Newspaper Page Text
gening paf With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON. D. C. Published by Th« Evening Star Newspaper Company. SAMUEL H. KAUFFMANN, FrasMant. B. M. McKELWAY, Editor. MAIN OFFICE: 11th St. and Pennsylvania Avo. NEW YORK OFFICE: 110 East 42d St. CHICAGO OFFICE: 433 North Michigan Avo. Delivered by Carrier—Metropolitan Area. Daily and Sunday Daily Only Sunday Only Monthly 1.20* Monthly 90c 10c per copy Weekly 30c Weekly 20c 10c per copy •10c additional when 5 Sunday* are in a month. Alto 10c additional for Night Final Edition In thote •action* where delivery it made. Ratos by Mail—Payable in Advance. Anywhere in United State*. Ivening and Sunday Evening Sunday 1 month 1.50 I month 90c 1 month 60c 6 months. 7.50 6 months 5.00 6 month* 3.00 t year ...15.00 1 year 10.00 1 year 6.00 Telephone Sterling 5000. Rntered at the Pott Office, Washington, D. C., at second-clast mail matter. Member at the Associated Press. The Associated Press it entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper as well as all A. P. news dispatches. illfi SATURDAY, September 17, 1949 The Work Should Begin In its plea for some additional legisla tion, one detects a note of plaintive exas peration on the part-of the Commission on Renovation of the Executive Mansion. In replacing the interior of the White House, the commission is going to collet* a lot of old material, ranging from rubble to hardware and perhaps some valuable relics. Congress has directed the commis sion to recommend to Congress and the President a plan for disposing of this material—by preserving anything of his toric importance, selling it, giving it away or destroying it. Congress does not want a lot of people salvaging and selling the debris from wreckage of the White House as souvenirs. But before the commission can evolve a plan for disposing of the stuff it, accumu lates in tearing out the interior, it must know what the stuff will be. Yet it cannot know that precisely until it begins the work of restoration. But under the law, it can not very well begin the work of restoration until it reports to Congress and the Presi dent on its plan to dispose of the material and obtains approval of the plan. And in the meantime, it is essential that the restoration should get under way as quickly as possible. The problem is aggravated, or course, by the nature of the scrap material that will be available. In 1927, when repairs were made at the White House, nails taken from the building were being peddled around town at twenty-five cents apiece. Imagine the souvenir hunters who would descend upon any trash pile or dump used to dis pose of old junk from the White House! The additional legislation sought by the commission is simple and should be ap proved immediately. It merely gives to the eommission the authorlty'lo formulate its own plan for disposing of the material taken from the White House and, with the President’s approval of the plan, to proceed with the work of restoration. Otherwise, the commission will have to devise some vast storage area and pile up the material there under close guard until Congress approves plans to got rid df’ it. New Chemical Corps Chief Normally the selection of a chief*for the Army’s Chemical Corps would be made from among senior officers of the corps. That procedure assures appointment of a man thoroughly familiar with the highly specialized work of this technical branch. The policy is a sound one under ordinary conditions. But, in the light of the extraor dinary situation in which the corps finds itself as a result of the Waitt-Hunt Vaughan expose, the appointment of an “outsider,” Major General Anthony C. McAulifTe, to head, the outfit is a warranted expedient. Fortunately, General McAulifTe is not an ordinary outsider. He is well informed on chemical and bacteriological warfare by reason of his service as deputy director of research and development in the logis tics division of the Army’s General Staff. Furthermore, as ground forces adviser at the Bikini atomic bomb tests, he helped to assess the effects of atomic blasts and radiation—a field closely related to gas warfare. His combat experience at Bas togne and in other sectors during the late war have given him an outstanding repu tation as a military leader. And right now the Chemical Corps needs sound, strong leadership more than it needs technical advice. Perhaps there was another quality which helped to make easier the choice of a suc cessor to General Waltt. This is General McAuliffe’s demonstrated capacity for say ing “Nuts” to improper proposals, from whatever source they may come. • British Wage Policy There probably Is not any great signifi cance in the overwhelming vote of the British Trades Union Congress to continue its policy of restraint on wage increases. The vote was decisive enough—6,485,000 to 1,048,000. But the