Evening star. [volume], December 19, 1947, Page A-10, Image 10

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

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^toening
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A—10 FRIDAY, December 19, 1947
Skeptical but Not Indifferent
President Truman has been a consistent
advocate of votes for Washington since
he came to the White House. Two years
ago he joined some highly distinguished
White House predecessors by advocating
the principle in his message to Congress.
It is not surprising that his discussion
yesterday with Chairman Auchincloss and
members of the Home Rule Subcommittee
encouraged these gentlemen, made them
feel the President is behind them in the
local suffrage proposal they are now
perfecting.
Leaving the White House, Mr. Auchin
eloss spoke good naturedly of the fact that
"our work is appreciated by the President
if not by District of Columbia residents.”
He evidently refers here to the disappoint
ment previously expressed by his colleague,
Representative Deane of North Carolina,
over the failure of the Auchincloss plan to
Arouse enthusiastic response from Wash
ingtonians.
Perhaps the complaint is justified. The
Auchincloss committee has devoted many
patient hours to working out a plan for
home rule that would give Washingtonians
a local vote while retaining essential con
trol of the District by Congress. Why has
there been no evidence of spontaneous
rejoicing by the people of Washington?
One reason may be that for many years
the same proposition in one form or an
other has been sponsored in Congress
without success. There is considerable
skepticism now over how far the Auch
incloss plan will go. The people here have
been disappointed so many times in the
past that there is a natural, if disappoint
ing, inclination to wait and see what hap
pens this time.
An even more persuasive explanation,
however, is the response of the Auchincloss
subcommittee to the proposal that Wash
ingtonians, through a referendum, should
vote on their acceptance or rejection of
a home-rule plan. The committee decided
there was no occasion for such a refer
endum. For in perfecting a home-rule plan,
Congress—and not the people of the Dis
trict—is solely responsible and is merely
discharging its constitutional function in
relation to District government. In other
words, it is the business of Congress, not of
the local residents.
Given some organized machinery for ex
pressing themselves, people of the District
would outdo any local electorate in the
country in their response and their in
terest. Denied such means, informed that
the perfection of a plan is exclusively the
business 6f Congress, and that one of its
chief aims is to relieve Congress of detail
rather tha-n to recognize a basic American
right, a disposition toward watchful wait
ing is not altogether surprising.
There is no lack of appreciation in Wash
ington for what Mr. Auchincloss and his
subcommittee are doing. There Is no lack
of Interest. The subject is being talked
about everywhere. But the torchlight pa
rades, bonfires and mass meetings are not
apt to materialize until people are asked to
decide something for themselves, with some
assurance that what they say will count.
An accountant assures us Government
books are so badly kept it is impossible
to tell if there was a deficit or surplus
last year. And only the morbidly curious
will Inquire.
Foreign Aid Cut
The action of the House in cutting the
authorized sum for emergency aid this
winter to France and Italy (the Austrian
fund was not cut' belongs in that class of
“economy” which has come to be known
as cheese-paring. And as a matter of fact
it is a below-the-average brand of cheese
paring.
The authorization called for $597,000,000
and the House cut from this a total of
$88,000,000. This was done in the name of
economy, but actually it is nothing of the
sort.
In the first place, to subtract $88,000,000
from the minimum total needed to carry
Western Europe through the winter Can be
expected to cost us more in the long run,
assuming that Congress intends to go
through with the Marshall plan. In this
sense the action of the House is not econ
omy; it is false economy.
It is also false economy, however, in even
a more literal sense. For example, the cut
in French aid was placed at $60,000,000.
But we will not save $66,000,000 because
France owes us $23,000,000 in principal and
interest on a $1,200,000,000 Export-Import
Bank loan. The French were to have paid
us the $23,000,000 out of the emergency aid
fund, and now that this fund has been
cut they will not be able to pay It. So, to
this extent, the French cut is at best a
pseudo saving, and, incidentally, we force
France to default on her prior obligation
to us—not a very healthy precedent.
There is more of the same in other
aspects of the cuts made in the appropria
tion for France and Italy. A perusal of the
debate in the House makes it seem as
though the cuts were made for the mere
sake of cutting and not as a result of any
Intelligent consideration of the problem.
