Newspaper Page Text
^Efjc Sunday plaf j With Sunday Morning Edition. THEODORE W. NOYES, Editor. b WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.....July 7, 1940 The Evening Star Newspaper Company. Miin Office: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: 110 East 45nd St Chicago Office: 435 North Michigan Ave. Delivered by Carrier—City and Suburban. * Regular Edition. . Evening and 8unday.75c per mo. or 18c per week The Evening Star 4oc per mo. or 10c per week The Sunday Star... ._ _10c Per copy Night Final Edition. . Night Final and Sunday Star_85c per month Nieht Final Star _ _ BOC per month Rural Tube Delivery. The Evening and Sunday Star_85c per month The Evening Star_56c per month r The 6unday Star_ _10c per copy Collection made at the end of each month or each week. Orders may be sent by mail or te’.e » phone National 5000. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. 1 Daily and Sunday.. 1 yr., *15.00- 1 mo., $1 00 pally only -1 yr,. *8.00: 1 mo., 75c •unday only_1 yr.. *5.00; 1 mo.. 60c Entered as second-class matter post office, Washington. D. C. Ck> Member of the Associated Press. The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dispatches credited to It or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published herein. All rights of publication of special dispatcher herein also are reserved. End of the Entente? If, as now seems indicated, the Entente Cordiale is ended, an event of the very highest importance has occurred. Not many Americans may know how the “series of working agreements” between France and Great Britain came to exist; but the same may be said for Europeans in general to whom the subject still is wrapped in mystery. The author of the arrangement Was Theophile Delcasse, an obscure follower of Gambetta who, beginning as a tutor to the children of a minor official in the ministry of foreign affairs, raised himself, almost liter ally by his own bootstraps, until at the apex of his career he could claim that he dominated the diplomatic scene in the Old World. From the start, he knew what he wanted, and the fact that his work endured for thirty-six years suggests that his ambitions were substantial. A Rad ical government headed by Eugene Henri Brisson, elevated to . power during the excitement of the Dreyfus scandal in 1898, gave him the chance he craved. The cornerstone of his policy was the conviction, based on admittedly personal grounds, that “the only nation France need be afraid of and guard against was Germany, and that, therefore, alli ance must be sought with Britain as well as with Russia and that the way must be paved (incredibly para doxical as it seemed then) for a Russo-British understanding.” M. Delcasse was quite frank about his objective. Under five successive Premiers he argued that “if the friendship of England were not secured by French diplomacy, Berlin and London sooner or later would get together.” To prevent that de velopment, he was willing to go to any length. He was an imperialist, ardently believing that “his country's fate was bound up with the consoli dation and extension of its North African empire.” Lord Lansdowne, Joseph Chamberlain and King Ed ward VII fell in line with his pro posals for a united front against the Prussians as well as for the division of the south shores of the Mediter ranean. The first convention was signed on April 8, 1904. It gave Morocco to France, Egypt to Britain. Publicly, it was announced that no change in the “political status” of these territories was contemplated. Secret clauses in the treaty, however, provided for their “absorption.” Other agreements followed in a natural sequence. Finally, on July 30. 1914, Paul Cambon reminded Sir Edward Grey that “a close-binding alliance” required British help for France “when the German attack seemed imminent.” The Entente survived the ensuing struggle. But it gradually wore thin, r especially after 1919 when France proposed taking the United States Into the partnership in succession to Russia, and the United States de clined the honor. M. Delcasse died 1 In 1924, still motivated by “a very . deep feeling of France’s greatness 5and an unshakable confidence in . her destiny.” but helpless to win for «. her the efficient allies she was to require when the vanquished Reich again challenged the democracies. World's Fair Bombing The fatal bomb explosion at the New York World's Fair presents a problem in detection which will challenge the best minds of the New York Police Department and of such co-operating agencies as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A bombing not only is a particularly cruel way of Wreaking vengeance, but is a par ticularly difficult type of crime to solve. A gun or dagger can be direct ed at a specific victim, but a bomb does its work of death and destruc tion indiscriminately, often—as in the New York case—missing its in tended mark altogether. Planted to explode in the British pavilion at •the fair, the bomb killed two detec tives and injured several other offi cers wno had removed it from the building. And its explosion destroyed 