proposition on which they were voting—to exercise “the greatest possible measure of restraint in seeking to increase personal incomes”—is a bit on the nebulous side. Any American labor leader worth his salt could drive a ten-ton truck loaded with wage increases through it. And there is the further point, dwelt upon acidly and at length by some of the oppo sition speakers, that many of the unions voting in favor of the polfcy of restraint actually have pending wage-increase claims of their own. Still, the fact remains that adoption of the resolution at least is a token of recognition of the realities of economic life in Britain today. General wage increases are one of the last things the British can Afford at this time, and it is easy to visualise the consternation of the Bevln-Crlpps mission to tills country if the TUC had plumped for higher wages. It would have not been altogether sur prising, however, if the delegates had taken the bit in their teeth. One of the guest speakers at the meeting was Harry Bates, a vice president of the American Federa tion of Labor. In the course of his remarks he told the delegates that bricklayers in New York were making nearly as much for a seven-hour day as the average British Industrial worker earns in a forty-four hour week. This might have been the needed spark to set off the explosion, but the British unionists, while interested, showed admirable restraint. Possibly they had been told about the Taft-Hartley Act enslavement of the American workman. Perhaps they had even heard the clanking of the chains by which American labor is bound down and oppressed by the em ployers. At any rate, the Britons will con tinue to work for about one-sixth the wage paid bricklayers in this unhappy land of ours. Steel Talks Should Start There does not seem to be any good reason why the parties to the steel dispute should not sit down and begin collective bargaining. At the moment, they are bombarding each other at long range with harshly worded statements which are only serving to muddy the waters. What is shaping up is a quibble over words, and this could lead to a hardening of attitudes that would bode ill for the immediate parties to the dispute and for the general public. The immediate issue is whether the rec ommendation of the President’s fact-find ing board for a ten-cent hourly package, including six cents for non-contributory pensions and four cents for social insur ance, is to be accepted as a basis for negotiations or adopted as the essential condition of a new contract. In this matter, both sides seem to be blowing hot and cold. Philip Murray, president of the United Steel Workers, now insists in his second statement that the steel industry must bargain with the union “on the basis of the board’s recommenda tions.” An unidentified union spokesman, however, said Mr. Murray’s first statement meant that he would strike any company which failed to agree to pay all insurance and pension costs. On the other side, Jones & Laughlin Steel first notified the union it was prepared to bargain on the basis of the board’s recommendations. Now Jones & Laughlin, which has a non-contributory pension plan of its own, says it is opposed to the fact-finding board’s recommenda tion that pensions and insurance be on a non-contributory basis. This position is similar to that taken by Benjamin Fairless, speaking for United States Steel, the largest single producer. A good way out of this apparent dead lock would be for the steel companies to offer to sit down with the union in accord ance with the views expressed Thursday by the President. Mr. Truman stated at the outset that neither side would be bound by the board's recommendations. And he told his Thursday news conference that there is a decided difference between acceptance of the recommendations as a basis of negotiations and outright accept ance; that his understanding has been that the recommendations should be used as a basis negotiations. This is a reasonable view of the matter, and it should satisfy the contentions of both parties. Whether, when the shadow boxing is over, „ the steel industry can afford noh-contrlbutory pensions in the amount lndicatedby the board is a matter for the steel companies to decide. But they ought to be willing to make the best provision they can for the future of em ployes who have become too old to work. And if a strike has to come, the steel In dustry would stand in a much better posi tion in the public eye if it had met with the union and laid upon the table the best offer that it honestly felt it could make. If six cents is too much, then let each company say, after appropriate study, what it can contribute toward a pension plan. From that point on there could be real negotiations as to whether the employes should contribute anything, and, if.so, in what amounts. Boxing Commission Vacancy It is