Evening star. [volume], September 14, 1939, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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With Sunday Morning Edition
THEODORE W. NOTES, Editor.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
THURSDAY..September 14, 1939
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herein also are reserved
Extra bession
When the House and Senate
convene in extra session a week
from today in compliance with
President Roosevelt's proclamation,
they will be confronted with a prob
lem in foreign relations more mo
mentous than any that has come
before an American Congress since
the extraordinary session of April,
1917, when, at the call of President
W'oodrow Wilson, “grave matters of
national policy” were taken “imme
diately under consideration.” Then
the special session was summoned
to hear a presidential message ad
vising Congress to declare war on
the imperial German government.
The forthcoming session, by contrast,
will be asked by the President to
take certain steps he believes are
necessary to keep this country out
of a war precipitated by another
German government.
Foremost of the steps which
President Roosevelt will ask of Con
gress will be repeal of the mandatory
embargo on arms, ammunition and
implements of war to participants
in the conflict between Nazi Ger
many and the European democracies.
The next step on the administration's
program presumably would be the
re-enactment of a “cash and
carry" plan for restoring to this
country the commerce rights of a
neutral Nation, subject to certain
restrictions on shipping and travel
designed to preclude American en
tanglement in the present war.
Secretary Hull has proposed, for
example, that our trade—in manu
factured arms as well as raw mate
rials—be opened to all belligerents on
a come-and-get-it and pay-before- j
you-take-it-away basis.
Battle lines already are forming
for what probably will be a bitter
fight at the Capitol between the
followers of the isolationist theory
in foreign relations and supporters
of the administration’s realistic and
practical view of the neutrality
question. The isolationists want the
embargo on munitions retained
because, with all sincerity, they have
come to believe that tms curious
remnant of the 1937 Neutrality Act
somehow—they do not make it clear
Just how—will keep the United
States from becoming involved in the
European catastrophe. This em
bargo provision of the two-year-old,
truncated law (the “cash and carry”
section died automatically last May)
is curious because it shuts the door
on traffic in guns, bombs, warplanes
and gas, but leaves wide open the
gates of trade for the steel with
which guns and bombs are made; the
cotton with which projectiles are
shot into space and the oil and
gasoline which enable planes and
tanks to carry out their missions of
death. American ships, under the
present law, are free to carry these
ingredients of the “implements of
war” to any belligerent in any danger
zone.
The cry is being raised by the iso
lationists, even in advance of the
meeting of Congress, that to repeal
the embargo section while nations
are at war would be an unneutral
act, in that the democratic allies
would be favored and the Nazi ag
gressors accordingly disadvantaged.
It ill becomes the embargo forces to
raise this point now. Only a few
weeks ago, when President Roosevelt
and Secretary Hull were striving to
obtain action before adjournment of
the regular session, these champions
of the embargo were ignoring the
very same suggestion—advanced
then by some of the administration
leaders. The isolationists almost in
variably countered by pooh-poohing
the idea that war might be immi
nent.
As a matter oi tact, it can oe
argued with just as much logic that
Imposition of the embargo after the
recent outbreak of hostilities was
an unneutral act, for its effect in
disputably was to handicap Britain
and France and Poland, who will
have desperate need of our war sup
plies, and to strengthen the cause of
the Reich, which already is armed
to the teeth. It cannot be gainsaid
that America right now is playing
the “so-called neutrality” game ex
actly the way Fuehrer Hitler wants
her to play it. The embargo does
not place this country in a truly
neutral position and does not offer
any protection against our involve
ment in war. These two objectives—
a neutral status so far as that may
be achieved by legislation and safety
—will not be attained until the
United States does away with em
bargo and revives the cash-and
\
carry plan. This would be a neutral
ity that would open our markets to
any belligerent able to pay cash and
carry the goods away in her own
ships—whether the goods be muni
tions or raw materials. Herr Hitler
would not like this particular brand
of neutrality, it is true, because his
merchant fleet has been driven to
cover by a war of his own making.
