Evening star. [volume], May 14, 1948, Image 8

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

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Jtiening
With Sunday Morning Edition.
WASHINGTON. 0. C
Published by
The Irening Star Newspaper Company.
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A—i FRIDAY, May 14, ip44
Borrowing Not the Answer
It is misleading to talk about a bond
issue or any other borrowingr scheme as
a substitute for the sales tax.
It may be desirable to finance a new
construction program, with particular
reference to school buildings, by borrow
ing. In Washington, where the Interests
of both the National Government and the
local community are served by such a con
struction program, the borrowing could
take the form of Treasury advances to be
repaid in annual installments from local
revenues. That was the idea behind the
Capper-Cramton park purchase program
and could be applied as well to school
building. It has the merit of taking the
burden for such permanent improve
ment from current revenue and spreading
it over the years. It is a wise policy and
could prove to be an economical one as
well.
It is another sort of thing entirely to
talk of bond issues as a way out of our
current deficit. In the general fund—as
distinct from the highway fund and water
fund, where there are no pressing difficul
ties—we are raising less money than we
are spending to maintain the city and
provide a normal amount for construction.
The need is for new revenue. Even the
passage of a sales tax would barely meet
the expense of proposed salary Increases.
The need for this new revenue }s not for
this year alone, or for next. It is a perma
nent need, requiring permanent additions
to the sources of revenue. Proposal
of a bond issue in these circumstances is j
to advocate the worst features of trying
to borrow one’s way out of debt and makes
no sense whatever.
We are in the red now, not because of
any lavish spending on new construction
or anything else but because the cost of
local government, with its 40-hour week,
Its time-and-a-half for overtime and its
higher salary scales, plus ^ie needs of a^
tremendously increased population, nas
become greater than the available sources
of revenue.
After the substantial tax increase last
year, affecting the same small group of
tax-paying Washingtonians who carry the
load, new taxpayers must be added if
the money is to be raised. The only
sensible method of getting the new tax
payers is to enact the moderate sales tax
that has been recommended by the
Commissioners.
While Hawaii Waits
Senator Knowland’s resolution to dis
charge the Senate Public Lands Committee
from further consideration of the Hawaiian
statehood bill should be approved. There
is no legitimate reason for keeping that
bill bottled up another year in committee,
while another delightful junket to the
islands is arranged. The people of Hawaii
have met every test for statehood. They
are overwhelmingly in favor of it. They
have been investigated, as to their fitness,
inside and out. The House has passed the
bill. The two political parties have favored
statehood under conditions which have
been met. It is probable that if the bill
reached the Senate floor Hawaii would
become a State now.
That is the principle at stake in the
Knowland resolution. Every fair-minded
eitiaen will concede the wisdom of the
power over legislation which is vested in
congressional committees. It is only when
a committee's use of this power raises
aerious questions of Justice and right that
it is ever questioned. And on those rare
occasions when it is, the record and the
facts should decide the issue.
A House investigating committee visited
the islands in 1935, was favorably im
pressed, but recommended another in
vestigation of the statehood issue by a
joint committee. A joint committee visited
the islands two years later, was favorably
inclined but recommended a plebiscite
so the people themselves could make a
decision. The 1940 plebiscite favored
statehood by two to one. The war delayed
further progress but a House subcommit
tee, visiting the islands in 1946, unani
mously recommended immediate statehood.
The bill was kept in the House committee
another year, but the House approved it
last spring.
Senator Cordon of Oregon visited the
Islands for the Senate Public Lands Com
mittee, heard the testimony of more than
two hundred witnesses and last March
made a report recommending immediate
statehood. In April the committee de
cided to get the views of people living in
continental United States. The testimony
it received was overwhelmingly favorable.
But it has decided to defer the bill’s re
port. What for? While members of the
committee make another journey to the
islands this summer!
There are arguments against statehood.
They are not particularly convincing, but
they deserve to be heard. The place for
them now is on the Senate floor, not the
cloakrooms. If the bill is to be defeated
after debate, that is one thing. But it is
highly unjust to the people of Hawaii and
prejudicial to our own interests as a
Kation to keep delaying a test that should
come now, especially wh^n the delay is
based on the pretense that the committee
Is looking for some Information that it
does not now possess.