Most certainly, there was nothing in the
debate to give one the impression that the
House action was the work of a great na
tion coming to grips with a vital problem.
Whether these cuts, or any part of them,
can be restored in the Senate and in con
ference is doubtful because of the pressure
of time. But there is every reason why
the Senate and its conferees should do the
best they can in this direction.
'Fifth Column' in Action
The Wallace third-party movement, de
scribed by one liberal leader as the “fifth
column in action,” is running head-on into
stormy political weather.
This is most notably evident in the
announcement that the Amalgamated
Clothing Workers of America, the most
important union now affiliated with the
American Labor Party, has turned thumbs
down on the proposal of the Progressive
Citizens of America to nominate Henry
Wallace for President on a third-party
ticket. This is also evident in the resig
nation of Dr. Frank Kingdon as co
chairman of the PCA because of his
unwillingness to support Mr. Wallace in
th^ third-party role, in the resignation
for the same reason of Bartley C. Crum
of San Francisco, as national vice chair
man, and in the reported decision of other
important PCA leaders to get out while
the getting is good.
It may be that some of those who are
now forsaking the Wallace banner are
motivated, not by an appraisal of what
is best for this country, but by a re
luctance to be found aboard a sinking
ship. Still, the fact remains that the
departure of each one of them serves to
sharpen the issue, to make it clearer that
a vote for Mr. Wallace will be a vote
against the best interests of the United
States.
This is true because, if any one ever
had doubt about it, these defections make
it evident that a third party is doomed.
Mr. Wallace cannot hope to win an elec
tion. But he can hope to accomplish
one of two things. He can hope to pull
enough votes away from President Truman
to insure the election of a Republican who
might be less determined in his fight
against the spread of international com
munism. Or he might hope, by this threat,
to force the President to abandon or soft
pedal our present policy of opposing
Communist aims.
Alex Rose, vice chairman of the Labor
Party, interprets the third-party move
ment as meaning that the Communist
fight against the Marshall plan and the
Truman policies is being transferred from
Europe to the United States. He charges
that Mr. Wallace is being used by the
Communists to bring pressure on President
Truman to make concessions to Soviet
Russia or face destruction of his election
prospects next year.
"The PCA movement for a third ticket,”
Mr. Rose declares, “is not a genuine at
tempt for a third national party movement
but an attempt at political extortion. It
wants to pressure our Government to sac
rifice important principles of our foreign
policy and to extract concessions in favor
of a foreign government or else launch a
torpedo to destroy the chances of Truman’s
re-election. It wants to succeed at home
where Molotov failed in London.”
This can be discounted as one- sees fit.
But it should be remembered that those
who are saying these things and who are
pulling out of the third-party movement
are political liberals, men who have been
friends and supporters of Mr. Wallace.
They do not include only Mr. Rose, Mr.
Crum and Mr. Kiftgdom. Substantially the
same thing is being said by Wilson Wyatt,
Leon Henderson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.,
and others like them.
The words of these men are supported
By the logic of the case. For regardless of
whether Mr. Wallace’s motives are good or
bad, a third-party movement would be
bound to play into the hands of Soviet
policy and against our own interests. In
this sense, at least, it would indeed prove
to be a fifth column In action.
Prospects for Trizonia'
The collapse of the Foreign Ministers'
Council meeting at London opens up
many avenues of speculation. Perhaps
the most intriguing of these is the extent
to which the three western powers—
America, Britain and France—will co
ordinate their respective* zone* of occupa
tion in Germany, now that concerted
action between themselves and Soviet
Russia has become practically impossible,
at least for the Immediate future.
Logically, some degree of co-ordination
is indicated, and French Foreign Minister
Bidault has publicly expressed willingness
to discuss the fusion of the French zone
with those of the English-speaking powers.
It should, of course, be understood that
the Americans and British have already
combined their zones for economic pur
poses, and have from the first invited the
French to join up, thereby transforming
what is currently known as Bizonia into
“Trizonia.” »
Hitherto, however, the French have held
aloof. For this, there were several reasons.