What Hitler likes or dislikes is of
secondary importance, however. The
paramount objective of Congress
when it meets next week should be
the safeguarding of the peace and
security of the United States. The
Star agrees with the administration
that the best approach to that ob
jective is the scrapping of the arms
embargo and a cautious exercise of
neutral rights under recognized rules
of international fair play.
The Bulldog Spirit
Of the many miscalculations with
which Hitler embarked upon war two
weeks ago today, none is more egre
gious than his underestimation of the
British will to fight. The Germans’
undeclared war on Poland was
nivoted on the expectation, probably
sold to Der Fuehrer by Von Ribben
trop, that, once the Polish Army was
subdued and Anglo-French inability
immediately to rescue the eastern
ally demonstrated to the whole
world, a tired or indifferent Britain
and France would be receptive to
“fait accompli” peace proposals.
In his second “report on the war”
to Parliament yesterday, Prime Min
ister Chamberlain planted an annihi
lating depth charge under that illu
sion. Fresh from conference with
Premier Daladier in France, he de
clared to a cheering House of Com
mons that the western allies “are
convinced there can be no peace
until the menace of Hitlerism has
been finally removed.” Thus, as Ger
many’s mechanized legions sweep
across Poland toward the Russian
and Rumanian borders—though War
saw is still “indomitably” held, as
Mr. Chamberlain phrased it—the
Nazis know on the highest authority
that the hope of holding their latest
booty is vain, insofar as it depends
on the expectation that the allies
will not fight to the end. Public
opinion on that score, the Prime
Minister emphasized, “is completely
in accord on both sides of the
channel.”
It remains to develop whether such
assurances, cotnforting as far as they
go, will mollify that section of Brit
ain which, despite the censorship, is
clamoring for more forceful action
by Poland's allies before she lies
helpless at the invader’s feet. Lord
Beaverbrook's Evening Standard
early this week voiced an apparently
rising tide of British discontent over
what seems to some critics to be the
“masterly inactivity” of the British
and the French armies and air forces
with respect to offensive operations
on the western front.
Probably such outbursts as the
Evening Standard's also reflect pop
ular disappointment over the navy’s
failure more effectively to cope with
the German submarines. These have
sunk some 100,000 tons of British
shipping in a fortnight. Britons ob
viously are waiting impatiently for
the “Churchill touch” at the ad
miralty—waiting amid painful mem
ories of how near the U-boats came
to starving them in 1917 and 1918.
Mr. Chamberlain admits that the
British merchant fleet has suffered
“somewhat severe” losses, but enemy
submarines, he adds, “are constantly
being attacked” and “successes have
been achieved.” And in a quiet, but
Immensely significant statement, the
Prime Minister added, “practically
all German shipping has been driven
off the high seas.” The effective
blockade of the Reich is at work.
The government's statement shed no
light on the reason for the continued
absence of large-scale offensive
operations by the allied air forces
beyond announcing that the Royal
Air Force “already has a number of
squadrons operating from French
soil.”
It has been said that the British
in war are “slow starters, but strong
finishers.” They proved to be just
that in the World War. So far his
tory is repeating itself in Hitler’s war.
But Mr. Chamberlain’s pledge that
the fight will go on until the Nazi
peril to democratic civilization is
crushed, lock, stock and barrel,
means that the bulldog spirit still
rules among the people who know
how to die, but not to surrender.
Sound Policy
Decision of the major American
radio broadcasting organizations to
apply a strict rule of moderation and
responsibility to their dissemination
of war news reflects great credit on a
young and important industry. The
listening public should receive the
announcement with gratification.
The press, an “old hand” at publiciz
ing great events, should welcome the
application of the highest standards
by a colleague and competitor, at the
same time protecting its own repu
tation.
For its part, as President Roosevelt
already has suggested, the public
should apply the most careful dis
crimination in its acceptance of in
formation pertaining to the catas
trophe that is now engulfing Europe.
Certainly no other event in the his
tory of the world was ever so publi
cized as will be this one, no machin
ery for the distributing of news ever
so taxed as will be that existing to
day, and no citizenry ever confronted
with such a mass of detailed, and
often conflicting, information as will
be presented to our contemporaries.