'all but a few possible clues to the ^perpetrator of the outrage. ;■ Investigators have only a handful pt fragments of the machine for Jpngible * evidence—a wire spring, ^pme pieces of aluminum and steel, Jfeveral nuts and bolts and other de wis. They have meager information |$)out a tall, dark man who robbed a instruction shed of some dynamite fecently and they know about a tele phoned warning that the pavilion ^ould be blown up. Those seem to rather slim clues—but other ^ijombing mysteries have been cleared up with as little initial information, or less. Experience has shown that such cases are not apt to be solved t by dragnet arrests of alleged suspects. They require painstaking application of intelligent, modern investigative techniques, including scientific ex amination of the tiniest particles of evidence in an effort to trace them to their sources. Pieces of twine and wrapping paper led to arrest of a dynamiter in a California bombing case. Metal fragments helped to identify suspects in the famous Seat Pleasant bombing case, here some years ago. The most insignificant residue may provide an important clue when subjected to chemical," microscopic or spectrographic analy sis. Laboratory technicians of the F. B. I. have had marked success in using scientific methods of detec tion, and it is to be hoped that New York authorities will take full advan take of the standing offer of the F. B. I. to place its scientific facilities at the disposal of local officers in such major crimes as the World’s Fair bombing. Milk for Needy The District government, in com bination with the Federal Agricul ture Department, has taken a long step toward improving the health of the unfortunates in Washington whose low income compels them to Dublic assistance and prevents uifcii obtaining the foods needed for proper diet. This forward march is accomplished in the announcement that milk will be sold at the rate of five cents a quart to the 11.400 needy who receive social security aid, direct relief or W. P. A. wages. The District has been waiting six months for the announcement. Only the receipt of bids from Washington milk handlers stands now between the announce ment and the actual arrival of the low-price milk. Absence of milk from the diet is a contributor to the incidence of j tuberculosis and other maladies which particularly afflict the poor. The five-cent program insures a wider use of milk in Washington than ever before. But even this program seems to fall short of what is desirable. For instance, there are : probably many hundreds of persons besides the 11,400 eligibles who have managed to make their own way without public aid but who could benefit from an expanded diet. Again, the needy probably could use more than the pint of milk a day which is the limit presently fixed | for any one person. The Washington program, it is admitted, is in its experimental stage. Its life and the life of the contracts which the Federal Gov ernment will fign with the partici pating milk handlers expires next June 30. By then we will know bet ter how much the program costs the District in manning the milk depots and how much the program costs the Federal Government in paying, the handlers the subsidy to meet the difference between their contract price and the five-cent sale price. We will know to what extent the program enriches the dairy farmers, who first urged this sort of arrange ment in the District because they saw that it would broaden their sales of fluid milk, which brings the dairy farmer the highest price. Knowing these things, the authorities might be justified in revising and extending the program, lifting the one-pint limit and admitting all the low-in come consumers to its benefits. The French Canadians Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the people of the British Isles must be deeply gratified by the re action of the large French Canadian population to the decision of the Royal Navy to attack French fleet units to prevent their possible use in the war by the Germans and Italians. The French Canadians, if their at titude can be gauged by the French language newspapers in Quebec and elsewhere, are taking the rational viewpoint that Britain had no other choice, that the stark necessities of her military situation made it im perative that the French fighting ships be destroyed to insure that they should not be converted to the use of the common foe. Le Canada, of Montreal, summed up the reaction of the French lan guage press when it said editorially: “The British Government, in the presence of an extremely difficult situation, acted resolutely. What was done was what ought to have been done and it was done quickly and well. World opinion and history will approve it.” Had the Nazi propaganda agents been able to persuade the French speaking Canadians to accept their interpretation of the battle of Oran as a cold-blooded and indefensible attack on a former ally, the British and the Canadian governments might have had a serious problem on their hands. But that, happily, is not the case. The French Canadians, enabled to