Economically, France has opposed raising
the level of German industry much above
that fixed under the Potsdam agreement,
and has also demanded a share in the
exploitation of the Ruhr, Germany’s in
dustrial heart as well as the seat of its
chief coal fields. Politically, France has
favored a loose federation of German
states, with the Ruhr and the Rhineland
kept out and placed under international
control, whereas America and Britain have
preferred a central government for all
Germany, though with a large measure of
local decentralization. There is also the
question of the Saar, the coal-producing,
industrialized district just across the
French border. By unilateral action,
though with the consent of America
and Britain, France has virtually lncor
«orated the Saar into its economic
iructure. Soviet Russia, on the contrary,
has disapproved France’s action. Now
that Moscow is eliminated from the pic
ture in Western Germany, it may be
assumed that no further opposition over
the Saar will arise. It is likewise under
stood that America and Britain are ready
to give France a voice in the Ruhr.
Obviously, the economic difficulties in
the way of trizonal fusion are less than
the political. The French zone is much
the smallest of the four and economically
it is proportionately unimportant. There
can be little doubt that France would
gain economically from fusion with
Bizonia. It should be understood that
even the American and British zones have
not been politically merged, though such
a merger is clearly Indicated and is now
A
being worked out in principle between
London and Washington. Much nego
tiating can be expected, however, before
a political aettlement satisfactory to all
three powers is arrived at.
Furthermore, even assuming such a
settlement, it is unlikely to take the form
of a closely unified Western Germany
frankly sundered from the Russian zone
to the eastward. At present, Britain and
America seem almost as averse as France
to so unequivocal a splitting of the former
Reich. What might bring it to pass would
be unilateral action by Moscow, setting up
an East German state formally incor
porated into the politico-economic system
behind the iron curtain. It is too early,
however, to consider such action by
Moscow as probable. Moscow, too, has
reasons for avoiding a split which could
be Irreparable.
St. Mark s in Danger
Many people who never have seen Venice
will share with those who have been there
a natural regret over the news that the
famous basilica of San Marco is in danger
of collapsing. The peril to the ancient
structure arises not from damage sustained
by bombardment during the war but from
neglect occasioned by the Influence of the
war upon the economy of Italy* Money and
labor have been lacking for the proper
maintenance of the cathedral during the
past decade.
Every such building, of course, requires
constant repair. St. Mark's has the
additional handicap of having been raised
' on a mud flat in the Venetian estuary,
partly upheld by wooden piles. The orig
inal walls were of brick and relatively
light in weight. But nine centuries of
veneering with marble, colored tiles, glass
mosiacs and other heavy materials have
placed upon the elementary fabric a burden
it never was meant to bear.
However, it is exactly the “unforeseen
ornament” of St, Mark’s that constitutes
its beauty—and its claim upon the art
loving public of the world at large. The
celebrated church, if it were to disinte
grate, could not be reassembled. Only by
systematic strengthening of the upper
walls and the pilasters and arches holding
the lofty cupolas will it be feasible to save
the basilica from gradual decay. How
acute the danger now is may be a matter
of debate. A similar discussion about the
safety of the adjacent Campanile was
terminated when it fell with a crash on
July 14, 1902. The cost of the tower’s
reconstruction was an expense which
might have been avoided by providing
repairs when they first were needed.
Concerning the cathedral and its current
predicament, David E. Finley, director of
the National Gallery, has said: “It would
be ironic, indeed, to lose now what the
fortunes of war have spared. To save San
Marco is a duty we owe, not only to our
selves, but to future generations, in order
that they may see and enjoy what it has
meant to us as one of the great monuments
of western civilization.”
Easiest type to buy gifts for is the strong,
small boy. Even if he has everything, it
is not for long.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell.
ARLINGTON. Va.
“Dear Sir:
“Write some more about the cardinal. This
is my favorite bird, and I like to see it in
print as well as in my yard.
"All the birds are good, but this one strikes
me as the very best of the lot. a magnificent
fellow with a fine wife and nice children.
“His home life is of the best, and he conducts
himself as an exemplary gentleman wherever
he is. Not for him is the rough way of the
common sparrows, or the bustly bravado of
the starling.