to be hoped that the Commissioners will take the opportunity, presented by a vacancy now existing, to select some qualified colored citizen to be a member of the Boxing Commission. The 8tar’s sports department estimates that about 80 per cent of the boxers appearing here are colored and that the attendance of colored spectators at boxing matches runs , M high as 90 per 'cent of the audience. While such statistics may have no valid bearing on the point, they do supplement the equitable consideration that on this commission of three, tlfcre should be at least one Negro. Perhaps the Commissioners would have made the appointment before now, except for the receipt of the usual type of pres sure telegrams threatening them with such vague punishment as a “boycott of boxing” in Washington if they did not choose a colored man. The Commissioners being human, the effect of such throats may have been to create opposition where none existed before. That is sometimes the case. But the Commissioners are Mg enough to Ignore such trivia and appoint a colored man. Alaskan Housing Crisis News correspondents and other visitors to Alaska In recent months have told of a serious housing problem confronting our defense forces in that key outpost. That they were not Exaggerating when they spoke of “atrocious” conditions under which our troops there are forced to live is evident from telegraphic information received by Defense Secretary Johnson from the touring Joint Chiefs of Staff. The JCS expedition to Alaska had been planned for some time. That it was accel erated by appeals for aid from military authorities, there seems to be little doubt. Their findings must have been of startling nature, Judging from what Mr. Johnson has Just announced. He said the JCS had sent him "the strongest telegram, the strongest message I have ever received” from them, urging immediate housing relief for our armed forces in Almira A bill is now pending to authorize a $138,000,000 construction program for our well-guarded bases in that strategically important sector. One of the difficulties in obtaining passage of this legislation is the secrecy which necessarily must sur round our defense preparations In our Far Northern bastion. Testimony regard ing housing and other construction needs there has had to be given in executive session. The Russians would like to know how many men of each branch we have there, or plan to station there, and the program for barracks and other construe tion would give them a fair idea of our present and planned strength. The in ability of the Department of Defense to disclose publicly the housing and other needs of the troops in Alaska hampers it in its efforts to press for needed legislation. Adequate housing is vital not only to accommodate our Army, Air Force and Navy troops but also their families. Pres ent facilities are so poor as to threaten a real morale problem. A partial start was made on a housing program, but failure to provide additional funds has brought it to a halt. The construction crews are said to be still available to continue the project, but it is feared that they will leave the territory soon unless they can be assured of renewed activity. The situation seems to be critical enough to call for special action by Congress, even if this should involve passage of a separate Alaskan housing bill. Crime Here and Elsewhere Crime nationally is not following the “leveling off” trend which Police Superin tendent Barrett perceives in Washington. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s semiannual Uniform Crime Reports tabu lation for the first half of this year shows a Nation-wide increase of 2.7 per cent in urban crime and of 7.6 per cent in rural crime. In Washington, however, all major crimes except murder and assault de creased in number as compared with the first half of 1948. Curiously, the national murder rate slumped during the same period. The rise in crime noted by the FBI in its comparison of 1949 and 1948 first-half figures included such categories as rape, robbery, burglary, assault and larceny. Murders declined 6.6 per cent, negligent manslaughters 15.5 per cent and automo bile thefts 3.7 per cent. In the District;, however, there were four more murder cases during the first six months of this year than during the similar period in 1948. And “aggravated assaults” increased from 1,865 to 1,996. In sharp contrast were the decreases locally in robbery, burglary, larceny and automo bile theft. The figures seem to justify Major Barrett’s opinion as to a “leveling off” trend here. Complicating the comparison between this year’s and last year’s statistics, how ever, Is the fact that Washington’s new crime-reporting procedures were in their shakedown period in the first half of 1948. It is possible, therefore, that the 1948 figures were not so accurate as those for this year. This