formulate their judgment on the basis of facts, not propa ganda, have come to the only con clusion that reason permits, and their continued loyalty to the Brit ish cause is thereby assured. Speeding Justice A long-overdue judicial reform is made possible by a bill just signed by President Roosevelt which will permit the Supreme Court to pre scribe uniform rules for criminal procedure in Federal district courts, simplifying these processes by elim inating archaic technicalities and to a corresponding degree speeding the administration of justice. As the situation now stands, pre verdict procedure in district courts— which has been the sole field of judicial procedure not subject to the rule-making power of the Supreme Court—varies from place to place. To add to the complications, when f specific points are not covered by Federal statute, the common law of the individual States applies. The result has been a total lack of uni formity-forms of indictment are a case in point—that serves to delay the progress of trials through the courts. The new law will permit the Su preme Court to follow the same coqrsc that was adopted recently for simplifying the rules of Federal civil procedure. An eminent committee from bench and bar will prepare a draft for Nation-wide discussion and study in legal circles, and the com pleted product, when approved and promulgated by the Supreme Court, will represent the best thought in the country on the subject. Several Attorneys General, the American Bar Association and other groups and individuals have support ed this project, and the success that has accompanied the application of the new civil rules offers every as surance that criminal practice like wise will be improved. Importantly, too, these benefits are not confined to Federal courts, but extend also to State tribunals, which have been quick to adapt the new civil processes to their own needs and are expected to do the same with the criminal rules. Why Must They Die? In the first half of 1940 thirty-six persons have died in Washington’s traffic. More than half of these fatalities were in May and June and thirty of them were pedestrians. In the same six months of last year forty-one were killed. Elsewhere in today’s Star is a summarization of official facts in each case and an analysis of current conditions. Despite the fact that Washington’s safety campaign so far this year has saved only five lives, certain truths stand out in. the picture presented. Fewer pedestrians were killed cross ing streets in the middle of blocks and fewer were struck down while walking against signals. Jaywalking in one form or another still is prev alent, but apparently is declining. No one has been killed this year while crossing a street on a proper signal, and it is obvious that better observ ance of safety ru^es is a growing habit with those afoot, since a larger proportion of fatal accidents ap peared due to faults of driving rather than to faults of walking. Fortunately, the number of child fatalities is much lower this year, only three having been recorded! One of these was purely accidental, in another the victim was obeying the best dictates of safety, and only in one case was a child’s chance taking an important factor. Efforts which have been made by schools, playgrounds and safety groups to conserve child life through juvenile co-operation are getting results. Not a single bicyclist, for instance, has been killed. Continued efforts to teach basic safety to children are being made. A series of “Safety Towns,” drama tizing traffic dangers and the meth ods of safety, will begin in the play grounds Monday, This is one system which appeals to the juvenile imag ination and which has obtained results in other communities. Em bodying the theory of “learning by doing,” it combines, fun with valu able lessons. Co-operation of parents in enabling their children to partici pate in “Safety Town” when it comes to their .nearest playground will be of great value. Aiding Americas' Defense While the Americas move toward closer co-operation for economic and political solidarity against the new masters of Europe the United States is contributing in a practical way to the strengthening of the military defenses of its sister republics of this hemisphere. The addition of an Army air mis sion of four officers to the general military mission which the United States maintains in Brazil signifies the direction in which the United States is helping to prepare for the possibility of a German invasion. The air mission to Brazil has a special importance. Brazil, being the nearest of any American republic to Africa, is the most likely prospec tive landing point for any air or sea invasion launched from the Dark Continent. The presence of the air mission in Rio de Janeiro will give Brazil the benefit of expert American advice at the same time that it will provide the United States Gov ernment—which, in the last analysis, will have to bear the brunt of air defenses in this hemisphere—with accurate data on the requirements for adequate air protection in Brazil. In the same sense the