The Knowland resolution deserves ap
proval because in simple Justice the
question of Hawaiian statehood should
come before the Senate now.
Zero Hour in Palestine
Barring wholly unexpected last-minute
developments, midnight tonight will mark
the end of the 25-year-old British man
date in the Holy Land. At the same his
toric moment, the Zionists will formally
proclaim the existence of a new Jewish
state, and the Arabs will set up their own
“civil administration.” What will happen
thereafter no one can .say with any cer
tainty at this time. All we can be sure of
is that zero hour is Imminent in Palestine
and that there is little the United Nations
can do during the remainder of the day to
stay the course of events.
Just what those events will be—whether
they will be limited' to sporadic and rela
tively light fighting or whether they will
develop into all-out warfare of extreme
violence—is anybody's guess right now. In
many quarters the tendency has been to
expect the worst, and that is why the
General Assembly of the United Nations
has been meeting in special session for the
past three weeks in an effort to create
some interim international authority to
maintain law and order after the mandate
ends and the British complete the with
drawal of'their troops by August 1.
But the U. N. effort—undertaken at the
request of the United States after our on
again-off-again decision not to support
partition at this stage—has netted no
results worthy of the name. Our proposal
for a truce and a temporary trusteeship
has been abandoned as futile. The only
substitute being considered is an arrange
ment calling for the appointment of a
high commissioner who would have no real
power, but who would try his best to safe
guard the holy places, maintain essential
public services and mediate between the
Arabs and the Jews.
At me moment, tnereiore, tne situation
In Palestine may be summarized as fol
lows: (1) Whatever its validity in terms
of international law, the Zionist proclama
tion of a separate state will take effect in
a matter of hours; (2) for the present, at
least, the Jews are In full physical control
of that state—a region roughly the same
as the one recommended by the General
Assembly when it voted in favor of parti
tion last November; (3) the Arab League
nations—Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, Trans-Jordan and Egypt—have
repeatedly indicated that they are de
termined to invade the Holy Land with
their armies in order to smash the Jewish
program; (4) with the mandate’s end and
the rapid withdrawal of British troops, a
vacuum will exist where power and author
ity existed before, and (5) if the Arabs are
not bluffing and if they have the strength
to carry out their threats, the way thus
will be open for chaos and full-scale war
endangering the general peace by Inviting
the intervention of Russia and other great
powers.
Within recent days, however, events have
tended to support the Zionist contention
yiat^he ^ews are in a position to defend
and maintain their projected new state.
To begin with, the Palestinian Arabs, in
terms of both temper and actual power, are
incapable of fighting the well-trained
Jewish Hagana—a military force of 85,000
men. As for armies from the outside^ tjja,
Arab League nations have little Ifcitl
strength. The only exception is the
British-trained and British-flnanced 15,
000-man Legion of King Abdullah of
Trans-Jordan, whose ambitions have
aroused jealousy and suspicion in Syria,
Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Moreover,
wholly apart from the questionable unity
of their league, there is some reason to
believe that 'several of these countries,
facing the possibility of uprisings by the
discontented at home, are reluctant to
commit their troops to an Invasion of the
Holy Land.
It would be folly, of course, for either
the Zionists or the United Nations to read
too much Into all this and assume that the
Arab League leaders have staged a colossal
bluff and that their threatened invasion
will never take place. What needs to be
remembered is that public opinion in their
countries is passionately opposed to parti
tioning, and it is opinion of a kind that
could force a terrible explosion. Never
theless, the relative Inaction and seeming
Indecision of the league gives rise to the
very real possibility that the worst—
despite past expectations to the contrary—
is not going to happen.
Accordingly, as zero hour approaches,
there is still hope for peace in the Holy
Land. And if that hope Is fulfilled, all
that the U. N. will need to do then is to
decide how and when to recognize the
new Jewish state and what course to
follow as regards the remainder of Pales
tine. Events within the next few weeks
should make clear whether the problem
thus will end brightly and nonviolently.
