Evening star. [volume], October 31, 1939, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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^betting plat*
With Sunday Morning Edition.
THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
TUESDAY.... October 31, 1939
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rrivate Capital tor nousing
Coming at a time when the banks
of the country are overstocked with
idle money, the information that the
United States Housing Authority has
worked out a simple and promising
plan for active participation of pri
vate capital in financing public low
rent housing construction is of
prime importance to investors.
To what extent the Alley Dwelling
Authority of this city is prepared
to join in the issuance of these local,
short-term housing securities is not
known at this writing. That the
A. D. A. is studying the plan is re
assuring. It is conceivable that such
notes, if issued here, would find a
ready market. The prospect is of
special significance when one con
siders that the savings deposits in
Washington's banks and trust com
panies had advanced to an all-time
peak of $106,577,000 on the last date
of call.
The U. S. H. A. plan is equally im
portant to all local housing authori
ties in that it would enable them to
save at least two per cent in the in
terest they otherwise would be re
quired to pay for U. S. H. A. loans.
In terms of the $770,000,000 housing
program the potential savings in con
struction would approach $15,000,000.
Local authorities would sell their
six-month notes to bidders offering
the lowest rates of interest. In Syra
cuse, N. Y., a test issue was sold at
less than one-half of one per cent.
Administrator Nathan Straus expects
the plan will be adopted generally
because it gets around an apparently
unintended lapse in the present law%
which requires the U. S. H. A. to
charge the going Federal rate of in
terest plus one-half of one per cent.
In the two years of the housing pro
gram the Federal rate has ranged
from three to three and one-quarter
per cent. Local authorities thereby
Will be able to save the difference.
The A. D. A. is expecting to obtain
$15,000,000 or more in loans from the
Federal agency. Should it issue
temporary loan notes bearing inter
est at less than one per cent, the
saving would be considerable. The
U. S. H. A. advance^ its loans as they
are needed. Under the proposed plan
the money to redeem the local notes
would be deposited three days in ad
vance of their expiration. The ad
vantage to the local agency is readily
seen.
mis it-mjjuiiuj smaii-scaie
financing will proceed inevitably to
permanent large-scale financing of
public housing projects with private
funds and thus tap huge reservoirs
of idle capital is the belief and hope
of its sponsors. Then, indeed, the
alliance of business and Government
in economic revival through housing
will be cemented.
The U. S. H. A. will be two years old
on Wednesday. For such a stripling
it has accomplished much in this
short period. Now there are 298 proj
ects under loan contracts with 135
local authorities. Mistakes in policy
have been made as is only natural in
a Federal experiment of this kind.
But the agency has succeeded admir
ably in constantly lowering construc
tion costs and lowering rents.' De
spite stubborn objections on many
sides it has stood firm in restricting
its tenants to families of the lowest
income groups.
This open invitation to private
capital to participate in public hous
ing in time may be Its outstanding
achievement. Certainly, the plan
merits the fullest co-operation by lo
cal authorities on the one hand and
private investors on the other. For
this reason the first issuance of $50,
000,000 will command Nation-wide
interest.
Alice Brady
Even in the period marked by the
lavish blooming of new talent on
both stage and screen, the passing
of Alice Brady represents an acute
loss to the theater and the motion
picture. Possessed though they may
be of many excellences, few actresses
reach the stature of great ladies of
the theater. Miss Brady was one of
the few, making her life and her
achievement profound proof of her
contention that actresses are born,
not made.
Limitless in ambition, enthusiasm
and talent for her chosen profes
sion-chosen over the objections of
her father, William A. Brady, whose
objections are notoriously emphatic—
Miss Brady spread herself over every
field of entertainment. And that she
never spread herself thinly was dem
onstrated in the magnitude of her
success in the most varied career an
A
actress ever set for herself. On the
stage she was a star, first, in light
opera, then in comedy, and subse
quently in tragedy. In motion pic
tures, her brilliant career began in
1914, when the screen was silent. She
returned to it when it became vocal
and artistically much more ambitious
and attained an even more vivid suc
cess.