expected appointment of a naval air mission to Peru, replacing the Italians who were called home a month ago, will provide a basis for a co-operative defense of the western coast of South America. This new movement of American officers into the other republics of this hemisphere is important for sev eral reasons. First of all, of course, is the basis that is being laid for ef fective co-operation between the armed forces of the United States and the forces of the other republics, which up to now have been pre dominantly European-advised and European-trained. Also important, however, is the advantage to be gained from denial to European militarists of the secrets of American defenses. Although mili tary, naval and air missions as a rule do not operate as spies, in the course of their work they inevitably come into possession of considerable knowledge of the weaknesses in the defenses of the countries to which they are accredited. 4 « Appeasement Seen as Vital Issue By Owen L. Scott. The hardest questions Wendell Wlll kie will be forced to answer during the coming campaign will concern foreign policy. The most difficult question of foreign policy will be whether to appease or not to appease a victorious Hitler in Europe and an expanding Japafa'in Asia. President Roosevelt is guiding the Democratic party toward a definite pol icy of non-appeasement. The President is determined not to recognize^ German conquests in Europe. He is equally de termined not to play along with Japan in the Far East even though unable ef fectively to oppose the Japanese ex pansion at this time. Mr. Roosevelt is prepared to battle against German trade penetration into Latin America, if ac companied by political penetration, and to balk at German overtures for large gold loans from the United States to pay for “reconstruction” of Europe. He plans a vast armament program here to pre pare for an eventual showdown. In other words, Mr. Roosevelt Is de termined that the United States, wedged in between a powerful Germany and a powerful Japan—both expanding by con quest—shall not allow itself to become a second-class power, unable or unwill ing to defend its primary interests against the encroachments of the ex panding nations in Europe and Asia. There appears to be little question that the United States, if it desires to con tinue to be a first-class power, able to shape its own destiny, will be forced, sooner or later, to fight for that privilege. Wendell Willkie’s position on these questions of basic policy is not clear. He, too, professes to be for large-scale de fense. He is opposed to having Hitler or another dictator attack the United States. But, on the basis of his public expressions, he believes that a President should not lead the Nation in foreign policy if that leadership takes the coun try toward war. The Republican nomi nee feels instead that the President should be pushed by public sentiment. This raises the question of whether the masses of people are capable of deter mining, by instinct, when vital national interests are jeopardized by a foreign power, and whether they will be inclined to push a President into war if those In terests are jeopardized. It may be that a people, without leadership, will accept a secondary position in the world with out knowing what it means. Such, at least, is the line of thinking here. That thinking goes on to other questions that will have to be answered by the presidential candidates in 1940. One question concerns how far the United States should go in trading with a Europe that is under Hitler control. Germany's trade methods will largely shut American goods out of Europe be cause of the difficulty of arranging car ter deals that will not prove politically impossible inside the United States. The Germans propose that this country, to keep its European markets, should “loan” large amounts of gold to the na tions of Europe which those nations then can use to pay for American goods. They also want this country to accept the gold, which Germany obtained by con quest, in payment for goods. The net effect of the first operation would be to make a gift to the Germans of those American products that the Germans need in any preparation to wage war in the Western Hemisphere—both economic and military. Some businessmen already are listen ing with interest to these feelers put out by Germany and are inclined to go along with trade on this basis. ^Ar. Roosevelt is strongly opposed to this or any other type of trade deal with Hitler that does not result in a fair return for the Amer ican goods exchanged. Mr. Willkie has not yet expressed himself on this ques tion. A second question concerns national defense. President Roosevelt is outlining defense plans that will provide an Army and a Navy competent to defend this hemisphere against any opposing com bination. These plans entail a huge out lay of funds—a minimum of $10,000, 000.000 a year. The same plans call for universal service for the youth of the country and for gearing of American industry to something near to an arma ment basis. This is the price that is required for