and That By Charles E. Tracewell “FALLS CHURCH, Va. “Dear Sir: “I am very much concerned oyer the ap pearance of a small rodent-type animal which showed up a few nights ago for the first time on the upper branches of a dog wood tree, whose branches touch the roof of t';e welihouse. “I am hot sure whether it is in opossum or raccoon, it being * dirty gray, with hog type head, and thick rat-like tail. “It seems to be about 9 or 10 inches long, minus tail, and appears about 9 o’clock in the evening, when the dog goes into dithers (whatever that is) because he cannot climb the tree and get at it. “It wraps itself around a limb of the tree and later perches afbp the welihouse, but during which nightly visits it travels along -the light wires to reach such perch, causing the lights to flicker and the radio to be af fected by the fluctuation of the current, and I fear its nightly visit might wear off the insulation in time. “He emits no odor and I don’t object to him, but I am concerned to know whether he is carnivorous or herbivorous, something of the nesting habits, etc. “Having read of the nightly visits of your opossum Blossom, I am inclined to believe it is the same type, and my airedale would also like to know if it safe to have him around. “Sincerely yours, O. E. C.” * * * * This is a young opossum. It is an omnivorous animal, as proved by its teeth and digestive apparatus. ’ It eats almost anything in the food line. It will eat everything from corn to insects. Ground-nesting birds, their eggs and young appeal to it. The animal loves young chickens, but is equally fond of moles, mice and young rab bits. The persimmon is a favorite dish. It will be realized that here is both a use ful and not so useful animal, from the hu man viewpoint, but it also must be said that its good points far outweigh its bad ones. When full grown, the opossum is about the size of a housecat, of which, by the way, it is not in the least afraid. Both Smoky, the rat-catching Persian, and old Malty, the common cat, gave Blos som the ’possum all the room she wanted. Smoky followed her, but kept at a distance of at least four feet, while Malty simply failed to see her, as he passed within two feet of her as she sat on the porch roof. His friends believed that Malty saw her, all right, but Just pretended not to see her. Does this mean that cats, too, need face s&ving devices? Scientists tell us that no other animal on our continent has the long prehensile tail, the grasping hind foot and the marsupial pouch of our ’possum. The pouched animals are among the most distinctive of all animals, and for that rea son it seems a shame to thoughtlessly kill the only American specimen. Every one has read about the pouched animals of Australia, including the most famous of all. the kangaroo. Well, the same fame attaches to our opos sum. . She, in this case, possesses the same • external abdominal pouch, in which the young are carried. . This pouch serves as nursery for the young animals, which at birth weigh only from 18 to 25 grains! That is grains, not grams. And that is pretty small. They are sightless, hairless and entirely helpless. There usually are from 8 to 12 young. Even after the young are able to leave the pouch they go no farther than the mother’s back, where they ding to her tail with their own tails, with their heads down and their forefeet touching, her back. . This is a sight that few persons see any more. It was more or less common in the great woods which once made up so much of North America. , r The opossum feet have naked soles and five toes, each with a nail, except the hind feet, which have the first toe nailless and" opposed to the others for grasping. The teeth are sharp, but offer no harm to dogs, certainly. If a ’possum or squirrel can cause the house lights to blink, it is not the animal the householder has need to fear, but the wiring, and an appeal should be made to the light company. The opossum is a nice animal to have around for observational purposes. It will take bread and suet from the hand after dark, but not in the daytime. Letters to The Star Further Recollections of Streetcars Of Times Long Gone By To the Editor ot The Star: May I add a word or two to the remarks of W. Seymour McLeod describing the old Georgetown streetcars? I, too, remember them very well. The horses acquired a slew ambling trot which was the gait at which the car moved. Patrons did not have to go to street corners to get aboard. The car would stop anywhere, and the horses became very sensitive to the ap plication of the brake as the driver turned it on to bring about a stop. Also the horses seemed to sense when the brake was re leased and would start off without urging by the driver. Young and middle-aged men hardly ever signaled the car to stop, but would approach the moving car in such a way as to grasp the handle bar with