“The cardinal minds his own business, and
yet he is in no way a sissy: he knows when
to give fis wife a gentle slap, when he thinks
she deserves it.
“I cannot .view this favorite bird of mine
without thinking of his mate. too. She is a
beauty in her owA right, a perfect mother, and
fine to have around.
“We who live in the beautiful suburban sec
tions of this, our favorite city, are fortunate in
having these wonderful birds.
“If there is anything new you can tell us
about them, I think it would be fine to have it.
“With best wishes, I am
“Very truly, I. X. F.”
* * * *
Our cardinal belongs to the finch family, in
which are listed the sparrows—of which 19
species come to the District of Columbia and
vicinity—the grosbeaks, buntings, towhees and
siskins.
Wonderful birds, all of these, so it is no won
der the cardinals excite the admiration of our
correspondent and many others.
All these birds have the same type bill, short
and conical. f
To really know your finches requires some
sort of field key.
Even to be familiar with our sparrows is a
task: not many persons know more than the
English sparrow, the song sparrow, and the
white-throated sparrow.
If birds are known by the company they
keep-, the little common sparrows, often scorned
by persons who pride themselves upon being
“bird lovers,” are among the best, because they
eat familiarly at every feeding station with the
gorgeous cardinals.
No sight in window watching is any better
than that of the female cardinal holding a big
sunflower seed in her mandibles.
The way she does this is a sight to behold,
provided you are interested in birds; she looks
so solemn, almost comical, except that in the
life of the wildbirds there is nothing funny
about feeding.
Food is, with them as with us, all important.
Food means, to the birds, the very difference
between life and death. The all important
b.t.u. or British thermal unit, of which man
kind prattles, works equally well with the song
birds in the cold, although they know nothing
about it.
What they do know, and what they work
upon, is the smell of good food. That odor may
not be very definite to the human nose, but the
birds are able to take it in. They have another
way of knowing something good to eat, and
that is eyesight. A bird can spot food at a tre
mendous distance. With the buzzard it is said
to be two miles, for an object no larger than a
mouse—and a dead mouse, at that.
Our average songbirds cannot see food that
far, nor need they to; they need only to be
able to see a seed at a few hundred feet, or
maybe yards; this they do easily and com
pletely. In the winter, the male sometimes is
rather churlish with his mate, not wishing her
to eat with him, but when spring time comes
around, he offers her a seed, no doubt much
to his lady’s astonishment.
One of the best of the newer bird books has
little new to say of this bird: “Male: Bright red,
face black, head crested, bill very large and
red; female: Brownish, with a red crest, red
in the wings and tail. Bill as in the male,
prominent because of her brownish face.”
What is there new to say about these birds?
Where the newness must come in is in the mind
and heart of the beholder, each for himself or
herself, finding something out of the ordinary
In the plain everyday. That this is done con
stantly is one reason why so many persons, in
these times of stress, have found some measure
of peace and eontentment in the simple in door
outdoor sport of watching the birds.
An Editor Does Some Reminiscing
Mr. Daniels Looks Back to Other Washington Visits
Including the Time He First ‘Saw the Light’
(There follows a condensed portion of
Josephus Daniels' speech last night before
the Women’s Democratic Club of Wash
ington.)
I have been privileged to have seen every
President of the United States since the days
of Andrew Johnson, and to have known all of
them since I was received at the White House
by President Garfield in 1881. In a life beyond
fourscore years I have been honored with a
a commission
Democrat who
has occupied
the White
House since I
was born.
Having lived
In Washington
for 10 full
years and
holding com
missions from
four Presidents
and spending *
much time here
between olfice
bolding and
eonventlonlng,
and In diplo
matic service,
T 1_1 1U.S
Ji AVvk U1UV ' I ~ -- -—
sense it belongs to all Americans. It has a
pull upon all who have a yen for politics and
a flair for public service with an indefinable
attraction for all who have once breathed its
atmosphere. I love it—the "cave dwellers’’
whose hospitality I have enjoyed; its beauty
more stately than any of the world's famous
capitals; its public officials and bureaucrats;
and, most of all, like most Americans, I love to
see the wheels of Government go ’round. So I
come back, cheered by troops of cherished asso
ciations and fond memories.