Meanwhile, the world can do little more
than keep its lingers crossed and pray for
the best.
'Forty-Efghters' Exhibition
To illustrate the cultural effects of the
wave of immigration from Germany a
hundred years ago, the Library of Congress
has brought together a display of docu
ments, books and pictures which should
be of interest to all classes of citizens. The
exhibition deals particularly with “the
Forty-Eighters” and has connotations of
international liberalism which certainly
are convincing. Such men as Carl Schurz
and Johann Gottfried Klnkel would have
been ardent advocates of human freedom
in any country. When they found that
they could not achieve their ideal in
Europe in the middle of the nineteenth
century, they came to America. And they
brought their hopes and their willingness
to toll for the fulfillment of their aspira
tions with them.
It is this fact that makes the Library’s
commemoration notable. The hundreds
of German libertarians who moved to the
United States following the failure of the
democratic cause in their homeland in
1848 were skilled craftsmen, artisans,
artists of more than average ability.. Some
became eminent journalists, like Karl
Helnzen and Henry Vlllard; some excelled
in medicine, like Dr. Abraham Jacobi.
Many brought new, hitherto unknown
techniques with them, as for example
I
Albert Pink, who built Iron bridges. Pried- ]
rich Munch developed grape culture as a
science and wrote a standard textbook on
the subject which still is worth study.
Christian Friedrich Theodore Steinway,
a musician of distinction himself, estab
lished a piano manufacturing Industry
which remains a going concern today. A
long list of contemporaries fought in the
Union Army—Frans Sigel and Friedrich
Karl Hecker most notably.
But it was especially in groups that the
Germans of a hundred years ago, arriving
by the doeens, affected American culture.
Their Impact Is demonstrated in the
Library display by reference to the Ger
mania Musical Society, which gave no less
than 829 concerts In six years, Carl
Zarrahn directing. Such contributions
were significant at their start; and they
are not Inconsequential now after ten
decades, when they have been merged In
the common tradition of the United States
as a composite of all other nations.
• ————
The Commie; Do Not Like it
Even the most resourceful of Hollywood’s
press agents could not have done a better
job of publicizing that new movie, "The
Iron Curtain,” than the Communists have
done. It was a press agent’s dream, that
riot of the Reds outside the Roxy Theater
In New York the other night News re
porters and photographers, newsreel
cameramen, radio commentators, police
and hundreds of just plain spectators were
on hand in expectation that something
might happen when this film exposing
Communist treachery in Canada made its
debut.
Plenty happened, too. The party-liners,
ever alert to protest any attack, showed
up with signs denouncing the picture as
a dirty lie concocted by the capitalists.
Before long disorder was rampant, cameras
were clicking and grinding—and "The
Iron Curtain” was off to what undoubtedly
will be a highly successful run—at the
Roxy, at the Capitol Theater here and In
500 other movie houses throughout the
country.
The Communists have rendered the
public a service for which they deserve a
vote of thanks. As might be suspected,
there is a reason for their anguished
howls. For “The Iron Curtain” is not
the "foul propaganda,” the "filthy false
hood” which they proclaim it to be. It
was not conjured up’by a fiction writer.
It tells the true story of Igor Gouzenko,
the Soviet cipher clerk who deserted the
Russian Embassy in Ottawa and revealed
the amazing ramifications of a Com
munist spy ring. It is based on official
findings of the Royal Commission. The
commission’s report was summarized in a
series of articles in The Star last year.
The movie sticks close to the established
facts of that disturbing case. It is not
surprising that the Commies are slightly
hysterical about it.
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell
Some one wants to know what are the “very
best birds" in local gardens.
A great many bird lovers will be willing to
. settle for the raisin eaters.
These include robin, wood thrush, mocking
bird, cardinal, catbird, common sparrow and
starling.
A few others eat raisins, too, but not so
avidly nor so consistently.
Taking the raisin eaters as a group, they are
interesting, picturesque creatures; and the
'-group, as here laid down, consists of sedate
and clownish, gorgeous and plain, beloved and
sometimes despised birds.