A positive personality always, Miss
Brady was especially positive that
women wasted a great deal of time
worrying about age. At thirty-five,
she dismissed any possible challenge
of an onrushing generation with the
statement that a matron who had
“substituted distinction for bloom”
occupied the pre-eminent position in
life. Her selection of clothes reflect
ed the same sternness of conviction
for, even when she w:as named one
of the best-dressed women of her
time, she ascribed it to the fact that
she wore what suited her, not what
style decreed for a given moment.
Careers of such luminosity are too
rare, in the theater or out of it, that
Miss Brady’s death should not be an
occasion of deep regret.
Union Peace Plan
An arrangement that seems fair to
both sides has opened the way for
the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters and the International
Union of Operating Engineers to end
their costly jurisdictional strike.
Under the findings of a special
committee from the Building Trades
Department of the American Feder
ation of Labor, with which both are
affiliated, the teamsters would give
in on the issue which stirred the
trouble, namely, the right to drive
mobile concrete mixers, leaving this
work to the operating engineers. The
formers’ jurisdiction would be lim
ited to power-driven equipment used
for vehicular purposes.
Both sides agreed in advance to be
bound by the decision of the com
mittee, composed of three Federation
vice presidents, and that fact pre
sumably assures peace on the terms
outlined.
The matter went before the arbi
trators last May, but illness of one
prevented consideration until a few
days ago. Once the conference
started it did not take long to decide
the merits of the case.
It will be cause for general satis
faction if this is the final chapter
in the teamster-engineer struggle,
which has been waged on a Nation
wide basis and has been felt with
particular force here, where recur
rent stoppages of w'ork culminated
recently in the indictment of a group
of teamster leaders and the teamster
local on charges of fostering strikes
and boycotts.
Unquestioned acceptance of the
committee decision not only will re
move a constant threat from the
building industry, but also will afford
a welcome, if belated demonstration
of the ability of the building trades
to adjust their intra-family troubles
peaceably.
John Possehl, head of the engi
neers, very properly described the
prospective settlement as “a victory
for the building and construction in
dustry.”
The effect that the new turn of
affairs will have on the court action
is, of course, problematical. In ad
dition to the indictments here, the
Department of Justice also has gone
before the grand jury in St. Louis
with a jurisdictional dispute case as
part of the Nation-wide inquiry into
restraints in building.
The Right to Strike
Few persons in this country—in
the face of a legitimate labor dispute
between an employer and his em
ployes—would deny the right of the
employes to strike and to maintain
supporting picket lines, but the dis
closure by Acting Secretary of the
Navy Edison of the position taken
by strikers at the Bohn Aluminum
Company, of Detroit, brings to light
a flagrant abuse of this privilege and
raises a question as to whether the
Government did not in effect condone
that abuse.
Mr. Edison, in a report to the House
Naval Affairs Committee, said the
strike, called by the C. I. O. United
Automobile Workers, seriously de
layed delivery to the Navy Depart
ment of parts needed in the naval
aircraft construction program. This,
of itself, presents a grave question—
whether any strike should be tol
erated if the result is a serious inter
ference with the Nation’s defense
program in a time of emergency.
If such a strike is proper in one case
it would be proper in others, and it
is conceivable that a situation might
arise in which the task of building
up our military establishment would
be crippled to an extent that could
imperil the national safety.
riuni ivii. ihuiauii a aiaucmciii, nuw
ever, it appears that the union’s lead
ership was guilty of more than merely
delaying the plane building program.
According to the Acting Secretary,
a Navy representative informed the
union’s regional director of the “seri
ousness of the delay” and asked
permission to pass through the picket
line to pick ftp Government-owned
patterns (for engine parts) and ship
them on a Government bill of lading.
The reply of the regional director,
Mr. Edison said, was an emphatic
“No,” accompanied by the statement
that the pickets would not let pat
terns or inspected castings be re
moved. Apparently the union, while
preventing the work for the Navy
from being done in the Bohn plant,
was also determined that none of it
should be done elsewhere.