Out of long experience and study of the ca
reers of national leaders it is my mature con
viction that no man since Andrew Jackson
ever willingly left the White House. Theodore
Roosevelt was not the only “willing Barkis"
who died hoping to be given a new lease on
residence in the Executive Mansion. There’s
an appeal of the place—about the great office
of President which "does something” to a man
and few privileged to hang up their hats there
have been happy after its doors were closed
♦/i them
No matter how much, like Cleveland, they
declared that they looked forward with joy to
'laying down their onerous duties, or, like Cool
ldge, hoping his “I do not choose to run” would
result in being drafted, each and every one of
our Chief Executives has been so enamored with
the power and glory of the greatest office in
the gift of mankind that not one has contem
plated a change of residence except with regret.
It is not onlv men who have lived in the
White House who have a yearning to live in
that residence, but there is an impression that
on Capitol Hill—and in some statehouses—
the presidential bee has stung others into a
desire to move into the White House. Once
bitten by that bee, there is a tradition that no
man ever recovers from it.
The first President under whom I held office
was Grover Cleveland. In the 1892 campaign,
I, with many other Democrats, had joined in
the song that put him in the White House:
“Four more years of Grover
Then we’ll be in clover
Out they go, in we go,
Four more years of Grover."
Deserving Democrats flocked to Washington,
I among the number, in the near panic year of
1893 to hail the realization of Grover’s return
to the White House, with patriotic desire to
lend a hand.
Pros and Cons of Merit System.
It was in my apprentice days in the second
Cleveland administration that I first knew and
had a runin with Theodore Roosevelt, then civil
service commissioner. The abuse of the doc
trine “to the victor belongs the spoils’’ had
caused Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roose
velt to wish to remedy the' abuses by substi
tuting civil service examinations so that clerical
and some other appointments to office would
be free from politics. The reform as to clerical
and like appointments, though not without its
evils, was an improvement. This was true even
though at the first it was weakened by giving
life tenure to those who owed their appoint
ment to political influence.
The pendulum now has swung far—too far—
from government by party men to government
by men who do not think enough of the obliga
tions of citizenship to even vote, much less
take an active part in shaping public policies.
In the old days, the doctrine “To the victor
belongs the spoils” was carried to an extreme,
but bad as it sometimes was, it had the vir
tue of insuring government all down the line
by a responsible party which could be driven
from power byi abuses. Today the pendulum
has swung too far to a government manned by
men who, if they have any political principles,
manage to conceal them.
Today, when the term “communism” is heard
oftener than any other word in the English
language, I distinctly remember when I first
heard that word used in public discussion. It
was when Cleveland was preaching the gospel
of tariff reform. He charged that the Repub
lican policy was founded on a “communism of
pelf.”
mere was axiuixiex taxxxx s>i\jiy xxx tuc wcic
land days that had wide currency. One night
Mrs. Cleveland aroused Grover from his slum
ber by saying, “There are burglars in the house.”
The House had passed a good tariff bill,
which the Senate was emasculating and shap
ing it into one Mr. Cleveland characterized as,
“party perfidy arid party dishonor.”
Half awake he said to Mrs. Cleveland: "There
are no burglars in the House, my dear, but
you’ll find plenty of them In the Senate.”
Conversion to Woman Suffrage.
I remember as a boy hearing an emotional
Christian give his religious experience. He re
lated how on a certain night at a certain hour
in a certain place peace came to his soul.
In somewhat the same manner I was bom
Into the new light of faith in woman suffrage.
I recall the place and the hour when going to
a woman suffrage meeting in Washington to
scoff, I remained to pray. It was a summer
night in the late ’90s. I was taking dinner
with a friend and his wife at the old Ebbitt
Hotel.
• “How would you like to go to hear Carrie
Chapman Catt tonight?” the lady asked. "Let’s
go to hear the pussy cat.”
“I do not like her name or her cause,”
I replied.
She said, "Neither do I, but I'd like to hear
her speak.”