We have here a perfect segment, then, of
life, not only winged life, but of life wherever
it is lived, on whatever plane, in whatever en
vironment.
• * * •
The raisin eaters make a wonderful spread
on the back porch in the early morning in the
sunshine.
Then the bright redbird, the sociable robin,
and the lovely thrush land one after the other
on the floor, while an old starling swoops in
to the rail, and a homely sparrow flutters on
the lattice above.
Such a picture is one no artist can paint, or
at least never has.
The trouble is that the painters of bird
scenes have been so interested in depicting the
many colored boys and girls of the air that
they commonly have forgotten or overloked
the environment, or setting, the “human side,”
as it were, for birds have their "human” side,
too, if the term means anything at all.
The chain of life runs golden through all
the forms we know. There is something very
human, as we say, in the dog, the cat, the old
mare, the rabbit and the insects, even.
Perhaps that is why people are interested in
them, and never tire of watching them. Not
All people, of course; some And it impossible
to step, even for an inch, over the line that
divides the creatures. But the dogs and cats
do better than this. They enter our houses,
eat our food, and reward us with amilea of a
sort. They have taken the long step over the
line into another world. Humans, some of
them at least, have yet to learn to do as well.
How can we all live together in amity, if we
refuse to do as well as dogs and cats?
* * W w
We recommend our back porch scenes—
the robin with with his red breast, the speckled
thrush, the bright cardinal, the catbird, on the
porch floor, brightened by the sunshine.
And the painter must add the old starling
on the rail, for he is bright, too, though in
another way, and the small sparrow on the
lattice, humble but lively.
This is the scene no artist has painted ex
actly, though some attempts have been made
at it, many of them wrong.
For Instance, there is a painting of IS
species of birds arranged symmetrically on a
tree trunk with protruding limbs.
Now, birds never arrange themselves so,
unless they happen to be members of the
same species of flocking birds.
Nor do 18 species—count ’em—all combine
to arrange themselves so trimly on the same
tree at the same time.
that is not the way birds do things.
Our porch scene would have the merit of
being true to life. It would provide a picture
of five good birds, all good raisin eaters.
The raisin eaters take a few for themselves
and then invariably fly away with one or two
to give their offspring.
Raisins are comparatively cheap, and always
In good supply, except now and then at an
individual store.
It is noticeable that no mother or father
bird takes too many back to the nest. They
seem to realize that a few will do the babies
good, to offset the insect and meat diet of the
little birds, but also seem to know that too
many will be too laxative.
The raisin is a good food. A sprinkling along
the rail of a porch, on the driveway, or at a
given spot in the grass, will be attractive to
birds all day long.
They seem to like them particularly at
dawn’s early light, and a fresh supply there
on the porch railing then will be much ap
preciated by all.
There is no need to put any on the porch,
for the birds will see to that by knocking
quantities of them down as they feed. The
greedy starlings and bustling sparrows send
the raisins flying, but not one is lost, for
those beauties of the airways, the cardinals,
catbirds, thrushes and mockers make a fine
cleanup squad.
Letters to The Star
Firemen’s Association Vote
To the Editor of The Star:
To allow the District of Columbia Firemen’s
Association to vote bn whether they deeire
white and colored firemen to be attached to
the same fire company is in direct violation
of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Since when did it become constitutional or
legal for any group of employes to choose the
color, the race or the creed of the people
with whom they work to earn their daily
bread? The District of Columbia Commis
sioneers, who report direct to the President of
the United States, should Immediately outlaw
this discrimination, because their Chief has
declared himself for the civil rights bill that
is now before Congress.
Surely, the Commissioners desire to abide
by their Chief's promulgations. And by the
way, the writer of this letter belongs to the
white race, but he believes in practicing what
he preaches. FRANK D.' TIPPETT.
Drastic Action Against Communists
To tho Editor of Hie Stor:
I should like to ask Congress, Secretary of
State Marshall and President Truman if they
don’t think it would look more sensible to
clean the Communists out of our own United
States of America before going abroad to
clean them out or keep them out of other
countries?
A good many voters are wondering if these
gentlemen really care what happens to this
country, because if they did they wouldn’t be
wondering what to do about the Communists.