That is an attitude on the part of
the union which finds no sanction in
the right to strike. It merits and
will receive the sharpest public con
demnation. But there is another
phase of the incident which should
be considered. Mr. Edison’s report
implies that the Navy Department
yielded to the regional director’s
refusal to comply with its wholly
reasonable request. If that was the
case—if the Navy’s representative
made no further effort to obtain the
Government patterns—it would be
interesting to know why and upon
whose orders this extraordinary re
gard was shown for a picket line
which, without any justification, was
blocking the exercise of a vital gov
ernmental function.
The House committee can render
a valuable service if it will ascertain
the extent to which the strike and
the attitude of the regional director
interfered with the rearmament
program, and whether that inter
ference was in fact condoned by the
Government.
Germany s Oil Supply
To Napoleon is attributed the
aphorism that an army fights on its
stomach—that without food, even
the most valiant of troops are not
battle-worthy. If the Little Corsican
were alive today, in the era of Diesel
engines, motorized artillery, mech
anized “cavalry,” airplanes and
submarines, he would have to revise
his dictum to read that an army
fights on its oil—that without a
plentiful supply of it, especially for
replenishment, it is helpless to con
duct a modern, large-scale war.
Former French Premier Joseph
Caillaux, one of his country’s out
standing economic authorities and a
specialist on German conditions,
contributes to the Paris Soir an
analytical study of the oil difficulties
which the highly mechanized Nazi
war machine faces.
"Does it not show a singular lack
of foresight,” M. Caillaux asks, “that
the Germans should by their motori
zation have made their strategy de
pend upon a liquid to which they
have so little access?” Then the
former premier states that for war
time consumption experts estimate
that the Reich would need between
15,000,000 and 40,000.000 tons of oil a
year. Rumania, on which Hitler is
counting heavily as a source of sup
ply, produces less than 6.500,000 tons
annually, and it is unlikely that Ger
maney could obtain the full output,
as the lion's share of it is under con
tract to Anglo-French interests. Rus
sian exports, which reached 6,000.000
tons in 1932, fell to just over 1,000.000
tons in 1938. Practically all Russian
oil exports are made by way of the
Black Sea, and would be exposed to
the allied blockade.
ivi. uamaux notes mat me united
j States has nearly two-thirds of the
world's oil while a large portion of
I the remainder is open exclusively to
j the allies. The French statesman
i economist concludes that Germany's
only hope of possessing herself of
an adequate supply for modern war
lies in the manufacture of synthetic
oil. Her Ersatz skill in that particu
lar field has so far not produced
notable results.
Iron, in case of a long war, presents
an equally grave problem to the
Nazis, in M. Caillaux’s view. Seventy
I per cent of German ore ordinarily
comes from Sweden's famous mines,
but the British blockade shuts off
that avenue of supply. With oil and
iron effectually barred to the enemy,
the French Senator declares that
“the western powers must show a
positive genius for blundering if they
lose this war.”
This argument rests, of course, on
the allies’ capacity to retain com
mand of the sea and to maintain the
blockade which the Germans all but
publicly admit is already accom
plishing its slow but steady work of
economic strangulation.
Halloween
The festival of Halloween origi
nated in ancient Britain and at the
start was far from the fun-making
occasion it now is. True, there was
much shouting and singing and many
bonfires, but only for the purpose of
scaring awa_y devils, witches and the
like, who were popularly supposed to
have a leave of absence from the
nether regions on October 31st. The
notion was either fostered or in
vented by the Druids, a heavily
whiskered group who built up repu
tations as wise men mainly by avoid
ing the razor. It was easy in those
days for any one who was not a
complete bonehead to hang out his
shingle as a wise man and get away
with it. Naturally he fooled his fel
low sages no more than politicians
fool each other these days—but he
did not have to, in districts where
there was gravy enough for all.
After a while, however, competition
grew keener as a spirit of doubt and
irreverence spread throughout Brit
ain. It was not always the Druid
with the longest beard who got the
biggest clientele. When it came to
be the one who could promise the
best protection against demons, poli
tics was definitely bom. At first the
successful candidates held office just
for the glory and prestige, but as
civilization advanced and money was
invented, they put on witch-hunting
campaigns climaxed by big cash ral
lies at the danger period of the year,
October 31st. It is said to be a mere
coincidence that Halloween comes
only a few days before the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in
November.