We arrived at the crowded small hall late and
had to stand while the lady, with unanswer
able logic, called unbelievers in the cause to
repentance and acceptance of her creed. No, I
did not go to the mourner’s bench and rise pro
fessing a new faith, but I did find myself car
ried along by the force of the heights of her
great argument so Irresistibly that I had a new
birth of political faith. Prom that hour I was
never disobedient to the heavenly vision and
never doubted that my country would recog
nize the equal right of women to a* voice In
government.
Twenty yean later, at Woodrow Wilson's in
auguration, I saw, marching down Pennsyl
vania avenue, led by an American political Joan
of Are, a phalanx of women carrying banner*
} T
with what was then a strange device: "Votes
for Women." Woodrow Wilson, reared in the
old-time Southern conception of the place of
women, was adamant to their entreaties, per
suasions and demands. With him In his first
term other Issues of reform had precedence.
In 1918 he favored a platform plank advising
Btatee to let women vote.
When persuasion did not move Wilson to go
all the way, these resolute women took a sug
gestion from a letter written long ago by
Abigail Adams to her President husband in
which she said: "If particular care and atten
tion are not paid to the ladles we are deter
mined to foment a rebellion and will not hold
ourselves bound to obey any laws In which we
have no voice or representation."
Animated by that spirit, on a wintry day, a
number of militant suffragists picketed the
White House and declined with resentful Indig
nation Wilson's Invitation to come Into the
Executive Mansion and "get warm.’’ Though
outwardly nearly freezing they were hot with
rage Inside against his seemingly Immovable
position and were so militant that some of
them were arrested for disturbing the peace
and sentenced to Jail. These ladies, each like
Valiant in Bunyan’s Immortal "Pilgrim's Prog
ress," said: *T am Valiant, a pilgrim, and am
going to the celestial city though a host or
ganize against me,” only their destination was
the ballot box.
The fight was long and often In doubt until
Tennessee obtained the honor of casting the
deciding vote that conferred full citizenship
on women. We rejoiced with millions of
others when, in the Wilson administration, the
19th amendment was proclaimed on August 26,
1920.
Though liberal men of both parties had co
operated to secure the ratification of the
woman suffrage amendment, little recognition
of woman as equal partner in Government
came until Pranklin Roosevelt’s Inauguration.
Then the first woman, Prances Perkins, took
a seat In the liuur circle of the administration
as a member 9 the cabinet. Florence Allen
was named as the first American Portia on the
United States Circuit Court, and Ruth Bryan
Rhode and Daisy Harrlman were elevated to
high station in the ranks of diplomacy. A
number of able women like Mary Norton and
Edith Rogers pioneered in able service In Con
gress, and It became almost a rule that a
woman should hold a place on every Important
agency of Government under Roosevelt and
Truman, not only In civilian tasks but likewise
as enlisted personnel and officers in the Army
and Navy in World War II, where they more
than made good.
What does this reminiscence of the suffrage
fight sum up to for the women of the National
Democratic Clubs and other woman citizens?
The command for the women of today Is: Go
into politics. Go In red headed. Quit shiver
ing on the brink and plunge Into the stream
and demand an equal part In navigating the
ship of state by woman officials who have
demonstrated their fitness.
jfmphii DinMa.
liAM 4a a a aAAn A VinimA m
Letters to The Star
Letters for publication must bear
the signature and address of the
writer, although it is permissible for a
writer known to The Star to use a
nom de plume. Please be brief.
Christmas at Arlington Farms
To th§ Editor of Th* Star:
This Is the time of year when everyone Is
scurrying to and fro pin-chasing Christmas
gifts, Christmas cards, and entering into the
Christmas spirit of friendliness and good will.
Such is the feeling generated by every Yuletide
season that the very air Itself seems to change
and kindness and generosity permeate the air.
However, the Christmas spirits of many of the
government girls residing in Arlington Farms
have been mercilessly dashed to bits against
the barren rocks of the income tax law of a
neighboring state.
Many of the girls have received early Christ
mas gifts in the form of a summons to appear
at some courthouse to explain why they have
not paid their individual income tax to a state
which has suddenly claimed them for her very
own. Shades of Scrooge in Dickens’ immortal
"Christmas Carol!” What price Simon Legree
or George the III in these days of "Taxation
without representation!"
