleton, Staten Island. The purpose
is to build up trans-shipment commerce
at various points of Uncle Sam's far
flung coast line. The Alabama State
Dock Commission has applied for such
facilities at Mobile. Similar steps have
been taken on behalf of San Francisco.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board in
Washington is clothed with the requisite
authority, after filing of formal applica
tions and holding of hearings, as pro
vided by the Celler act approved in
June, 1934.
* * * *
“Washington Calling" is the name of a
novel just off the press, written by
Marquis W. Childs of the Capital staff
of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and which
has the current national political scene
as its background. It tackles a variety
of situations similar to those which have
created history during the New Deal,
including a mythical $64,000,000 loan
from the “Financial Rehabilitation Au
thority.” Connected with that make
believe transaction is an imaginary
Southern ex-Senator running a po
litical law office in Washington, who at
tempts to have a Federal judgeship given
to a politician certain to approve the
deal. "President John Winthrop” is one
of the leading characters in the book,
along with “Ferris Branolsky,” a crusad
ing young lawyer with a passion for
fighting corporate and political abuses.
Mr. Childs is the author of "Sweden—
The Middle Way,” an authoritative and
highly regarded treatise on the co
operative movement.
* * * *
Amid the encircling gloom, Senate
Judiciary Chairman Ashurst maintains
his invincible good humor. Somebody
asked the Arizonan this week how he’s
bearing up under the prospect of defeat
on the court bill. “It’s easy enough to
bear up under defeat,” he smilingly re
plied. “I’ve always found it a much
tougher proposition to survive victory.”
* * * *
Latest long-range 1940 political gossip
credits Vice President Garner with fa
voring the presidential aspirations of his
fellow Texan, R. F. C. Chairman Jesse
H. Jones, as the Democrats' best bet.
Because of his triumph as a Warwick
at Chicago in 1932. the V. P.'s backing
is nothing to sneeze at.
(Copyright, 11)37.)
Short Cuts.
From the Battle Creek Enquirer-News.
Members of a Detroit cult mutilate
their faces with knives. They could
serve their religion and a useful purpose
both at once by shaving hastily with a
straight razor.
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.
Raskin, Director, Washington, D. C.
Please inclose stamp for reply,
Q. If whisky Is two years old when
purchased In a bottle, how old is it tf
it is kept three years in the bottle?
—R. H.
A. It is still two years old. It does
not age in glass.
Q. Why is the left arm of former
Kaiser Wilhelm useless?—A. S.
A. The left arm of the former Kaiser
of Germany is paralyzed. At the time
of his birth the shoulder socket was
tom away and the surrounding muscles
so severely injured that with the com
paratively limited knowledge of surgery_
at that time, no doctor would attempt’
to readjust it.
Q. How much does the average pail
of water weigh?—F. W.
A. About twenty-nine pounds. *
Q. What is the highest lake in New
York State?—C. R.
A. It is Lake Tear on the southwest
slope of Mount Marcy in Essex County
which is 4,300 feet above sea level.
Q. How many species of flies are there?
—M. N.
A. There are 40,000 described species
of flies, about 11,000 occur in North
America. Flies are among the oldest
of insects. Their fossil remains are
found in the rocks of early geologic agps
and are also preserved in amber.
Q. How was the theme. “Natures
Paint Pot,” carried out in the Mardi
Gras parade?—W. H.
A. The parade consisted of 17 floats
illustrating colors as displayed by nature
in various ways. These included the
rainbow, flames, the sea and its fish,
polar life, water fowl, fruits, birds, Au
tumn leaves, butterflies and the aurora
borealis. There were lesser parades of
various clubs and organizations such as
the Krewe of Orleanians, which included
the Imps of Hades, the Skiers of Para
dise, the Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
and Robin Hood and his Merry Men.
The Negro parade, led by King Zulu,
marched through the city with its mem
bers, in keeping with their theme, "Dark
est Africa.”
Q. Was Edward Everett highly edu
cated?—^ J.
A. He was a graduate of Harvard Uni-#
verslty and before becoming professor
of Greek at his alma mater went abroad
to travel and study, receiving his Ph. D,
at Gottingen.
Q. Where is Paderewski at present?
—W. C.
A. He is living in Switzerland.
Q. How did language originate?—H S.
A. The origin of language is a ques
tion concerning which philologists are
not agreed. It was assumed at one
time that the first words were imitative
of natural sounds. Later it was sup
posed that they were interjections or
exclamations. A third theory is the "ges
ture-speech” theory, in which the origin
of language is traced to the expressive
movements shared by man with the
animals. Certain gestures which in
volved muscles of the face, mouth and
tongue were accompanied, it was argued,
by sound. None of these theories has’
as yet proved adequate in explaining the
development of modern language.
How long is the Trans-Siberian Rail
road? When was it built?—D. F.
A. It covers a distance of 5.550 miles
across both European and Asiatic Russia.
The work of building it was begun at
Moscow and was rapidly extended. Oren
burg was reached in 1877. In 1880 the
bridge over the Volga was built and the
section connecting the Volga and Obi
River basins was begun. In May, 1891,
the first work on the real Trans-Si
berian Railroad was begun. As a single
track line it was completed in 1902. The
cost was $175,000,000. From Moscow to
Port Arthur the entire system was
cheaply built. Constant improvements
have had to be made.
f
Q. Where is the memorial to Edith
Cavell?—M. W.
A. A statue of the war nurse by Sir
George Frampton stands opposite the
National Portrait Gallery, London.
Q. Please give some information about
the author of the Alger books —J. H.
A. Horatio Alger (1843-1899) aban
doned the ministry in 1864 to live in
New York City. He lived at the News
boys’ Lodging House, which he helped
manage. Over 100 novels based on the
idea that virtue is always rewarded were
written by the author who gaye away
to poor boys most of his income and
died in poverty.
Q. How is caviar prepared for can
ning?—M. R.
A. The ovaries, when removed fr^ns
the fish, are beaten to loosen the eggs,
which are then freed from fibers, fat
and membrane by being passed through
a sieve. The liquor is pressed off and
the eggs are then salted and sealed in
tins or kegs.
Q. What is the word which means
‘‘not able to taste”?—M. N.
A. The word is aguisia.
Q. Who was Old Parr?—W. H. M
A. Thomas Parr (1483(?)-1635) was
an English centenarian. His birth date
is unauthenticated, but he was a Shrop-*
shire farmer who married for the first
time at the age of 80. In 1635 he was
taken to London by the Earl of Arundel
to present to Charles I. He died soon
after from what the great physician,
William Harvey, diagnosed as change of
air and diet. He was buried in West
minster Abbey. In the nineteenth cen
tury many stories were invented about
him to advertise a quack remedy, Old
Parr's Life Pills.
Q. When did Sun Beau win his first
race?—J. H.
A. Sun Beau won his first race on Oc
tober 27, 1927, at Laurel, as a 2-year-old.
A Rhyme at Twilight
By
Gertrude Brooke Hamilton.
Paper Dolls.
I opened a childhood's desk today.
And there in a dust-covered nook.
Thumbed and torn, some paper dolls lay
I had cut from a fashion book.
A pretty matron and children three
That I used to play with—and dream
Of the little children would come to me;
And I'd wonder how it would seem.
Laying the dolls in their dusty stall. ,
With a laugh that was half a sigh,
I let the desk-lid gently fall
l On the little girl that was I.
i