The Third Reich will stand for a
thousand years, declares Hitler. A
thousand is a long time, Adolf;
wouldn’t you be willing to make it
999, or even 950?
It is stated that four million young
people in the United States are out
of school and out of work. Yes, and
perhaps another million employed,
but looking out of the window.
Friendship Urged for
America and Japan
Abrogation of Trade Treaty
Deplored as Being
'Harsh Measure'
To the Editor of The Star:
The two great neighbors, United States
and Japan, bordering the large ex
panse of the Pacific Ocean have, in
their respective spheres of national ac
tivity, regarded each other as worthy
of association by close ties of friendship.
The United States of America and the
Empire of Japan have many good points
in common. Both nations are at the
peak of their greatness and power.
America, young and full of vitality,
knocked at the doors of Japan some
75 years ago through Commodore Perry,
and from that time the development
of Japan, through her contact with the
United States, went ahead by leaps
and bounds.
These two nations are destined to be
powerful factors in world affairs and
are in a position to maintain peace
and order, especially in view of the
fact that world equilibrium is swinging
more and more toward Asia, on one
side, and on the other toward the
United States. In Europe there is chaos,
but in the great Pacific basin, in spite
of the present conflict in China, there
exists the foundation for a better world
plan. To achieve this better world plan
it is only logical that both the United
States and Japan should shoulder this
great task and work amicably together
lw nuutYc uuu ami. i uric lo nu ;
estrangement between these two coun
tries that is not possible to bridge.
Some misunderstanding has arisen over
the present China incident through the
inadvertent destruction or damage of
American commercial or religious prop
erties by the Japanese forces operating
in areas where •Americans have estab
lished themselves. But in every case
Japan has immediately apologized and
fully compensated for the losses incurred
by American nationals or institutions.
President Roosevelt's abrogation of the
Japanese-American treaty of commerce
and navigation of 1911 undoubtedly
came as a shock to the Japanese nation,
but saner reflection reveals that, in
spite of this abrogation, there is no
reason to believe that the American
Nation as a whole bears any ill will
toward the Japanese nation. Even Sen
ator Key Pittman, that doughty anti
Japanese exponent, has stated that the
restoration of Japanese-American friend
ship is possible. Coming from such an
extreme viewpoint, there is naturally
a fervent hope in Japan that President
Roosevelt, Congress and the American
Nation as a whole will realize the serious
mistake they have made in causing a
rift in Japanese-American friendship
through the abrogation.
Both China and Japan hold the
! United States in high esteem as the
most democratic Nation in the world,
[ and much of the modern progress regis
| tered in these two countries has been
modeled along American lines. China
and Japan, therefore, look toward the
United States for guidance and friendly
co-operation and not for harsh measures
which will hinder the establishment of
permanent peace in East Asia.
Nanking China. L. K. KENTWELL,
Editor, Voice of New China.
October 15.
jay rranKiin iteminaea
Of History.
To the Editor of The Star:
Jay Franklin said in The Star, Octo
ber 9, that "bold souls have suggested
that something should be done about the
Senate, just as something was done
about the Supreme Court to curb their
usurpation of national authority.” This
bold gentleman a few years ago was in
veigling against the Supreme Court for
setting aside the N. R. A. More recently
he has said that the Senate was super
fluous and should be abolished; for rea
son he goes back to 1919, when the Sen
ate rejected the Versailles Treaty and the
League of Nations.
It is a favorite contention of some Eu
ropeans and of our internationalist that
the strife and present war in Europe is
due to the betrayal of the principles of
world peace by the United States in re
fusing to join the League of Nations.
History shows that this idea is wholly
erroneous and that the Senate never
rendered fhe country greater service
than when it refused to ratify the work
of the Paris Peace Conference.
