The Washington times. [volume], April 01, 1918, FINAL EDITION, Editorial Page, Image 18

About The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939

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S '..JlV,
EDITORIAL PAGE
OF THE
WASHINGTON TIMES
APRIL 1, 1918
WASHINGTON
dSx THE NATIONAL DAILY cggfc
SSggP ARTHtm BRISBANE. Editor and Owner aB
EDOAR D. SHAW. Publlher
BaUrtd aa aecond claaa matttr at the PcstoMce at Washington. D. C
itiDumea jsvery evening- umiuauis . , Zi ' ' i
The Washmgton Times Company, Munsey Bldg., Pennsylvania Ave.
Mall BubaerlpUona: 1 year (Inc. Sunday). 17.00: 3 Month. 1.7S: 1 month, tie
MOXDAT. APRIL 1. WW.
Can You Make a Small Farm
Profitable?
Yes, in Prohibition Territory.
This is the story of a little ten-acre farm in North Caro
lina, belonging to a mountaineer.
The facts and figures are supplied by an important Gov
ernment official, one known to everybody in the United States.
The facts are exactly as he gave them, and they prove that
in prohibition territory farming can be made profitable if
you do not take the4 law too seriously.
A North Carolina mountaineer planted ten acres in corn.
He got twenty-four bushels to the acre, 240 bushels in alL
He then proceeded as follows, doing what thousands of
others are doing in prohibition territory where prohibition
eliminates the temperate drinks and puts the population on
a whiskey basis.
He kept 140 bushels of corn for his own use, to feed his
horses, cows, pigs, and have seed for next year.
He bought a small still and barrels for fermenting pur
poses. From one hundred bushels of corn he made three hun
dred gallons, or 1,200 quarts, of moonshine whiskey.
This he sold to. the soldiers in a nearby cantonment at
$4 a quart.
i
1,200 quartsat $4 equals $4,800.
Deducting $200 for overhead charge and costs of sale,
balance, $4,600.
Deducting $1,000 "for avoidance of interference and
allaying suspicion," which in plain English means "bribery,"
and you have a net balance for the farmer of $3,600 for one
hundred bushels of corn.
That is $36.00 per bushel, or $360.00 per acre, after sav
ing enough corn for the farmer's own use and for next year's
planting.
These figures, which are guaranteed, show:
First, that a small farm can be made profitable.
Second, why prohibition does not prohibit where pub
lic opinion and private selfishness are opposed to it.
With nation-wide prohibition there would be many a
profitable little cornfield in the United States.
Government Ownership of Tele
phones at the National Capital
The Postmaster Pushing the Thing, Approved, of Course,
by the President. -
Postmaster Burleson has made a good fight for telephone
public ownership in Washington-, and in spite of obliging
Congressmen anxious to protect private monopoly, there is
every prospect that Mr. Burleson will succeed.
The local monopoly played into his hands nicely. It was
announced, solemnly, that with wages increasing and all the.
"other difficulties, including more business than ever (just
why more business should be a detriment is not clear), the
telephone company would have to increase its charges.
Thereupon- Mr. Burleson said, "You need not do that.
The Postoffice will take over your telephone service, run it
for the Governments pay employes as much as they are get
ting now or more, give better service, make no increased
charge, and earn a profit."
That, as you can imagine, was embarrassing to the pri
vate monopoly and the private monopoly Congressmen.
In spite of strong opposition, the bill is reported out.
And unless telephone monopoly discovers VERY persuasive
arguments for Congressmen, to stiffen their backbones and
make them brave, public ownership of the telephone system
by the Postoffice will begin, as it should begin, at the Na
tional Capital, and end later with a little Government tele
phone bell in the American farmhouse most distant from
Washington, D. C.
We invite the Congress of the United States, and Sen
ator Bankhead of Alabama especially, to become enthusiastic
supporters of this telephone public ownership idea.
' As chairman of the committee that recommended purchase
by the Government of the pneumatic tube system, Senator
Bankhead has gone on record as favoring Government pur
chase and ownership.
It is, of course, not thinkable that he would recommend
the purchase by the Government of the pneumatic tube sys
tem, doubtful at best in value, and officially rejected by the
Postoffice Department, and at the same time oppose purchase
of the telephone system that the people and the Postoffice
Department WANT.
His lofty spirit of patriotism would make it impossible
for Senator Bankhead, or any other Senator, to oppose Gov
ernment control of the most highly developed, most im
portant means of communication the telephone and at the
same time fight for, and insist upon, Government purchase
of a very doubtful pneumatic-tube property whose owners
are anxious to unload it.
We invite Senator Bankhead to rise in the Senate, give
three quiet cheers for Government ownership, and say, " I
am forpublic ownership of telephone and telegraph, the mod
ern, recognized means of communication. I realize that the
-people took control of the post office because they chose to
control .COMMUNICATION OF CITIZENS WITH EACH
OTHER. I see that the telephone and the telegraph are sim
ple, natural extension and development of communication
and therefore, like the mails, they should be controlled by
the people.
"I demand Government ownership of telephones and
(Continued from First Column.)
APRIL FOOL!
' ' " rrT'iJ. . A2
THE BEST.LOVED WOMEN OF HISTORY
History records innumerable in
stances in which women, long past
middle life, have kept youth. and
the ability to command admiration
into a green old age.