the right hand, and raising one foot to the step, would find themselves aboard. This was common practice and seemed to be favored by the conductors. The fare was 5 cents, or six tickets for 25 cents. Tickets were in envelopes, and when a patron made a purchase, the conductor would open the end of the envelope and remove one ticket and give the remaining five to the purchaser. Then the conductor would punch a hole in a long strip of blue cardboard attached to his belt which became a record of the fares he received. The horse barn was on M street, then called Bridge; and when a car returned from a round trip to the Navy Yard, that being the eastern terminus, the horses were removed for a rest period and a new team attached to the car which thus became ready for another trip. As there was no heat in the cars, it was customary in winter to put straw on the floor to the depth of almost 1 foot. This appeared to give some relief to persons with cold feet. Next came the cable cars, which went with considerably mote speed, and I also re member that young men found it a little more difficult to mount these cars while in motion, so that that practice gradually disappeared. Then came the great fire to the cable power house and a change over to the modem electric cars. This change over was not so easy, and it was not unusual to see cars stalled on the street for some reason or another, just as today we occasionally may see an automobile that won’t go. It has been a long step from the old horse-drawn car to the present cars. But the transition did not come by magic. Much development through the years was required to bring all this about. C. A. SLOAN. 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. priate that all these books should be taken to Fort Knox and handled with all the efficiency and modern techniques already in use there? The resultant savings would be a really noticeable item, but I wasn’t through yet. I knew that many of our universities (most of them having large libraries) have Government contracts to carry on scientific research, so it seemed only just to give them the benefit of the changes contemplated for Government libraries. The savings then would be passed on by means of the smaller sums written in the con tracts. There would be no great opposition from unco-operative academies, for who could stand in the way of unification and reorganization? NON ILLEGITIMITAE CARBORUNDUM. Advocates Letting Robeson Speak As Proof That Democracy Prevails To the Bdiior ol The Star: Let us not, as clear thinking Americans, be intolerant of Paul Robeson and his bol shevik sympathizers. The Constitution of the United States gives every man the right to speak openly. Paul Robeson has chosen to idolize the Soviet Union. He is following the Moscow line in trying to create a “scapegoat” perse cution complex in the American Negroes. If he were in Russia, Moscow would "have him liquidated by the MVD—but they see in him a means to an end. He is their tool whereby the white and Negro races in America may be drawn into civh conflict. I would like to say to veterans and fellow citizens: "Don't give Robesojj, the benefit of baiting you. Ignore him, let him speak his mind.” If we deny freedom of speech to even one man, we defeat the purpose of our great Constitution. Let the outside world see real democracy at work. Though it may be difficult, let us be tolerant. JAMES W. BACKSCHEIDER. j Objects To ‘Personal Letter’ About Minister to Luxembourg To the Editor of The Star: Never in my 50 years of reading The Star have I been so shocked as when I read on Page 1 of the Sunday edition the story “A Letter Prom Luxembourg” by David Nichol. How The Star could so demean itself by printing a personal letter consisting of noth ing more than a mean despicable harangue from one person fjo another is beyond me. Had this been reported in other papers one could understand. But The Star! Shame! IRVING M. GREY. Friends Across the Sea Meet In Kent With Some Help From The Star To the Editor of The St»r: Two years ago you kindly published my letter about life in rural England during the current crisis, '{his proved to be a pebble that still ripples the pond. At the time, sev eral of your readers wrote me encouraging letters and a few sent parcels. Such evi dence of understanding and sympathy was so touching and heartening that I felt a strong desire to meet these kind people. This wish shows no sign of being realized by my visiting America, but imagine my delight when I received a telephone call from one of my correspondents, who with her son from Harvard, was touring Europe and had arrived in London. A meeting was arranged and we had the great pleasure of welcoming our Washing ton friends in our village home. This en abled them to see a bit of family life without comment from a guide and also gave us an opportunity to discuss some of