Just in case they don’t really care what
happens, a vast number of good, honest, red
blooded Americans do, and right here is what
about 98 per cent of them want done:
(1) Outlaw the Communist Party, and soon.
(2) Round up every union leader who is a
Communist and shut him in Jail or send him
to Russia.
What this country needs right now is
another Teddy Roosevelt in the White House.
A. L. COLE.
Service Housing Problems
To the Editor of The 8t»r:
I don’t pretend to understand the involved
workings of our complex Government, and
obviously many who should understand and
have been put in a position to direct and
lead are very nearly as uninformed as I. But
reduced to the common denominator, which
after all is the individual, the confusion and
seriousness of the existing situation in our
country is shamefully apparent. The moet
appalling stigma is a basic need, shelter
places to live. This is a very real problem
in our family, so I feel qualified to speak out.
I am married to a naval officer. That
classes us, I supp&ee, as professional transients,
and we find, for that reason, we are subject
to the indifference of the whole community
and seemingly thf whole country.
In our five years of married life and many
moves, only twice have we had adequate
quarters. During the war years in congested
areas we accepted being shoved about (and
we were, believe me). But now after two years
of peace and 14 months of roughing it in the
Pacific, we have returned to find the housing
situation even more acute, more disgusting.
At the present time, after six months in
Washington, we are ensconced in a pitifully
small apartment in a cluttered, congested
housing area. The main room contains a
couch, two chairs, a lamp and a linoleum rug.
The tiny bedroom, a bed and two chests. For
this we pay $«6.25 a month, not including
utilities. By many, we are deemed fortunate,
indeed, to have a place to cook. In the mean
time we are frantically looking for a three
bedroom house before the advent of our second
child, two and a half months hence. That is,
we are looking for a house under $200 a month,
not for a seasonal period and not restricted
as to children. Needless to say, the search has
been fruitless to date. Our situation is not
unique. It is experienced many times over by
all service personnel.
We have found the few houses available
(and at exorbitant rents) are dirty, inade
quately furnished, in poor repair, without
yards or garages. And we are tired of “making
do,” cleaning up after others, building supple
mentary furniture. Landlords, for the most
part, are blase and disinterested, refusing to
assume any responsibility for renairs after
the tenants are in. The attitude is: "If you
don’t like it, leave it; there are a hundred
others eagerly clamoring.” The “adults only”
stipulation is another constant thorn in the
side. Is this to be our lot for the next five
years?
It would seem wise for Congress, striving
to make military life attractive to swell armed
force strength, to look first to the needs of
trained and seasoned men now in service.
Like the weather, every one talks about the
housing situation but nothing seems to be
done about it. These are pretty sad returns
for those who fought the war and still are
expected, in all good faith, to maintain the
present all-important military strength of our
Government.
DISILLUSIONED NAVY WIFE.
1
Supreme Court Praised
Te th« Editor of The Star:
No fault can be found with The Star's ediy
torlal and factual coverage of tha Supreme
Court’s edict banning the enforcement of
covenant^ by the courts. The editorial was
one of the fairest I have read and the stories
gathered in by the reporters were nicely bal
anced.
Thank God for the Supreme Court! Too
many lower courts decide cases Influenced by
community . sentiment. But when Supreme
Court justices unanimously defend the funda
mental law of the land against those who put
private interests above national welfare, they
prove democracy to be a vigorous government.
The covenant case decision is a Dred Scott
decision in reverse and matches the Emancipa
tion Declaration in importance to the Nation.
The reactionaries against President Tru
man’s advocacy of civil rights oppose Federal
intervention by claiming that the States will
remedy injustice and tyranny. But no single
Southern State has take any step to repeal
laws of the black codes. Not a single politician
has made a move toward getting the States to
do away with Jim Crow legal barriers to citi
zenship. The politicians in the main are too
sensitive to the strata of voters who believe
in giving no quarter on the racial front.