Lloyd George tells us in his memoirs
with what contempt Premier Clemenceau
regarded the "messianic" proposals, as
he termed them, of President Wilson.
And when Mr. Wilson refused to bind
the United States in a triple alliance
riituvc anu jMigiauu, guaranteeing
the territorial integrity of France,
Clemenceau invoked the Paris press In
the most scurrilous denunciation of him
until he surrendered. Robert Lansing,
Secretary of State and head of the
American delegation of the Peace Con
ference, recorded in his diary May 16,
1919, “An Instance of the lengths to
which these compromises and make
shifts are going occurred this morning
when Col. House sent to Mr. White, Gen.
Bliss and me for our opinion on the fol
lowing proposal: ‘That the United States,
Great Britain and France enter into a
formal alliance to resist any aggressive
action by Germany against France or
Belgium, and to employ their military,
financial and economic resources for this
purpose.’ We three agreed,” he says,
“that if that agreement was made, the
chief reason for the League of Nations
as now planned disappeared. * * * What
impressed me most was that, to gain
French support for the League, the pro
poser of the alliance was willing to de
stroy the chief feature of the League.
* • * How would such a proposal be re
ceived in the United States, with its tra
ditional policy of avoiding entangling
alliances? Of course, when one considers
it, the proposal is preposterous and would
be laughed at and rejected.” Nevertheless,
President Wilson, by special commission,
directed Secretary Lansing to “negotiate”
and sign such an alliance.
H. G. Wells in his “Outline of History,”
page 1067. says, “This poor covenant, ar
rived at in this fashion, returned with
President Wilson to America, and there
it was subjected to an amount of opposi
tion, criticism, which showed, among
other things, how relatively unimpaired
was the mental energy of the United
States. • * • The broad instinct of the
American people seems to have been
sound in its distrust of the proposed
settlement.” W. F. WILMOTH.
October 16.
THIS AND THAT
By Charles B. Tracewell.
Music is often spoken of as the uni
versal language, but it means far more
than just being understood by all peoples.
The universal scope of music is ex
emplified in its very amplitude, the vari
ous types of music known throughout
the world.
To attempt to look upon this art in
just one of its many spheres is to narrow
it beyond recognition.
Yet this is exactly what is being done
by so many people today.
* * * *
They are musical fascists without
realizing it.
Consider the bright young man who
has discovered “swing.”
Often he comes to the point where he
believes that no other sort of -music in
the world is worth listening to.
But that is not all.
Somehow he becomes obsessed with
the fixed idea that others who insist on
the universal scope of music are Just old
fossils.
* * *
The “swing” addict of this type is a
curious manifestation of the plain fact
that the totalitarian idea is not confined
to politics alone or to those countries in
which it flourishes.
The “total” outlook upon music, for
instance, may exist in America without
even its adherents realizing exactly what
they are doing.
To be "total,” in this respect, means
to exclude every type of music except
the sort one happens to fancy at the
time.
Hence we have adherents of “righteous
jazz” really frothing at the mouth over
“sweet music,” even belittling sympho
nies and players in symphony orchestras.
The latter they call “long hairs,” or long
haired musicians.
An honest tune of the folk type they
brand as "corn.”
These extremists cannot be excused on
the grounds that mostly they are young
men. It isn't the age, but the type of
mind which makes people, in any art,
sneer at what they do not like.
* * * *
The present phonograph vogue has
brought to the fore the musical fascist
who claims that nothing is worth listen
ing to except symphonic music.
It would be bad enough if this bore—
and he really is that—merely believed
this, but that is only the beginning.
He does not want anybody else to
listen to anything else!
Had he the power, no doubt he would
bodily prevent other music lovers from
buying recorded piano music.
He would make it unlawful for them
to listen to fine records of the rhumba
and tango, or harp records, or quartet
records or the Negro spirituals.
As for any one who dared to confess
to a liking for Hawaiian music, such a
wight would be condemned to listen to a
Russian symphony for 10 nights in a
row.
* * * *
In the phonograph world this sad
trait is brought to a focus, because in
it it is so easy to get what one wants—
as long as one’s money holds out.