What train of thought or what interpretation
of American justice and fair play prompted
such an unwarranted act?
The very personages who are responsible for
such an ill-timed deed are most likely the same
who in the past have steadfastly refused to
acknowledge that Arlington Farms comes with
in their jurisdiction when fire and police pro
tection, ambulance service, and repair of high
ways is needed. How can these girls be right
fully taxed when the usual and ordinary ser
vices offered the citizens in the surrounding
communities have never been tendered them
by the very municipality which served the
summons? Where is the consideration, where
the justification?
This is probably the first case in the history
of the United States where a state is endeavor
ing to collect revenue for which no comparable
expenditure is contemplated.
Such is the Christmas gift which has been
so graciously offered these much-misunder
stood, much-maligned Government working
girls. Such is the hospitality they, receive after
coming from all the 48 States to patriotically
offer their services to the Government in its
time of need, for many of those girls are typists
and are in great demand. D. O.
Protests China Aid Cut
To tht Editor of The Star:
Last evening I read that all China aid had
been cut from the foreign aid program. China
is fighting communism, while we play along
and settle private scores with these publicized
"purges” that prove nothing but our own con
fusion. And now, by refusing to aid China,
we give aid and comfort to one we acknowledge
to be our enemy, and call it an economy move.
Have our legislators heard the classic story
of the little old lady who would not buy medi
cine when she was ill because she was afraid
of not having ehough money for a fine funeral?
She had a fine funeral. C. DIX.
Campaign Against the Rat
To the Editor of The Star:
It seems to me that in view of the world-wide
need for food, especially grains, it is a propitious
time for a gigantic campaign on a national
scale to exterminate the rat, the most destruc
tive of all animals.
According to Government reports, millions
and millions of bushels of grain and cereal
products are destroyed by rats annually.
I have been reading your great newspaper,
for over 40 years, and it has been a great
source of pleasure to me, especially the edi
torials. W. R. AKERS.
Home Need Stressed
To tho Editor of Tht Sttr:
Why not put our own house in order? While
we are sending so much to Europe, why not
Increase the pensions of Government em
ployes who have served IB yegrs or more?
There are plenty of hungry people In this
country, sons very close to the Capitol.
PETER W. HUDSON.
A
I Stars, Men and Atoms
Sea Levels Rise Steadily
On Both Coasts of U. S.
Tidal Measurements of Past 20 Years
Indicate More Volume in Oceana
By Thomas R. Henry
Mean sea level on both th* Atlantic and
Pacific coasts ol the United States has risen
approximately three-tenths of a foot in the
past 30 years.
This may be because there is more water in
the oceans or because the coasts are slowly
sinking.
The movement, which started about 1938, has
Just become unmistakable In the tide of
measurements of the Coast and Geodetic Sur
vey. It was extremely difficult to detect, says
H. A. Marmer, the Survey’s tidal expert, because
so many factors influence the mean height of
the tides at any particular time. Local storms,
for example, result in extremely high tide#
which affect the mean for a year or more.
Trend Steady for 20 Years
But through all the ups and downs over the
30-year period the steady upward trend, regard
less of local conditions, has continued until now
It can be regarded as a statistical fact. Tho
iteady rise is shown in tide gauge measurements
at Baltimore, Atlantic City, New York, Boston
and Portland. The average of three-and-a-half
inches, with fractional differences, obtains for
all these stations.
The Pacific Coast gauges at San Diego, San
Francisco and Seattle give the same long-ttyne
picture, although the sea level rise does not
appear to b« quite a* great. Reports from
Europe appear to show much the same situa
tion, although no great reliance is placed on
them since the method of taking observations
was not uniform. The rise appears only when
the measurements are made with great pre
cision. &
A program of tidal measurements now
been started at several South Americinp'1
stations, but at least 20 years of observation^4
will be necessary to detect the trend.
The upward turn of the tide curve appears to
have started quit# abruptly between 1928-30.