Literally millions of words already
have been poured into microphones
and onto the printed page as radio
and newspaper facilities of this Na
K,
tlon, and presumably all others, have
concentrated their energies on dis
cussing the war.
The result, of course, should be a
far greater public enlightenment on
vital developments than was ever
possible In the case of previous
epochal events. And that this will
be so can hardly be doubted.
At the same time this whole ma
chinery of disseminating factual
information can with relative ease
be abused by an indulgence in inac
curacies or propaganda to a point
where it might nullify much of its
value. Very probably there will be
determined effort by interested gov
ernments and individuals to turn the
radio or the press into special plead
ers for their particular cause. And
there will be a measure of success
in such efforts, at least in countries
where freedom of expression has
vanished or is in jeopardy.
For those in control of the radio
and press of America, divorced as we
are from immediate participation
and concerned primarily with the
true interests of the United States, a
grave responsibility exists to see that
our own facilities should be directed
exclusively at bringing to the public
truths rather than distortions, sane
judgments rather than inflammatory
opinions.
Along such lines lies not only the
good of the Nation, but the continu
ing existence of our valued heritage
of free speech and free press.
The Whining Schoolboy
These are the days when Shake
speare’s “whining schoolboy, with his
satchel and shining morning face”
begins to creep “like a snail unwill
ingly to school.” During the past
week vacation came to an end for
the more than 10,000 children at
tending the Catholic schools of the
District. Monday the public school
bells will begin ringing.
A lot of water has run under the
bridge since the Bard of Avon penned
his famous lines in “As You Like It.”
In the Capital today there is no par
ticular necessity to go “whining” and
“unwillingly” to school. The modern
curriculum is constantly being re
vised to make it applicable to the
times and more palatable to the stu
dent. A highly integrated program
of extracurricular activities after
school hours provides an outlet for
extra energy. Far from staying away,
already one can find some youngsters
sitting on the steps of the schools
which are open, perhaps discussing
the coming year in this or that
activity. School now is not just
education; it is living.
Education, indeed, has come a long
way but it still has a long way to go.
Despite the sunny picture of smooth
educational machinery beginning to
function once more, there are shady
spots. The local system still does not
provide adequately for shut-ins al
though it has constantly asked for
funds to undertake this work. There
are still overcrowded classrooms re
quiring more construction, still old
buildings needing replacement. Cor
rection of many of these needs Is
being again sought in the budget for
the next fiscal year. It is to be hoped
the most urgent items will receive
approval.
Bear Justice
Let no one claim that in America
the accused criminal does not get a
fair deal, whether he be a citizen or
otherwise. In some places he does
not even have to be human. In the
Yellowstone National Park there are
courts to try bears. The personnel,
made up of rangers, includes a judge,
attorneys for both prosecution and
defense, and a jury. Ursine inhabi
tants of the park are allowed to be
mischievous, to disturb the peace
and commit petty larceny, and are
not brought to trial for anything less
serious than biting a tourist.
It is not clear just how technical
the trial is. Perhaps only the bear
facts are presented. On the other
hand, perhaps the prosecutor goes
through an elaborate rigmarole to
the effect that on September seventh,
Anno Domini 1939, in the aforemen
tioned State of Wyoming the de
fendant bruin did maliciously, fe
loniously and successfully put the
bite on the said person of the said
complainant lawfully and legally en
gaged in the pursuit of health, hap
piness and a collection of reminis
cences with which to bore his neigh
bors on returning from his vacation
in the said State of Wyoming. In
any event, some verdict is rendered.
In some cases, the prisoner is put on
probation under a suspended sen
tence, especially for a first offense.
The park authorities, who have them
selves often been puzzled by certain
specimens of the genus tourist, gen
erously allow each bear one free un
penalized bite, hoping that after that
his curiosity will be permanently
satisfied.
The largest restaurant in the
world seats 3,200 persons. It would
take a big band to blare loudly
enough S9 that the patrons in far
corners have to scream at one an
other, but it is probable it manages
to have one adequate for the pur
pose.