And what one wants in music depends
upon one's tastes.
It is much more than just a question
of the artistic tastes, however.
The main consideration is whether
one’s musical tastes are truly catholic,
or narrowed by a sort of musical pro
vincialism.
It is even more than that. It is
whether the listener, before all, is really
interested in music, or simply its per
formance.
There can be little question that the
“hot jazz" addict of the sincere type is
more interested in the athletic perform
ances he hears than he is in the music
his idols play.
The great “Bix” Beiderbecke was a
man who never missed a note, and so
made a lasting impression on listeners,
most of whom were young and just cut
of college, and who, therefore, were not
far removed from the football hero wor
ship.
One may suspect that the phonograph
record "fan" who goes in heavily for
symphonic recordings, to the sheerful
exclusion of all else in the wonderland
of recorded music, is just a young fellow
who falls prone before the exuoerance
and power of the magnificient sym
phonies and equally magnificent orches
tras.
His taste is excellent, but what he has
yet to do is to widen his musical horizon,
not only to take in lesser compositions,
but also to teach himself that the real
spirit of the art breathes as firmly in a
tender cradle song—although it does not
use cymbals—as in the movements of
his favorite Russian symphonies.
Many an older listener will have to
take firm hold on himself, in this respect.
He, too, at times, may come to think
that music means magnificent music
only. Nothing could be farther from the
plain truth.
Music is universal.
Not only is it understood by all peo
ples, but it has a scope which astounds
the investigator the farther he pro
gresses.
It is said that Latin America has more
than 70 different types of dance rhythms,
not more than 20 of which have ever
been heard in the United States.
Whatever you like best in music, re
joice in and love completely, but also
recognize at the same time that it is only
a part of a great whole which is as wide
as the very ocean of sound in which it
j functions.
Letters to the Editor
Says Broadcast From
Slovakia Misleading.
To the Editor of The Star:
In the course of the regular European
broadcast of last night there was a talk
by a news representative from Bratislava,
Slovakia, dealing with the "election" and
inauguration of Slovakia's first Presi
dent which may have been very mis
leading to the general public here. For
instance, the speaker referred to Slo- !
vakia as a “republic,” and spoke of the
recent developments there as the out
growth and fulfillment of a plan which
had been agreed upon between repre
sentatives of Czechs and Slovaks in
Pittsburgh in 1918.
The fact is that Slovakia is about as
much of a republic as is Soviet Russia
or Nazi Germany—or the pitiable "Pro
tektorat von Boehmen und Maehren,”
where Dr. Hacha also is “President.”
Indeed, not even the “government” of
Slovakia (including Dr. Tiso, his cabinet
and the Parliament) can act freely, but
is completely dominated from Berlin,
and merely serves as a rubber stamp for
Hitler and his Nazis. It commands
neither the respect nor the the confi
dence of the Slovak people, who consider
themselves as having been betrayed by
their leaders.
The “Pittsburgh agreement” provided
for a “union of Czechs and Slovaks in an
independent state” which “shall be a
republic (and) its constitution shall be
democratic.” But how could anything
under Hitler's influence be democratic?
The very wrord is anathema to his ears.
October 27. EDW. WOLESENSKY.
Cites Cause for Levity
In War on “Isms.”
To the Editor of The Star:
This recent typhoon in a teapot over
the release of the mailing list of “The
American League for Peace and Democ
racy” by the Dies Committee is cause
for great amusement.
Since 1932 I have had opportunity to
observe these so-called "parlor pink”
organizations at first hand, and they are
weak and ineffectual organizations of
an ineffectual group of people. Investi
gating them has about as much sense
as investigating the neighborhood
pinochle club.
In 1932 I was doing post-graduate
work in economics at the University of
Chicago, and as a good-natured observer
and a loyal Democrat I derived much
innocent enjoyment from the cavortings
of the Socialists and the Communists.
Without sullying the university's fair
reputation for Americanism, let me say
that the Communists were in the ma
jority, and the Socialists were consid
ered conservatives. (Being a Democrat,
I was a hide-bound old reactionary.)