America's problems from a lay point of view. Time was very limited, but we managed a visit to the silk farm now being worked in a .nearby Tudor castle. Here was woven the silk train worn by Princess Elizabeth at her wedding. Across the park, a Roman villa recently has been excavated, revealing a beautifully preserved mosaic floor and stat ues of an emperor. . Our American friends found peculiar relish in these ancient traces amid the peaceful agricultural scenes of Kent. It was a day which we shall none of us forget, the day when ‘‘pen friend” became a flesh-and blood-companion-hands-across-the-sea that met in a Arm grasp. Thank you very much for your share in the introduction. MARGARET BANGER. Eynsford, Kent, England. Advocates Real Estate Reduction In View of Sales Tax Yield To the Editor of The Star: The District of Columbia sales tax and increases in various other kinds of local taxes have been in effect only a short time, but already it is apparent that official esti mates of their yield were considerably short of actual receipts. , . As may be seen from newspaper articles, the sales tax is producing about $iy4 million a month, about $3 million annually above the official estimate. The cigarette tax, on the basis of early experience, is running about $100,000 a month, or about 25 per cent above advance estimates. Your attention is respectfully called to an article, “Are D. ,C. Taxes Really Low?" in the May issue of the Home Builder’s Monthly. It shows that owners of identical properties in the District and in nearby Maryland and Virginia pay about the same amount in taxes, with the District owner paying a little more than his enfranchised neighbors. WAlre*30re you know that the sales tax and other levies also hit the owner of real estate. If the home owner who is buying a tiny bungalow purchases wallboard to finish his attic to make room for his growing family, he must pay the sales tax on the materials. Of course;!® pays the higher real estate tax as well. This is ho argument against the sales tax. However, we feel that it warrants reconsideration of the real estate tax; and we hope you will agree that this tax, < now $2.15, should be put back to $1.75 * per $1,000 valuation, where it was until 1947. CHARLES J. BAUER, Secretary. Building Owners and Managers Association of Metropolitan Washington. Excoriates Socialism and New Deal As Forms of Devastation To the Editor of The Star: Norman Thomas, ex-Socialist presidential candidate, has failed to pyramid the patron age of the Socialist ballot box not because of aqy lack of honest eloquence, but because the disparities between proposed and applied socialism require more explanation than the gap between proposed and applied immor tality. Now further complicated by the unlimited liabilities of the socialized isle of austerity, socialism is the deadliest economic philosophy ever inflicted upon the fertile fields of cap italistic conduct—all except the New Deal devastations of subsidlzed-insolvency; paying bonuses to some farmers not to raise crops, while paying bonuses to other fanners to raise crops; jacking up wages to jack up commodity costs; inflating costs and de flating dollars; mortgaging America for more than it could be sold for and dumping the proceeds into socialistic-communistic rat holes. To Mr. Thomas I owe and offer suitable apologies. If he can wreck wreckage; if he can salvage anything whatever out of the volcaniq-ash of New Deal devastation, he is a miracle man—and more power to him. A. C. HARROVER. Scituate Harbor, Mass. He Look* on Library Unification With His Tongue in His Cheek To the Editor of The Star: The other night as I slept fitfully after thinking long about econodly in Government and unification of the armed services ana how I as a Government scientist, could heip bring them about, I had a dream in which tf scheme came to me. ' The dream proposal was this—to com bine the technical libraries of all the various • research laboratories around Washington which belong to the National Military Estab lishment and put all the books in the Penta gon Building. This would be a real, concrete step toward both unification and economy. In my dream. I could see that fewer librarians were needed, many of them being replaced by janitors, since the books required only dusting. F\irther, the books themselves lasted longer and looked more orderly on the shelves, because the wear and tear resulting from constant use were diminished. Of course, when I pondered this scheme the next day, I realized only too well that such a change would do more to hinder me and my colleagues in our professional duties than would cutting off our supply of pencils. On the other hand, I had to admit that certain economies would be pos sible which would look well on paper. Imagine my chagrin when X learned through devious but reliable channels on that very