Science announces a “number three
type” of helium, hard to obtain and
desirable for aircraft because of a
high degree of lifting power and
non-inflammability. This also will
be a good sort for the United States
to keep to itself.
Can you remember when, away
back yonder, the monthly meetings
of the League of Nations were big
news?
Well, well, it will look sort of fa
miliar, at that, to see aged Aloysius
Simmons in another World Series.
h
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas R. Henry.
A definite seasonal effect at high al
titudes in the intensity of cosmic radia
tion—the incredibly powerful showers of
particles constantly bombarding the
earth from outer space—was reported to
the cosmic ray symposium at the Uni
versity of Chicago by Dr. William P.
Jesse of the Chicago faculty. It was dis
covered from a series of flights with
unmanned balloons carrying cosmic ray
apparatus which have been carried out
since last October.
The symposium was attended by the
world’s foremost physicists interested in
the cosmic ray problem In an effort to
co-ordinate the many new and in some
cases paradoxical findings being reported
from all over the world. Both the origin
and the actual nature of this highly
penetrating radiation are subjects of
much dispute.
Dr. Jesse's measurements were taken
with specially devised apparatus which
made constant measurements both of
the radiation itself and the pressure,
from which the altitude could be cal
culated. In each flight the apparatus
attained a height sufficient to be con
sidered the cosmic ray ceiling.
From November 1 to April 1 but little
eKnnna nrac nhcprupH frr»m tVlP mnYi
mum intensity of cosmic rays. A flight
on April 18, however, showed a very small
diminution of the peak value. Flights
on May 30 and June 10 showed a peak
value about 10 per cent lower than the
highest attained during the winter. This
change is about 10 times the estimated
error of the experiment.
This agrees, Dr. Jesse said, with results
recently reported by Dr. Robert A. Milli
kan of the California Institute of Tech
nology at Omaha. He found a diminu
tion in cosmic ray intensity in summer
flights over that in winter flights.
For some of the winter flights, Dr. Jesse
said, it appeared that the pressure at
which the maximum value of cosmic ray
intensity occurred shifted slightly in the
direction of higher pressures as com
pared with the spring and autumn
flights.
The results, it was stressed, are con
trary to expectation in showing larger
variations in the upper atmosphere than
are found at sea level. According to
the widely accepted theory of Dr. P. M.
S. Blackett of Manchester University,
England, this could not exist since the
sea level variation is due to mesotrons,
newly discovered exploding elementary
particles of matter, which are themselves
produced in the upper atmosphere. The
levels at which they are formed are
closer to the earth in cold weather than
in hot, when the air is expanded by
heat.
The mesotron is supposed to disin
tegrate near the top of the atmosphere
by emitting alpha rays like radium, so
that relatively few of the particles them
selves reach the earth. More of them
would come through in cold weather be
cause they do not have so far to travel.
A new yardstick for measuring cosmic
ray intensity was reported by Dr. J.
Clay of the University of Amsterdam.
Using ionization, the electrical conduc
tivity of the air as his basic measure, he
has determined the average ionization
per cubic centimeter at sea level. This
is about a hundredth-millionth of that
caused by an X-ray beam, and is one of
the smallest electric current magnitudes
with which physicists have had to deal.
IW 1WJ U*MlUtV*lVUU A U iiHU VOVHjyVU
attention up to the present.
The determination is of practical value
to physicists because it makes possible a
common value for measurements made
anywhere in the world. This has con
stituted a difficult problem for physicists,
similar to that which once confronted
them in determining the dosage of
X-rays for patients.
Failure to find significant differences
in cosmic ray intensity in the northern
and southern hemispheres was reported
by Drs. A. H. Compton and P. S. Gill of
the University of Chicago.
Theoretically, if the radiation is com
ing from outside the Milky Way galaxy
the Intensity in the northern hemisphere
should be approximately half of one per
cent greater than in the southern hemi
sphere. The fact that there is no differ
ence beyond the limits of experimental
error may indicate that the radiation
originates in the galaxy itself and shares
its rotation.
—
Believes Profiteering Already
Under Way.