a determination to maintain the United States in the running as a first-class power. Added to other costs of government, it will mean a total Fed eral Government budget of about $17, 000,000,000. That, in turn, will involve greatly increased taxes and a greatly ihcreased effort on the part of the people. It is not known, as yet, how Mr. Will kie feels about an armament program of this size. * * ¥ * The Republican party, however, is on record as favoring less Government activity and there is great emphasis upon bringing the Federal Government near to balance. Yet the clear fact is that if the United States is to guard thi/ hemisphere and to arm for that purpose there must be a vast extension of governmental activity and a greatly increased direction of business and finance by Government. This country will be bumping against totalitarian na tions in which government exercises a monopoly of foreign trade and main tain absolute control over money and investments, as well as over many prices. Mr. Willkie will face the task of recon ciling Republican doctrine with the task that lies ahead. To combat totalitarian methods that soon will be directed toward Latin America, the United States may be forced to resort to some of the totali tarian technique. The foreign trade of this Nation may need to be handled on a monopoly basis, and there may have to be drastic action to deal with any of unfairness on the part of the Germans in dealing with Latin American nations. At home, there may have to be reor ganization of agriculture and Industry to meet the problem caused by dwindling European markets. President Roosevelt has plans under way for meeting these budding problems. The attitude of Mr. Willkie toward them and the methods he would use In deal ing with them remain to be outlined. It Is in a field not covered by political platforms that the real Issues of the coming campaign will be found. 1 THERE COME TIMES!' • f By the Right Rev. James E. Freeman, D. D., LL. D., D. C. L., Bishop of Washington. There come times in the life of men and of nations when a rigid self-ap praisal is indispensable. Such a time is the present. If more than half the world has abandoned the Christian way of life, all the more reason that we should take unto ourselves the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand Jn the evil day. God has repeatedly saved His cause through minorities. Ten righteous men would have rfaved the cities of the plain. There is something magnificent in the heroism of the few who will, at all costs, dare to hold a posi tion that is beset with perils on every side. Neutrality, colorless and cautious, there cannot be where moral issues are at stake. We may ground our arms; we cannot seal our lips or speak softly where a cruel assault is made upon prin ciples and ideals that we hold as basic and fundamental. We of this fair land may regard with pride and satisfaction our strong and seemingly impregnable position, but in a world whose contacts and relations have grown close and intimate we must play our whole and consistent part in every crisis and emergency. It is eco nomic distress both here and abroad that is at the root of these cataclysmic upheavals. Greed, selfishness, aban doned ideals, these are manifestations of the presence of a new anti-Christ in our modern world. Has the church, has our Christian faith to do with these things? It certainly has, and if it fails God will remove its candlestick and ex tinguish the fires on its altar. Edith Cavell declared that “patriotism is not enough”; it takes men and women whose hearts are aflame with love, whose hands are clean, whose convictions are strong, whose purpose is unchanged and un changing, to meet conditions that are exigent and threatening. It is with this kind of faith, a faith militant and un afraid, that we can face every evil force, every conspiracy that is malign, every enemy of Him who dethroned principalities and powers on the cross and gave to the world its charter of liberty. To press our party passwords in the face of threatening conditions in our modem world is to be disloyal to Christ and His cause. St. Paul prayed that he might “speak boldly as he ought to speak,” and this in the certainty of impending martyrdom. Boldness to speak and live for Christ may lay upon us great and severe hardships. We face a hostile world. Growing secularism and indifference to the Chris tian way of life are conspicuously evident. We are summoned to examine ourselves, to appraise our strength and our weak ness and to make ready for any situa tion or emergency that may arise. If the moral and spiritual tone of the Nation is low. it must be raised. It will imperil our very security if it drops lower. This lowered tone is evident in every phase of our life; it is the basic cause of impaired confidence, loss of initiative, increasing divorce, insecurity in business, supineness in assuming consistent obli gations, a widespread feeling of uncer tainty and the as yet unsolved problems of the depression. Has the church no strong leadership to give in a situation as gravely critical as