same day that X had been scooped; my. scheme not only had been considered by others, but, In fact, was scheduled to become effective after Hallowe’en. In a characteristic fashion I did not let this dis hearten me, but Instead applied myself to ■ finding a means of making an even larger contribution to the same ends. It wasn’t long until I had found a solu tion. Why restrict this unification to the armed services? Why not apply it to all' Government technical libraries? The sage truly has written: “Knowledge is more pre ci$|u thm gffd,” so does it not seen^ appro Protests Lack of Good Music , | On Radio Programs. To the Editor of The Star: I wonder if there is not some method by which those in charge of radio stations can be convinced that there is other music in the world besides “popular” music? No matter what' station you turn on during the day, nothing is offered but silly modem jazz, sickeningly sweet, or nonsensical bal lads sung by crooners with mediocre voices. Why can’t we have some good music for a change? The Choraliers on Sunday after noon have a fine program, and it is a shame that we should get nothing but cheap music all the rest of the week. I like to listen to the radio in the morn ing while getting ready for work, but turn it off in disgust at the type of entertain ment that is offered. WMAL used to have a fine program from 6 to 7 am., but changed it to the same monotonous fare that is played on every other station. I am not suggesting that we have the most abstract classical music, but would suggest that it would be a welcome relief to hear selections from Victor Herbert, Franz Lehar, Stephen Foster, Carrie Jacobs Bond. John Philip Sousa, and such, sung by* real singers, and give us a rest from all the girl crooners and their ilk. I am tired to death of jazz and a steady diet of “brand new” trash. Why not play records by James Melton instead of Frank Sinatra? And why not play selections the way they originally were written instead of jazzing them up? DISGUSTED. Appreciation f.or Editorial On Buffalo Strike Violence To the Editor of The Star: I wish to commend you for your wonderful editorial, “A National Disgrace,” pn the Bell strike rioting in Buffalo. You have acted as a spokesman for many of us little fellows who have no way of expressing our feelings to the public. May you continue to write more editorials on the same subject! FRANCES WARD. To the Editor of The Stor: Congratulations on your splendid editorial of September 9, “A National Disgrace.” Let’s hope more editors will join your crusade. ^ T. W. R. Gasoline Fumes and Radio Bracketed by Critic of Transit Co. To the Editor of The Star: If the Capital Transit Co. would spend a little money on engineering talent to de ■ vise ways and means to keep the noxious and obnoxious fumes from the exhaust of the engines out of the buses, and a little less on the equally obnoxious radio pro grams, they would go a long way toward justifying the public service title which is attached to transportation’systems of this i nature. FRANKLIN P. WOOD. | The Political Mill Scare Word 'Statism' Puts Democrats on defensive Dulles Due to Dramatize New Issue in New York Senatorial Campaign By Gould Lincoln “Statism,” just a word and called by Pres ident Truman a “scare word.” is putting the Democrats on the defensive. It had its effect in the recent Pennsylvania 26th district election, won by the Republicans. It is go ing into the New York senatorial campaign, where Senator John Foster Dulles, Republi can, is opposing former Governor Herbert Lehman, Democrat. And it gives promise of being as effective in the 1950 congressional elections as was “had enough” in the 11)46 elections. Whether statism means anything to Pres ident Truman or not, it means a lot to many other persons. It doesn’t mean the same thing to them all—except that they don’t like it. The very fact that it means different things to different groups makes it all the more difficult to combat. Statism means plenty to the man and woman who are paying high taxes—big and little—and it doesn’t mean anything good. It means plenty, too, to the man and woman who see Federal Government expenditures running the country into the red by billions of dollars, and an administration which in sists upon adding to these expenditures in stead of cutting them. It means quite a lot to the man and woman who dislike the administration’s socialized medicine plan. Means More to Farmer. It means even more to the farmer who still wants some say about how he is to run his farm, and sell his produce, and to the laborer who believes he has a right to work where he desires and to bargain with his employer, and doesn’t want the Government to dictate those issues. It means much, too, to the man and woman who believe the Federal Government should not take over control of education in this country—and dictate