To the Editor of The Star:
War in Europe was not a week old be
fore the consuming public in the United
States began to feel the rise in the price
of food, particularly that of meat, flour
and sugar.
There has been no drastic shortage in
the wheat crop this year—estimated at
549.219.000 bushels, which is 64,000,000
bushels over the crop of last fall. There
has been no drought to kill off the cattle,
as was the case a few years back. And
while domestic sugar cane and sugar beet
growers have been curtailed in their
quotas to some extent, there has been no
reported shortage of sugar, which up
until a week ago was selling at a nom
inal price.
Tb.prpfnrp If. wnulri *ppm that, fhic miH
den jump in the prices of these necessi
ties is profiteering.
Those of us old enough to remember
the World War recall the hectic days of
rationing of foodstuffs. This, no doubt,
was a necessity at that time, but no
doubt could have been forestalled had
foresight been used in storing up supplies
against a time of necessity.
A pound of sugar was a ration per
person for a month. I remember very
clearly trying to make my pound of
sugar eke out. Also I remember how
my younger sister surprised us all by sav
ing out enough of her ration over a
period of weeks to make a pound of
candy to send to my brother in France
for Christmas.
There will be no necessity for such
rationing by the consuming public of
today if we demand that profiteering
in the foodstuffs and other necessities
of life be stopped immediately. We live
in a land of plenty. Never again should
we be compelled to lower the living
standards and undermine the health of
our people merely to fill the pockets of
profiteers. ONE WHO REMEMBERS.
September 8.
\
THIS AND THAT
By Charles E. Trace-well.
ALEXANDRIA, Va.
“Dear Sir:
“I am greatly surprised each time you
or one of your correspondents in the
This and That column writes of numbers
of cardinals at the feeder or gathering in
the yard.
“May I remark in the friendliest way
that these remarks appear to be exag
gerations. i
"We have in our two acres of woods
about our house but one cardinal and his
mate, I venture the same couple for the
last three years.
“No other cardinal is permitted by his
excellency in these woods.
“Many have tried to enter but he evicts
them promptly. Even the couple's young
after being fed in the nest and in our
feeding area to maturity are finally
driven off by the father.
“It takes about three days for him to
convince them that it is time to depart
on their own.
“How can I credit your stories of num
bers of cardinals in the yard?
"Very truly yours, "R. j. b.”
* * * *
Birds are as you find them, not as
some one else finds them.
This column has repeatedly stated that
although various species have general
patterns of activity, there is a wide lat
itude of action among them, and that
what one bird does in one neighborhood
is no criterion of the action of other birds
of the same species a block away.
Evidently those Virginia cardinals are
more belligerent than Maryland redbirds!
There have been no more peaceful
birds, with the exception of wood
thrushes, in our garden during the past
nine years.
We had cardinals from the very start,
usually two or three pairs, and these In
creased almost overnight when feeding
was started.
This was the year of the big snow and
bitter cold.
One Sunday morning, when ice and
snow lay on the ground two feet deep, we
had nine male cardinals at the feeding
station at one time.
It was a brilliant sight.
Not as many females were sighted, but
they may or may not have been in the
yard. The likelihood was that there were
several pairs and their offspring, which
that season ran to males.
* * * *
Since that time we have had from two
to three pairs steadily, and at times as
many as four males in sight at one time.
This very morning, on stepping into the
front yard, we saw three young cardinals
and two catbirds eating In the grass.
The only fighting among the birds was
in the early summer, after the first
hatching, when one very brilliant male
repeatedly drove away from a paper of
cantaloupe seed the young of another
pair.
Even this act was not done meanly—
he simply drove the others away, then
settled down to eating.
* * * *
The two catbirds with the cardinals
were exceptionally handsome.
Truly the catbird is one of our finest
feathered folk. He is a marvel of beauty,
quite as handsome as the cardinal, with
flecks of slate-gray, almost blue, near the
rump.
This was an entirely peaceful scene.
None of the birds flew away when we
descended the steps.
We sincerely believe that these are
the usual experiences with cardinals,
experiences which are proved by the
practically universal admiration of bird
lovers for the redbird.