the one that faces the world? If it has not, it should be prepared to fold its tents and abandon its assumed proud position. We cannot answer the urgent needs of our time by pressing our artistic wares upon a reluctant and deeply con cerned world. No amount of elaborate ceremonial, however appealing it may be; no amount of dogmatic, impressive preaching can arrest the multitude that today is rushing heedlessly past our open and hospital church doors. We sit in our exclusive circles, our conferences and our conventions, our clerical gatherings, and make our oracular pronouncements, and who listens to us? No one outside our own carefully shepherded company. Must we not realize that the time has come when the ministry of both clergy and laity must be more demonstrative and militant? Must we not make our Christian profession a more real force in arresting evil and preverse influences? j Must we not take it out of its cloistered i exclusiveness and bring it to market place and forum, yes, to every place where men live and toil and struggle, and by the immediate application of its prin ciples make it a vital factor in easing the strain and sdlving the problems of life. _ Fifty Years Ago In The Star “There exists and has long existed among the people of Washington.” says - , The Star of July 5. 1890. • Power or .,the feeling that the Dls. Engineer trict Commissioner select Officer ed from the Army is given by law or custom too great power in the plan of local government, and the man ner in which this power has been exer cised and asserted by some of the prede cessors of the present Engineer Com missioner has at times provoked the people to inquire why the Army should be called upon at all to perform purely municipal functions, for which military training and experience do not furnish the slightest preparation. It is not now possible to divide the board into civil and uncivil Commissioners, but the feeling Is still strong that without reference to the individual who may All the office, the Engineer Commissioner should, if the Army is to continue to furnish one of the board, be at least no more pow erful than his civil colleagues. “The Star expressed its view of the matter editorially Just before Col. Robert succeeded Maj. Raymond. Influenced by this opinion, it has seen with satisfaction the lively Interest which the Engineer Commissioner has taken, presumably with the assent of his colleagues, in matters outside of the engineering de partment. The public has had the bene fit of his diligent service and by breaking down of his owm accord the real or im aginery barriers between the spheres of the eWl and military Commissioners, he has opened up to his colleagues the quality of privilege in the far more im portant departments over which he has been treated as having special control and has rendered logical their request that his assistants in this department be made the assistants of the board. "The Star does not think it wise to discourage action of the Army Commis sioner outside of what is properly called the engineering department, It does not believe that the act of 1874 gives any binding indication of the duties of the Engineer Commissioner, created by the act of 1878. establishing the permanent form of government. Under the make shift act of 1874 .there was no Engineer Commissioner and the office, whose du ties it is sought to transfer to the Engi neer Commissioner of 1878, was abol ished by that act and there is no indica tion in the act that the Engineer Com missioner succeeds merely to the former engineer assistant's duties. In appor tioning functions among the Commis sioners engineering matters would natu rally fall largely to his share, and the act of 1878 proceeds on this assumption by referring to him as 'Engineer Com missioner’ and by giving him two assist ants frem the Engineer Corps to aid him ‘in the discharge of the special duties imposed upon him by the provisions of this act.’ “The expression ‘special duties’ must have reference to the fact that the duties of District Commissioner are when assigned to a member of the Engineering Corps special in relation to his duties as an Army officer. It cannot indicate that the Engineer Commissioner has under the provisions of the act special duties which distinguish him from his col leagues, for there is no statement of such duties in the act and there is abundant evidence that he is on an equal footing with them in respect to the general du ties of Commissioners. Provision is made for ‘the Commissioner who shall be an officer’ as specifically as for ‘the two persons appointed from civil life.’ Any one of ‘said three Commissioners’ may be chosen president of the board. “There is nothing anywhere in the act to indicate that tho Engineer Commis sioner has less authority in the general duties of the board than either of his colleagues. If he has special powers as Engineer Commissioner they must be in addition to those whiqh he possesses as one-third of the board. The Star is op posed to a construction of the law which would turn over to him control of by far the most important District concerns. "The Star hopes that the law will be so construed that all of the Commission era may be treated as precisely orf the % Capital Sidelights " By Will P. Kennedy. - — — — In these days of extraordinary mili tary preparedness a new arm has been added to the United States Army, mod eled after the famous panzer tank in vasion force of Germany—an armored corps, which is to be expanded just as fast as heavy tanks can be produced. Specially trained officers have been selected for this new corps. Brig. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee, present cqmmander of out mechanized force, will be the first corps commander. He is Kansas born, son of a fdrmer chief of staff, and during the World War was succes sively assistant operations officer of the 4th, 7th and 3d Army Corps in France. After the armistice he commanded the 9th Infantry in the Army of Occupa tion in Germany. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and served two tours of duty with the War Depart ment general staff. He is a graduate of the Mounted Service School, l’Ecole de Application de Cavalerie of France, the School of the Line and the Army War College. Brig. Gen. Bruce Magruder, ; former commander of infantry tanks, : will command the 1st Armored Division. He is Washington-born and entered the Regular Army as an enlisted man in 1904, after service as an officer in the District National Guard. During the World War he served in France with Military Intelligence in the American Expeditionary Forces and subsequently as intelligence officer with the War De partment general staff. He has been in command of the tank concentration maneuvers with the 3d Army. He is a graduate of the Infantry School and the Command and General Staff School. Brig. Gen. Charles L. Scott, recently in command of a cavalry mechanized regi ment, is to command the 2d Armored Division. Born in Alabama, he is a West Point graduate (one year ahead of Gen. Chaffee) and during the World War was engaged in the purchase of horses and mules for the Army and commanded the remount depot at Camp Bowie, Tex. Subsequently he was in charge of the animal division of the Remount Service under the quarter master general, commanded a cavalry regiment at Fort Knox. Ky.; was de tailed to the general staff and assigned to the headquarters of the 1st Corps Area at Boston. He is a graduate of the Mounted Service School, the Command and General Staff School and the Army War College. Lt. Col. Sereno E. Brett, who is chief of staff of the new corps, commanded tank units in the Meuse Argonne and has been one of the out standing infantry tank officers. He is an Oregonian and entered military serv ice as an officer of the Oregon National Guard. In the World War he won the Distinguished Service Cross, the Dis tinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster. He has had an active and important part in develop ment and tactical operation of tanks. * * * * July 4, as well as being the birthday of the Nation, has been the birthday of many noted men, Representative John E. Rankin of Mississippi reminded his colleagues the other day. Among those bom July 4 were the late President Calvin Coolidge, July 4, 1872; Nathaniel Hawthorne, July 4, 1804. It is the an niversary of the death of three former Presidents—Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both of whom died on July 4,' 1828, and James Monroe, 1831. same footing and that the authority in respect to all municipal concerns may be viewed as in the board collectively. The board should as a body determine the distribution of work among its members. The engineering ability of the military Commissioner will naturally suggest that in subordination to the board collectively he should handle among his special as signments matters necessarily involving engineering skill. But no opportunity for a clash of authority between the Engineer Commissioner and the board collectively ehould be permitted to re main." Discusses Details of Parachute Training By Frederic J. Haskin. The Regular United States Army Is preparing to give instruction to troops in parachute warfare and it is expected that officers will be detailed to such National Guard units as desire them to extend the teaching of this newest type of military art as widely as possible. Certain it is that, should universal military service be made compulsory, training in parachute tactics will be an important part of the course. It is a notable fact that whenever any new type of fighting is developed by a na tion, other nations seek to imitate it and the use of parachutes for invasion is no exception. To the end that it may be fully Informed on the technique of parachute fighting, the War Department has possessed itself of every detail con cerning the course of training given soldiers selected for this type of duty in Germany. Parachute warfare, of course, was not invented in Germany. It was first used in Russia by the Soviet Army, where the Russians performed some spectacular stunts in maneuvers. The German high command has taken the Russia lesson to heart, but has improved