There are those who say legislation is not
the answer, yet the only relief that has come
to colored Americans in the past decade has
come through the courts. The latest decision
on covenants will result in increased real
j- estate business but what is more important is
the beginning of the breaking down of ghettoes
and slums. Decent people will be able to buy
decent homes. E. B. HENDERSON.
Merchant Seamen’s Claims
To tbs Editor of Tho Stir:
Proposed legislation for the draft gives no
credit to merchant seamen for services they
have rendered. During World War II our
boys were told that this branch of service
was as Important as that of the armed forces,
and correctly so. They were urged to join
the Merchant Marine and were exempted from
selective service to do so.
These boys suffered hardships and dangers
sailing in unseaworthy ships through mined
■ I ■■■ — !■ ..’» 11 111
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.
waters to deliver necessary supplies for the
fighting forces. What could our armies have
accomplished without their needed supplies?
Our merchant seamen did their Job and did
it well. They were required to serve longer
than the lighting forces to be exempted from
the draft. They did receive higher pay at the
time, but they enjoy none of the benefits of
veterans, consequently their total compensa
tion is much less. Their pay was subject to
exorbitant union dues, income taxes, etc., so
their take-home earnings were much less than
generally is believed.
Congress alone has the privilege of giving
our merchant seamen credit for their faith
ful performance of duty, their sacrifices and
loss of time from school and other pursuits
of life. Will Congress make provision for
their Just credit or forget what they have done
and require them to serve again? F. H. ft.
Wesley’s Blessing on Teapot
To tho Editor ot Th» Hlr:
I was very much interested in the account
In The Star for May 4 of the exhibit of
Joeiah Wedgwood pottery in Brooklyn, and
I thought you might be Interested in the fol
lowing: On a famous teapot presented by
Josiah Wedgwood, the potter who made it,
there is Wesley's blessing, leading:
"Be present at our table, Lord,
Be here and everywhere adored, t
These creatures bless and grant that we
May feast in Paradise with Thee.”
Winchester, Va. SOPHIE E. BAKER.
Competition for Parking Space
To the Editor of The Star:
The parking on P street N.W., between
Seventeenth street and Twenty-third street,
has become a very irritating problem for the
residents of the said street, what with George
Washington University students. Interior De
partment employes and now, the 1935 Club
with its social functions blocking the whole
.street, leaving the working people who have to
drive cars to make their living with no place
to park.
Unfortunately, we who live In the Park
Central are unable to afford chauffeurs. But
if we park our cars in front of our own build
ing, where we pay rent and taxes too, we will
find our cars towed away by the police.
DISGRUNTLED TENANT.
Books on Radio Wanted -
To the Editor of The Star:
I wonder if any reader of The Star has any
books or lessons on radio that he no longer
is using.
I am a patient at the TB sanatorium here
and wish to study while recuperating.
It surely will help me to pass the long hours
if some one will send me any books or courses
of the type mentioned, and I will be very
thankful. HAROLD O. LEWIS.
State Sanatorium, Md.
Case Against Lotteries
To the Editor of The Stir:
A letter to The Star recently suggested
legalized lotteries, because so many people like
to gamble! Should we on the same theory also
have legalized houses of prostitution? What
justification is there for right-minded citizens
to pander to the vices of their weaker neigh
bors? Should they not, rather, by precept and
example, show them a bette#JlWfj*#iPTl!fct**'
Lotteries foster and encourage man’s worst
vice: Greed. The desire to get “something for
nothing” is indeed deeply rooted in every one
of us, and ohly the grace of God can enable
us to overcome the urge, but every effort should
be made to eliminate greedy tendencies, not
to encourage them.
Our country is supposed to stand for ideals of
service and mutual helpfulness—the exact op
posite of the "something for nothing” philoso
phy. It is a matter of history that the United
States took over the government of the Ha
waiian Islands on the pretext that the native
ruler intended to establish lotteries, thus de
moralizing the people. Now the superficial
thinkers of the Nation's Capita} are asking for
that sordid institution in a supposedly Christ
ian country!