If they were not so, people would not
be so fond of the famous Kentucky car
dinal, we believe.
But this does not preclude an opposite
sort of action, from time to time.
All that one can do, in talking or
writing about birds, is to tell what one
sees.
This is good talking or writing if the
speaker or writer tells exactly what is
seen, although he may realize that he
is going counter to generally accepted
opinion.
Often enough generally accepted ideas
are wrong, as any one knows who has
investigated them in any line.
Not only is the world full of supersti
tion, but it is filled with observations
which are not observations at all, just
prejudices.
If our correspondent will try feeding
sunflower seed daily, summer and win
ter, we believe he will have more card^«
nals.
Perhaps a few hundred yards from him
is a garden where cardinals abound.
There is never any telling except by
personal investigation.
No doubt there is, here and there, a
mean cardinal, one w'ith an unusually
Stern sense of duty.
But most of them are not that way.
It is easy enough, then, to credit bird
stories which run counter to our own
personal observations, if we remember
the good maxim, that birds are not
only where you And them, but how you
find them.
Letters to the Editor
Believes Capitalistic Structure
Will Break From Top.
To the Editor of The 8t»r:
In your editorial today, you mention
"the preaching of Communist gospel
everywhere from pulpit to soapbox.”
As an accountant with over 30 years'
experience with numerous large corpora
tions, I would say that the breakdown of
the capitalistic system, if it comes, will
not be from the bottom, on account of
the ravings of any ragged moron on a
soapbox, nor from any messages from
Moscow.
The crackup will be from the top, due
to the greed and selfishness of the so
called economic royalists at present in
the saddle, with their overcapitalization,
dividends on watered stock and fat sal
aries and bonuses to a chosen few\
In their mad scramble for wealth. I
position and power, they refuse to pay a
living wage to the real producers of their
wealth and entirely ignore the millions of
unemployed. HECTOR MacEACHEN.
September 11.
Would Cancel War Debts
For Territories.
To the Editor of The 8t»r:
It is interesting to note that the Jap
anese government has requested that
Great Britain remove her fighting forces
from China. This is furthering the policy
of “Asia for the Asiatics” or rather "Asia
for the Japanese” and it seems as if
Great Britain will have to accede to this
request if Japan insists.
Since the Monroe Doctrine was enun
ciated a number of slices of this hemi
sphere have been taken by European
powers. It is true that those powers, who
have chiseled in on this hemisphere are
not threatening us or the Panama Canal
now, but possibly they will in the future.
At least these territories may some day
become a threat to our neutrality and
may cause us to suffer somewhat in the
manner of the European neutrals. It
Is not inconceivable that if Japan ever
became engaged in a war against France
she might desire to take French Guiana
from her, just as she appropriated Ger
man possessions in Asia.
Our life line runs through the Panama
Canal and the Caribbean as Great Brit
ain's does through the Strait of Gibraltar
and the Mediterranean and we should
avail ourselves of this opportunity of
clearing away any possible future ob
struction. With the possible exception
of Canada, French and British sovereign
ty should end in this hemisphere and end
v>nntl Dnemurlo fka Pohowoc ril tiaDQ
British Honduras, etc., should be ceded to
us. There Is the matter of war debts and
other considerations to differentiate our
position in such a matter from that of
Japan’s. With a new war under way, our
chances of collecting anything else on
the last one are about nil. The allies
did quite a thorough Job of grabbing the
former German colonies, yet they have
defaulted on their debts to us and the
least they could do would be to cede their
possessions in the Western Hemisphere
to us. While we may not want them ex
cept for possible naval bases, at least we
shouldn’t allow them to be kept by Eu
ropean countries. As to their disposition
once we had them, it is to be remembered
that we handled the Cuban situation
pretty well and I dare say we could do as
well with the others. All we kept in Cuba
was a naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Relative to the war debts, a perusal of
history shows how the British Empire
was built in part by taking over small
countries which couldn’t pay their debts
and how the French occupied the Ger
man Rhineland because Germany de
faulted on her World War reparations
payments. If those actions were Justi
fiable, our military occupation of Ber
muda, the Bahamas, etc., would be even
Letters to the Editor must
bear the name and address o)
the writer, although the use o1
a pseudonym for publication is
permissible. Please be brief!
more so. Such a military occupation
should be unnecessary, as the British and
the French should give up these posses
sions as an expression of good will and
friendship, as well as payment of an
honest debt. This would be an excellent
opportunity for the British and French
to show us and the world whether or
not they are true democracies or im
perialistic as the Germans charge.