immensely upon the instruction. Probably the principal difference be tween the Russian and German para chute tactics is that the Russians dropped their parachutists from great altitudes, rhe German technique is to drop their men from surprisingly low altitudes. Better parachutes which open more quickly have made this possible. The result is that the man is in the air, where he is an especially vulnerable target, for a much shorter space. It has been suggested that, even as the Germans have improved upon Rus sian teaching, so the United States Army will make further improvements as will the British. For one thing, consideration Is being given the possibility of enabling the parachutist to shoot even while in the air. Probably some special type of revolver will be designed for this purpose. The parachutist's arms are free during descent, but it is scarcely to be expected that he would prove much of a marksman while twisting and turning in the air. But, should he find himself falling near an enemy, he could commence firing at once. In Germany the first training starts in a huge building, specially designed. It is of great height, greater than the average armory or auditorium. From the ceiling hang training fixtures which are to simulate the airplane. The trainee is raised by a sort of derrick ahd then let fall quite a distance. He lands on a huge, mattresslike pad. This is known as falling practice. * * * * There is a closely related comparison between the training of a parachutist and a circus aprobat. The first thing an acrobat learns is how to fall. This is regarded as the most vital part of a parachutist’s training. The danger of injury in falling is large. A sprained ankle, a broken leg means that the man is of little use for the particular kind of work such troops are expected to per form. If the guy ropes of a parachute become entangled or if a man is thrown off poise by striking the branches of a tree, a bad landing is likely to be made. Also, there is the strong likelihood that he may strike very rough or broken ground such as a plowed field. He must be highly trained to minimize the risk of being put out of commission by initial injury from simple contact with the earth. Instructors carefully watch every prac tice fall and criticize the faults observed. The man tries again and again. Then the training moves out of doors. Prac tice stages are erected at the height from the ground which would cause the same shock a man would experience dropping in a parachute. This stage is built to stimulate an airplane door and the trainee must Jump through this door from a rather awkward, half stooping po sition. These stages are built for the first out-of-door practice on a grass campus. The fall, of course, ^s much harder than on the mattress‘pad in doors. The trainee must learn what to do with his body when falling in any position, for it is difficult for the para chutist to know at just what angle he will strike the earth. There is a technique for falling at an angle calculated to cause the parachut ist to fall forward on his face, another when he strikes on his heels and keels over backward. No possible angle of fall is omitted from the training. To begin with, all the recruits are young; indeed, not a few of those taken pris oner in the Low Countries were no more than 16 years of age. The danger of breaking bones in the young is much less than in older men whose bones have begun to grow brittle. Attention is given to teaching the youth how to detach himself from his parachute in the least possible time, tor it instantly becomes a hindrance to him. More than a hindrance, an outright danger for a sudden gust of wind might well drag him off his feet and perhapa put him out of commission completely. At least it would lengthen the period in which he is unable to defend himself. The training, of course, includes the handling of the equipment which he has or which, as with machine guns, is dropped separately. The German tech nique has been to drop two men and then a third parachute carrying a machine gun and its ammunition, in training under favorable circumstances, these men have their machine gun as sembled and set up in two minutes from the instant they hit the earth. No attempt is made to salvage the parachute as most of these men have little expectation of getting over their adventure without suffering death or at least captivity. And, in case their own arms are lost or damaged in the descent, the German parachutist, it has been found, are instructed in how to use the types of arms likely to be found in the particular country to which they are sent. After this ground training is over, the men are taken aloft in transport or other planes and made to leap. They must do this over and over again until they are perfect in the trick and then they go to the front and, at the com mand of a Nazi officer, leap into space to encounter they know not what fate. One thing which the army officers have especially noted is that, If there is any regular patrol waiting a parachute attack, the descending soldier makes a remarkably easy target.