Anway, the whole business struck me
as being as simple and as potentially
harmful as a barn dance at Si Cern
tossel’s. The activities of the two groups
consisted chiefly of picketing Sam Insull’s
Chicago home (it was at the time of the
collapse of the Insull empire), and the
group that succeeded in having the most
members arrested was deemed the
victor.
I have observed these groups in Chi
cago, in Michigan and here in Wash
ington, and, generally speaking, they are
a group of poor, unhappy people, living
drab lives, who crave and relish the
feeling of being “dangerously advanced”
in their views. To their own psycholo
gies it gives them a certain cachet to be
identified with a "left” organization.
But, “come the revolution,” out of a
group of 100 of these pinkos you wijl
find only about 5 present with their
pickaxea and broadsword*.
At one time, through acquaintances,
Letters to the Editor must
bear the name and address 0}
the writer although the use 0)
a pseudonym tor publication is
permissible. Please be briejl
I was rather well acquainted with this
"Washington League for Peace and
Democracy," and this is about the way
the personnel lined up: Poets, lacking
appreciative audiences for their brain
childs. 2; dogmatic arguers, lacking
audiences for their dogmatic arguments,
10; Government clerks, lonely, and doing
drab, uninteresting routine jobs, 20;
organizers (who. in all the cases I met,
were American people, college educated,
and honestly convinced that something
was wrong), 4.
That is your average parlor pink
group, and one of their meetings is
something pathetic to witness and boring
to hear. It is about as dangerous to
“the American way" as a wet firecracker
and just about as interesting.
There is only one reason why there
should be causes to fear these squeak
ing groups. If we allow conditions to
arise where great numbers of our people
are homeless, without food and desper
ate lor hope of betterment, then, and
only then, can any of these organizations
have any significance. "AMUSED.”
October 28.
Civil Service Ruling.
To the Editor of The Star:
May I felicitate Mr. George A. Warren
regarding his pointed declaration on the
rulings of the Civil Service Commission
limiting examinations to those who have
attended a “college or university of rec
ognized standing.”
I concur in the expression of opinion
by Mr. Warren and wish to add further
to the record.
The belief that “recognized colleges or
universities” have some peculiar pro
prietary ingredient apparently was a
corollary in what may be called the
“capillary attraction theory” of educa
tion. This theory, worthy of sophomoric
minds on the higher levels, holds that
the “best boys” are attracted to the “best
schools.” There is no adducible evi
dence that the "best boys” act like herds
of cows and rush where their own kind
go. The concept “best” in either con
text defies limitation, and is accordingly
quite without value in any reasonable
discussion.
Must citizens pay tribute to “recog
nized institutions” in order to be con
sidered adequately prepared to hold
Government positions? This seems to be
an extension of the idea of monopoly
into the field of education.
October 21. JOHN DOE.
German Effort to Form Alliance
With Mexico Recalled.
To the Editor of The Star:
Those who think this hemisphere safe
from German aggression in the event of
a German victory, might do worse than
to consider the secret dispatch which
emanated from the German government
and was sent to their Minister at Mexico
City on January 19, 1917.
This message proposed a German alli
ance with Mexico on the following basis:
Make war together and together make
peace. Germany is to give general finan
cial support, and “it is understood that
Mexico is to reconquer tile lost territory
in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.”
Nor does any one suppose for a single
moment that Germany has changed for
the better since Hitler rose to power?
October 27. H. HARRISON.
Chicago, 111.
4
Haskin's Answers
To Readers' 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. How much out of every W. P. A.
dollar is spent for workers, equipment
and administration?—W. B. H.
A. The W. P. A. dollar is divided as
follows: 86 cents to project workers, 11
cents for materials and equipment, 3
cents for administration.
Q. When was the seal of the United
States adopted?—R. L. P.
A. The Great Seal of the United States
was adopted on June 20, 1782.
Q. What is psychasthenia?—J. C. H.
A. It is a form of neurosis in which
the patient is a victim of obsessions or
compulsions such as humming a certain
tune or touching every fence post. The
condition is characterized by lack of
energy or decision.