Lotteries thrive in Panama, in the same
ratio that the citizens do not. One of Pana
ma's greatest statesmen has said that the
government lotteries are the chief detriment
to Panamanian progress. Newspapers there
feature the few who “get rich quick,” never
mentioning the many thousands who might
have had thriving farms or profitable businesses
except that the government lotteries got all
their earnings on the false lure of "easy
money.” The Panamanian instinct for gam
bling has been encouraged to the point where
money which should be spent on home im
provements, farm implements, constructive
investments, and even needed food and cloth
. ing, all goes to the weekly lottery, instead.
Of course, advocates of lotteries always drag
in the "good cause” which is supposed lo Just
ify the lottery, thus hoodwinking the unwary.
Do we buy lottery tickets to help a hospital
or school? No! We would contribute directly if
that were our chief motive. Let’s not deceive
ourselves. We buy lottery tickets only because
we want to enjoy what some one else has
earned, without any effort on our part. Is
that the sort of character that should be en
couraged? God forbid.
ELIZABETH McSHERRY.
Gangsters, Gambling and Politics
To the Editor of The Star:
In order to further their criminal enterprises
by securing protection for themselves, the
gangster enemies of the public concentrate on
controlling a minority of votes large enough to
constitute a balance of power with which to
elect candidates who will tolerate their rackets.
Politics are ruled by the votes which the
gangsters control in every community in
which they operate, and the only way to drive
them out of politics and end gang rule is to
padlock the gambling houses which provide
most of the vast income financing the activi
ties of the gangsters and their political friends.
D. W. BAKINS.
Msgr. Buck«y a Friend
To the Editor of The Star:
A good, kind and holy priest has passed to
his reward. Msgr. Buckey was noted for his
charity. Of him it truly can be said, "Blesseo
is he concerning the needy, and the poor. The
Lord will deliver him in the eVil day.”
One of his deepest interests was the Catholic
Home for Aged Ladiee which he established
and which he visited weekly. We who were
privileged to share the home will miss his
kindly presence.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed." May
he rest in peace, and light eternal be shea
upon him. EMILY n. HEREFORD.
Preparedness First
To the Editor of The St»r:
It is very good to talk peace, but better to
prepare for war. Don't forget that Secretary
of State Cordell Hull was talking peace with
the Japanese envoys when the Japanese planes
bombed Pearl Harbor. DEMOCRAT.
Gainesville, Fla.
Stars, Men and Atom j
New Diphtheria Bacillus,
Is Reported as Isolated
Present Immunization Methods Found
Ineffective Against Germ
By Thomas R. Henry
Isolation of a hitherto unrecognised strain
of the diphtheria bacillus against which present
immunisation methods seem relatively in*
effective has just been reported to the Public
Health Service.
It is characterised chiefly by the fact that
it forms only microscopically small colonies*,
only about one 200th of an inch in diameter^
when it is grown in laboratory cultures. Also”
it causes only an almost indetectably mild re*
action when used to Inoculate guinea pigs, the
standard animals used in diphtheria tests. It
is a dumbbell-shaped thing, invisible under
any standard microscope.
Easy to Ml**.
But for humans it may be as virulent a*,
any other diphtheria bacillus. As yet, how
ever, it is not known to have caused any fatal
cases. Presumably it has been in the world
for a long time. The difficulty is that it will
not grow under the standard broth for diph
theria culture which has been used general#
up to the present. Only when this was changed
did throat cultures of persons with suspected
diphtheria show these characteristic small
colonies. The unexpectedly email eiae, requir
ing specialized microscopic technique, makes
them easy to miss, according to the Public
Health Service report.
An organism closely resembling the one now
identified in human cases was reported from
Baltimore four years ago from isolated ob
servation. The existence of this so-called
"minimus” diphtheria now is made certain
by study of an exceptional epidemic in Utah
last fall. There were 117 cases with 11 deaths.
Curiously, many of the victims had been im
munized.
Widely Distritmted.
Study of the cultures, according to the re- .
port of Dr.-Alton A. Jenkins of the Utah State
Health Department, showed not on# th»
organisms hitherto recognized as causing dlph- »
theria, but also this new bacterium. It was
found rather widely distributed in the popu
lation. '
It frequently has been pointed out that,
despite active Immunization programs every
where, the number of diphtheria cases in
older children and adults has been on the
Increase throughout the country for some years.