It is high time that we were looking
into the future with the view of insuring
our security and worrying less about the
affairs of Europe. The State Department
should make representations to Great
Britain and France with a view of trad
ing unpaid war debts for territories of
strategic value to us and history to come
would show it as the best bargain we
ever made, classed with the Louisiana
Purchase and the buying of Alaska. Who
ever dreamed Alaska would have a stra
tegic value for the defense of our West
Coast? J. C. NIEMAND.
September 11.
Questions Relationship of
Drugs to Crime.
To the Editor of The Star:
I was somewhat surprised at the state
ment of United States Attorney Pine
published in The Star of September 7.
According to the report, Mr. Pine has
"instructed his staff to prosecute narcotic
peddlers with uncompromising severity,
to destroy any underworld impression
that Washington is a ‘soft spot.’ ” The
report goes on further to remark that
"agents of the Narcotics Bureau reported
to me (Pine) last spring that a large
number of serious crimes could be at
tributed to the use of narcotics.” Also,
"the Criminal Justice Association has
come to the same conclusion.”
This is all very interesting, if true.
But I want to know upon what positive
evidence the district attorney and the
Criminal Justice Association arrived at
their startling conclusions. When such
dogmatic assertions as those quoted are
made, romantic or sensational impres
sions must not take the place of calm,
dispassionate, reasoned, scientific obser
vation. What criminals, what crimes
last sDrine were due directlv to nar
coties?
In the Journal of the American Medi
cal Association of January 21, 1939, there
is an article headed “Drug Addiction,”
in which Surg. Gen. Thomas Parran is
quoted. I will quote from the article:
“The vast majority of the (drug) addicts
want to be relieved of the habit—punish
ment alone is never effective.”
I have studied psychology and the mat
ter of drug addiction to some extent,
but I have not seen any authoritative
or reliable observations or experiments
proving that crime is due primarily to
the use of narcotics. I have seen, how
ever, that the denial of the narcotic
creates a craving which will lead the ad
dict to go to any length to obtain the
drug which satisfies.
The position taken by men who have
really studied the problem is that our
present handling of this matter is like
pouring gasoline on the fire to put it out.
The matter of drug addiction and the
problems it gives rise to are too impor
tant to be handled from the standpoint
that “punishment” and being "hard
boiled” will solve them. Loose state
ments rashly issued by high officials
with no scientific foundation confuse the
Issues rather than clarify them.
PSYCHOLOGIST.
September 9.
A
Answers
To Questions
By Frederic J. Haskin.
A reader can get the answer to any
question of fact by writing The Eve
ning Star Information Bureau, Fred
eric J. Haskin, director, Washington,
D. C. Please inclose stamp for reply.
Q. Please give the inscription on the
monument of Edith Cavell, the martyred ’
nurse.—J. H. G. j
A. The statue of Edith Cavell in Lon- i
don bears the following words: "Patriot- '
ism is not enough; I must have no hatred
or bitterness for any one.’’
Q. How much money is spent for tip- j
ping?—L. R. S.
A. In the United States it is roughly
estimated that $200,000,000 a year is
spent in tips.
Q. Why do mockingbirds stop singing
during dog days?—L. W. W.
A. Because they have finished breed
ing and are going through the moult
which is a very exhausting process phys
ically and leaves no energy for singing. 1
Q. Are needles numbered?—A. McM.
A. Needles are numbered from 1 to 12,
No. 1 being the coarsest and 12 the
finest. Most sewing Is done with No.
8 or 9.