Q. Where did the wild Prussian boars
in Tennessee and North Carolina come
from?—C. P. H.
A. These animals are descendants of
the wild boars from the Black Forest of
Northern Germany which were imported
many years ago.
Q. What percentage of human ills
have been traced to the feet?—J. M. G.
A. Ninety per cent of human ills are
authoritatively stated to come from the
feet.
Q. Of what nationality were Marconi s
parents?—P. J. R. |
A. The inventor's father was Italian
and his mother was Irish.
Q. Is there a rabbit that turns white
in the wintertime?—T. R. S.
A. The varying hare, or snowshoe
rabbit, sheds its hair twice a year, be
coming white in the fall and brownish
in spring. It is called the snowshoe
rabbit because in winter its large hind
feet are covered with a thick growth of
hair which enables it to travel easily
over deep snow.
Q. When was the Cradle at Evanston,
111., founded and by whom?—C. J. R.
A. The famous child adoption center
was founded by Mrs. William B. Wal
rath. It was opened officially on March
12, 1923.
Q. Is there a flour made from apples?
—T. M. G.
A. A baking flour made solely of appies
has been manufactured. It is said to
blend perfectly with wheat flour and to
produce bread high in non-fattening
sugar content. Approximately 15 tons
of apples are required to produce a ton
of this flour.
Q. When was milk first shipped by rail
road?—E. C. H.
A. In 1841 milk was shipped by rail to
New York City from Thaddeus Selleck
of Orange County. By 1850 there were
special milk trains carrying shipments
to that city.
Q. Are coins still being made at the
New Orleans Mint?—T. C.
A. The minting of coins at New Orleans
was discontinued in 1910.
Q. Please give the title of a poem suit
able to use on a Red Cross program —
C. W. R.
A. "The Great Cross of Mercy" by
Theodosia Garrison is one of the most
beautiful Red Cross poems.
Q. Did Max Baer win a bout in Texas
1 this fall?—H. C. McG.
A. Max Baer knocked out Babe Ritchie
at Lubbock, Tex., in two rounds on
September 18, 1939.
Q. What star is nearest the earth?—
L. E. S.
A. The nearest star to the earth, with
the exception of the sun, is Proxima
Centauri, whose distance is 4.2 light
years.
Q. Who was the first President to ride
in an automobile?—H. P. G.
A. In 1899 President William Mc
Kinley took his first automobile ride in
a Stanley steamer.
Q. Please give the real name and age
of William Holden, who played in “Gold
en Boy."—C. T. M.
A. William Holden, whose surname is
Beadle, was born in O'Fallen, 111., on
April 17, 1918.
Q. How many women are airplane
pilots?—K. J. C.
A. As of July 1, 1939, the total number
of women airplane pilots in the United
States was 755, of which number 73 had
commercial licenses, 26 limited com
mercial licenses, 433 private licenses, and
223 solo licenses. In addition, there were
three women glider pilots.
Q. Who is the Voice of Time in the
March of Time program?—L. K. R.
A. Westbrook Van Voorhis is the
screen and radio narrator of the feature.
Q. What is the oldest tree in the
world?—M. T. S.
A. What is said to be the oldest tree
grows at Anuradhapura, the ancient cap
ital of Ceylon. It was planted in 245
B.C. as a cutting from the famous Bo
Tree of India under which Buddha is
said to have received his religious in
spiration. It is a species of fig and its
ancient branches are upheld by pillars.
Companioned
I lost Him in the tumult of the street.
When men trod, each an independent
way,
Through furtive night or blatant,
jostling day—
Without a friendly word or smile to
greet
Then, from the hundreds they might
chance to meet,
Their minds set firmly on their work
or play—
Without a single hand outstretched to
stay
The steady progress of their hurrying
feet.
I found Him where His leafy tents were
spread,
Where silence seemed to be articulate—
The feet that passed too light to print
the sod,
The very winds poised, soundless, over
, head—
There, where I seemed so small, His
works so great,
I stood alone, yet very close to Cod.
—ANNA M. PRIESTLEY.
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