More than half of the Utah cases caused by
this particular organism previously had been
immunized. The Utah epidemic started on an
Indian reservation where it was practical#
certain all the Inhabitants had been im
munized as children.
None of the fatal cases, the Utah doctors
report, were due to the new "minimus," but this
may have been largely a matter of luck. The
sickness caused by this organism seemed just
as severe as those due to the previously recog
nized types.
Questions and Answers
A rudtr can II. th* gniwer to any euestion of
fact by writing Th* Evening Star Information
Bureau. SIS Eye street N.E.. Washington 3, D. C.
Please Inclose three (3) cents for return postage.
By THE HASKIN SERVICE.
Q. How many aliens have been admitted to
the United States since the war’s end?—E. R
A. The number of aliens admitted to the
United States from all countries each year
since 1945 is as folloys: 1945—38,119; 1946—
108,721; 1947—147,292.
Q. Do brown or blue eyes predominate in the
white race?—B. O. B.
A. In countries of the world inhabited by
white races, brown eyes are in the majority.
It was formerly true that blue-eyed persona *
seemed to predominate in the United States
but the ratio has decreased steadily from th*
fact that when,a brown-eyed person marries
a blue-eyed one most of the children will have
brown eyes.
Q. Where is the steepest railroad grade in
the United States?—L. V. G.
A. The steepest known grade on a standard
steam railroad—5.89 per cent—occurs on the I
Pennsylvania Railroad at Madison, Ind., where
the railroad ascends the Ohio River bank.
The grade extends about 7,000 feet, and th*
climb is approximately 400 feet.
Q. In what States is maple sugar chief#
produced?—R D. E.
A. Ninety-seven per cent of the maple
sugar is produced in the 10 States of Maine,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New
i York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan
and Wisconsin. Only the hard or sugar maple
is a noteworthy sugar produced, and that only
in climates where spring alternates successive
thaws and freezes.
** -
Q. How many clergymen of all denomina
tions are there in the United States?—E. O. L.
A. The Bureau of the Census says that the
latest tabulation for the number of clergymen
in the United States (1940 census) showed
140,077. The number per 100,000 populate® has
been decreasing since 1900.
Q. When did the Olympic Games begin*—
R. V.
A. It is not known exactly when or how
they began, but from Inscriptions and literature
it is assumed that they were originally a re
ligious festival, abandoned for a time, and re
vived during a later period, perhaps in tha
beginning of the 8th Century B. C. Tha
Olympiad was observed in honor of Olympus,
father of the gods. Modem Olympics date
from 1896.
Q. How many American soldiers were put
to death for crimes committed in the Euro
pean Theater during World War II?—M. J. R.
A. The Department of the Army says that
during the period of December 8, 1942 to
March 15, 1946, 70 American soldiers received
the death sentence and were executed in the
European Theater. The breakdown is as fol
lows: Murder and rape, 12; murder, 28; raps,
29; desertion 1.
Q. Do the Chinese pay physicians to keep
them well?—E. A. . . .. . *
A. This statement is fallacious, but has this
i foundation in fact: Upon feast days or holi
days, Chinese families make substantial gifts
of money to their physicians. These gifts are
expected. The Chinese do not pay large fees
for actual medical attendance.
q Is »ny information available about the
Dr. Wistar for whom the wisteria plant was
named?—C. E. H.
A. Dr. Caspar Wistar was an eminent
Quaker physician, who was bom in Philadel
phia in 1761. His Interest in the natural
: sciences inspired the botanist Thomas Nuttall
to name the shrub in his honor after finding
it in the wilderness beyond the Rappahannock
River. The original spelling by Nuttall was
"wisteria" not "wistaria.”
Wood-Winds
No instruments have lovelier name.
The lyre and violin
Beside it are lame,
The tambor thin. *
For reeden stem what fairer word,
That captures (and then frees)
Flute of a bird,
Oboes of bees.
From fingering winds who also took,
Combing a forest fine.
Clarinets of brook
And answering pine.
LORI PETRI.
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