that. “Statism” is a short, mean sounding word. Its meaning to the man in the street is something entirely alien to America and what the United States stands for. It is already being used effectively by the Re publicans. Mr. Lehman, running as the Democratic senatorial candidate in New York, is attempting to combat it by labeling President Truman’s program a “program of progress”—but that doesn’t take the edge off Senator Dulles’ cry of “statism,” which he stressed when he announced he would gladly accept a Republican nomination. Whatever the dictionaries have said in the past about statism—and they have differed about the meaning of the word—the use of statism in the present and next year’s campaign will leave no doubt as to what it means in the minds of most people—no matter whether they are anti or pro-statism. A former Secretary of State and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a distin guished Democrat honored by both Presi dent Truman and the late President Frank lin D. Roosevelt, was the first to raise the issue of “statism” against the Truman pro gram. Speaking at Washington and Lee University last June, Mr. Byrnes said: “We are going down the road to statism— where we will wind up no ope can tell. But if some of the programs seriously proposed should be adopted, there is danger that the individual, whether farmer, worker, manu facturer, lawyer or doctor, will soon become an economic slave pulling an oar in the galley of the state.” Gerf. Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of Columbia University, recently used the word statism when he warned that the best path for the United States is in the middle road, “between the unfettered power of concen trated wealth on the one flank and,the un bridled power of statism or partisan interests on the other.” No one had the slightest doubt that either Mr. J3yrnes or Gen. Eisenhower, in their use of "statism” was referring to the Truman program. And other speakers have made or attemoted to make “statism” synonomous with “the welfare state” and the Truman “fair deal.” It’s likely to stick. Republican National Chairman Guy George Gabrielson has taken official notice of “stat ism” as both issue and slogan. He put out a statement declaring the Republican Party fortunate in having Senator Dulles as its candidate in New York and saying that the party welcomed the “statism” issue which Senator Dulles had raised. "He has dramatized an issue which may well be paramount (trend to statism) in the congressional camoaign of 1950, as well as in this year’s soecial election in New York,” said Mr.Gabrielson. -. Questions and Answers A re«der can yet the aniwer to any yueatlon of fact by vrltiny The Evening Star Information Bureau. 316 Eye at. n.e.. Waahtnyton 2. D. C. Please inclose three (S) cents for return postnce By THE HASKIN SERVICE Q. What happened in the libel case brought against the editor of the New York World by Theodore Roosevelt?—C.H.W. A. On February 7, 1909, the Government procured an indictment against Joseph Pu litzer of the New York World and two of his editors on five counts for criminally li beling Theodore Roosevelt, J. P. Morgan, Charles P. Taft, Douglas Robinson, Elihu Root and William N. Cromwell. The case was later dropped. Q. Can a cat swim?—L. C. M. A. Cats are able to swim although they are not essentially water animals. Q. Was Ary Roseland a famous paint er?—L. D. R. A. Harry (or Ary) Roseland was a well known genre painter. He was born in Brooklyn. N. Y., on May 12, 1886. Rose land studied with J. B. Whlttoker in Brook lyn and with Beckwill in New York. The artist won numerous awards. Q. What waterfall in Western United States is known as the "Niagara of the West?"—G. W. F. A. Shoshone Falls in Idaho is sometimes called "Niagara of the West.” The water fall is 210 feet high, and because of its im pressive beauty has been compared to Niagara. Q. What was the name of the only horse to beat the famous Man ’o War?—T. W. A. The name of the only horse that bettt Man o’ War was Upset. The race was the Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Springs, August 13, 1919. Q. Why is the fat of some meat a decided yellow in color?—J. D. K. A. The color ef fat on beef depends on the amount of carotene given the animal. If there has been a great deal of carotene in the feed, the fat will be yellow. The color of the fat makes no difference in the grading of the meat. Q. What happened at McCulloch’s Leap, near Wheeling, W. Va.?—W. McM. A. “McCulloch's Leap” refers to an ex ploit of Maj. Samuel McCulloch. In 1777, he rode his horse over a 300-foot precipice to avoid capture by the Indians. They tried many times to take the major alive. Always they were foiled by his daring and re sourcefulness. On July 30, 1782, Maj. Mc Culloch was attacked near Fort Van Meter. The officer was slain and scalped and his heart cut out.