Previously there had been years of high mean
tide and years of low mean tide, but they
followed no particular pattern. Through the
intervening years this pattern has been hidden,
because temporary local effects may be 10 times
as great as those due to the long-time trend
The most plausible explanation Is that there
Is more water in the oceans, due to the slow
melting of the Arctic and Antarctic Ice. That
the Arctic regions are growing slightly warmer
now is generally accepted. There is some vague
evidence of the warming up of the Antarctic.
This may be the beginning of a process which,
It is calculated, some day may place all the
coastal cities of the world at the bottom of the
sea. Calculations are that when all the water
locked In the great polar ice oaps Is released
the mean sea level will be raised about 100 feet.
Theory Can’t Be Tested.
There is no way at present, Mr. Marmer
points out, to test the correctness of this hypo
thesis. It is possible to maintain that the
continents, particularly the coastal plains, are
sinking. It is difficult to believe, however, that
this should have started suddenly, as did the
sea level rise.
Some land areas are known to be rising, with
the resultant sinking of the adjacent sea level.
This is shown by tide gauges in southeast
Alaska and in Scandinavia. The rise is inter
preted as part of the rebound of the land from
the weight of ice which was over them during
the last ice age about 10 thousand years ago.
Already the rise in the coastal sea levels
apparently Is having a considerable economic
effect. Storm tides are slightly higher, result
ing In much greater damage to shore property.
Tides, It Is known, undergo a moon cycle of
about 19 years. Tills will cause them to become
slightly lower each year until about 1951 when
they will start up again. The upward trend of
the cycle, added to the fundamental upward
trend shown in the Coast Survey figures, may
mean some of the highest storm tides in
history.
Questions and Answers
K reader ran get the answer to any question of
fart by writing The Washington Star Information
Bureau, 31ft I street N.E.. Washington 2, D. C.
Please inclose 3 cents for return postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. What is the saIe-co6t ratio of all surplus
property sold in the United States itself, to
date, or to the time of the latest released
figures?—B. G. V.
A. The War Assets Administration says that
the sales of all domestic disposal agencies haa
resulted in a return rate of 32.4 per cent as of
September 30. 1947. This figure is based on
sales realization as a per cent of the original
cost of surplus. Sales of surplus property
began in 1944.
Q. How many dresses can an Englishwoman
buy a year under the present rationing sys
tem?—C. M. O. '
A. A woman can buy two dresses during each
rationing year. For these she must use
18 coupons out of a total of 60i which must
cover not only apparel but also household
necessities such 98 linens, towels, curtains
and so on.
Q. Which are the 16 countries Included in
the Marshall plan?—P. B. M.
A. They are as follows: Austria, Belgium and
Luxembourg. Denmark, France, Germany,
Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands,
Norway. Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Q. How many tenant farmers are there in
the United States?—I. M. K.
A. The 1945’census'figures place the total
at 1,858,000.
Q. What is the average rainfall measurement
during a cloudburst?—J. D.
A. The Weather Bureau says that a cloud
burst is a sudden and extremely heavy down
pour of rain; especially one in which the water
falls in a continuous stream rather than in
drops. In a “heavy rain” the rate of fall
exceeds .30 inch per hour. In a cloudburst, an
Inch or more may fall in 15 minutes.
Q. What is lese-majeste?—P. P.
A. It is an offense committed against the
sovereign power, specifically, one that Involves
the dignity of the ruler.
Q. How many TVA dams are there?—V. L. K.
A. The Tennessee Valley Authority has con
structed 16 major dams on the Tennessee and
its tributaries, acquired five dams previously
built in the Valley and through agreement
with the Aluminum Company of America de
termines water releases through five dams
owned by that company.
The Urge of Domesticity
Informal in the formal pool
Two wild ducks are keeping house,
Sourdough from the farther north,
Mr. Drake and spouse.
Though the western sky is gray,
Hint of evening snow ahead, *
They are settling to stay
By the iris bed.
Something in a path of stone,
Something in a beach of tiles
Must be meant for ducks alone
After heaven’s miles.
Plants exotic from cement
Sundial liquor aged of dew,
Drake and missus swim content
With a terraced viewt
CHARLES MALAM.
A t‘