Q. What States have the highest and
lowest percentage of illiteracy?—T. C. W I
A. The 1930 census showed that South ►
Carolina with 14.9 per cent had the i
highest rate of illiteracy and Iowa with j
0.8 per cent the lowest.
Q. Who was the paternal grandfather
of the Secretary of Agriculture, Henry
Agard Wallace?—M. W. D.
A. The Secretary’s father w*as Henry
Cantwell Wallace, a former Secretary
of Agriculture, who was the son of
Nannie Cantwell and Henry Wallace,
an editor and writer on agricultural sub
jects, who was born near West Newton,
Pa., the son of Martha Ross and John
Wallace, who emigrated from Ireland
in 1832.
Q. Is there any fee for towing a car
cut of the Holland Tunnel?—G. F.
A. There is no charge for towing a
car out of the Holland Tunnel. This
service is performed by specially trained
personnel using specially designed emer
gency equipment.
Q. Please give the nationality and
meaning of the given name Karen.— *
R. K. J.
A. Karen is a Danish name meaning
pure.
Q. How many copies of the Oz books
have been sold?—D. J. M.
A. Nine million copies of the books ,
have been sold.
Q. How long are the intestines?—
J. W. R.
A. The small intestine is about 20 feet
long and the large intestine about 5
feet long.
Q. When was Marguerite Clark's hus
band killed in an airplane accident?—
E. D.
i A. Harry Williams was killed in an
| airplane crash May 19, 1936, at Baton
| Rouge, La.
Q. Why is the book in the Bible called
; Exodus?—W. T. B.
A. Exodus means a going forth or j
departure, as of a multitude, from a j
; place or country. This name was given
to the second book of the Bible because
it describes the departure of the chil
dren of Israel from Egypt.
Q. Please explain the First, Second and
j Third Reichs.—J. T. H. j
A. The First Reich was the so-called t
i Holy Roman Empire of the German
nation, which existed until 1808 when
Emperor Francis I abdicated and the
nucleus of the Rhine Confederation was
formed. The Second Reich began in
1871 after the foundation of the new
German Empire, which was organized !
under Bismaick through unification of
the German states. The Third Reich ,
came into power in 1933 when the Reich
stag and the state diets were dissolved
and a new election called for the Reich
stag alone as a nation-wide vote of con
fidence. |
Q. Where is the Great Dismal Swamp?
—W. J. H.
A. This is a tract of marshy land in
Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern
North Carolina. It begins a short dis
I tance south of Norfolk, Va„ extends
\ southward about 30 miles and em
braces a total area of some 750 square
miles. The swamp originally contained ►
an area of about 2,200 square miles but
much of it has been reclaimed and placed
under cultivation. Near its center is
Lake Drummond, about 2 miles in
diameter.
Q. What is the protein content of
gelatin?—E. J. H.
A. Gelatin is approximately B2 per
cent digestible protein.
Q. Where is the largest hatchery in j
the United States?—J. W. B.
A. The Bureau of Animal Industry says" j
that according to its records the largest
is the Wene Hatchery at Vineland, N. J.
At the establishment 1.500,000 eggs can j
be hatched at one time.
Q. Which cities are farthest north ’
and farthest south?—P. D.
A. Hammerfest, Norway, in 70 de
grees 40 minutes 11 seconds N. latitude,
is the northernmost city. There are
villages in Alaska, Greenland and Siberia
more northerly but of insignificant popu
lations. The southernmost city is Ushuaia,
the territorial capital of Tierra del Puego,
Argentina, Just north of the 55th parallel
of south latitude.
When Children Smile
(Rondeau.) *
When children smile I catch the gleam
Of golden sunlight on a stream;
And high sweet winds of springtime blow
Along the hawthorn's blossomed row,
Or dewy freshness reigns supreme.
All earth's wide loveliness I seem
To see therein; the morning's glow;
The questing eyes of fawn or doe,
When children smile.
Be this the burden of my theme;
A thought to ponder on and dream:
Of all the blessed sights I know
That bring down Heaven here below,
The fairest one of all I deem
When children smile I
MARION H. ADDINGTON.
* r