And in no case is it recorded
that they spent an undue amount
of time on the external processes
of keeping young. They kept
alive a great variety of interests,
they made friends among brilliant
men, they kept abreast of current
topics, they kept their minds
young and their faces' seem to
have taken cars of themselves.
Keep Young In Spirit.
The brain begins to die and the
body inevitably follows. The
women who have kent their youth
conspicuously have been young in
spirit.
Perhans the most famous case
of the prolongation of youth is
that of Ninon DEnclos, a famous
French beauty whose grandson fell
in love with her when she was
seventy, though at the time he
was unaware of his relationship
to the fascinating woman who won
his heart. Needless to say his
grandmother rejected his suit
Her salon was the most famous
of that day, and among her inti
mate friends were Madame de
Maintenon, Madame de Lafayette,
and Queen Christina of Sweden.
Among the men who paid homage
to her beauty and wit were Riche
lieu, Conde, St. Evremond, La
Rouchfoucaulde, and three genera
tions of the family of Sevigne.
These men and women discus Bed
endlessly political questions, cor
responded voluminously and had
many intellectual interests in com
mon. Her Mind Was Alert.
Ninon DEnclos kept young be
cause her mind was alert and con
stantly refreshed by the best talk
of the day. Of course, all Paris
was in love with her, but "all
Paris" would not have been if she
had been dull and stupid and had
nothing to talk about but silly
personalities.
Madame Roland was nearly
forty at the time of her execution
in Paris in 1793 a victim of the
French revolution. Her salon was
the headquarters of the republic
ans and Girondists, and she In
spired many of the men who made
posslbit the Bapublic of Francs.
HAVE HAD BRAINS
By Beatrice Fairfax.
She was not a beauty, nor was she
unduly concerned about her
"looks," but she Had a great mind
and a great heart, and no woman
of that period wielded a greater
influence.
Recamler Remarkable For Intelli
gence As Well As Beauty.
Recamier kept her beauty and
influence to a surprising age.
She was seventy-two at the time
of her death, and her great influ
ence was only beginning to wane.
Her intelligence, as well as her
beauty, attracted to her the mou
brilliant circle in Paris during the
consulate and empire and later at
Abbaye-aux-Bois. Among her
friends were Madame de Stael,
Chautebriand, and Constant, but
she was accredited with loving
only Augustus of Prussia. She
had agreed to marry him.and her
husband, who was three times her
age, had consented to a divorce,
but, learning that he had lost his
fortune, the famous beauty was
so touched by his loyalty that she
refused to leave him in his pov
erty. These women, and scores of
others who have helped to make
history, were as conspicuous for
their brains as for their beauty.
They did not spend their time in
steaming and creaming in beauty
parlors, they did not devote hours
in getting ready for bed, and hours
in preparing to meet the world
again, next day. Women who keep
young, by physical means alone,
defeat their purpose dt the start.
They achieve a curious mum
mified effect, that suggests rather
an old doll, preserved through suc
cessive generations for reasons of
sentiment, rather than a real hu
man being.
Keep the Divine Spark Alive.
If you allow the spirit, subjec-
Government Clerk on Mileage
Grateful . Oovon.rn.nt m
mMt be for the action of the Benate In
.triklns the Borland ""toe"t1
the agriculture appropriation Mil. and
hopeful a. they mar be that the teal
action of the Consres, wl I i net Impose
upon them a minimum eHht-hour-day
without a corre.pondlnr compensation,
they cannot foret that It Is always U
Government employ, who Is the victim
.. i..i.iin economists besin
to pare down th. annual appropriation.
. -... tn ntr th.lr minds that ;
i. .th. rlr
mere u room ..- -
eles amonr which ar. Congressional
circlet.
Each member of Conrress receives
miles, of M cenU each way. eomlnr to
and returning- from the seat of Govern
ment, for each session of Congress. He
collect, this mlleag. wheth.r he make,
the trip from the State or district he
represents, or whether he has remained
In Washington during-. the Interval be
tween sessions. This means that the
Government pays each Senator or mem
ber of Congreu 40 cents for every mile
of the dUtanee between his home and
the Mat of Gov.rnment In Washington
for every .esslon of Congress which h.
attend., and this In addition to lil.
alary and other perquisite..
There are In the pre.ent Congress
nlM.iw.tU Rftnatnri anil 4.15 members
r ,
Of Cositmi, a total of 031. For .acn
round til sail, that this .ntlr. body
travels In attending- a .esslon of Con
gress, the Government of the United
Btates. at the present rate of mlleag.
disburses $212.40. Assuming- that the
average distance traveled by Sena
tors and Members of Congress In
coming- to Washington to attend ses
sions of the Congress Is 1.500 miles
each way. It Is probably more than
this the expense to the Government
for each session would be J31S.000 In
mileage.
Even granting the necessity of
paying- the traveling expenses of Sen
ators and Representatives to and
from Washington to enable them to
be In attendance upon the sessions
of Congress, Is there any reason eith
er of equity or Justice why the Gov
.rnment of the United States should
be called upon to pay more than
actual expenses and a subsistence al
lowance? Not only this. There is hardly a
year passes during which Congress
does not arrange an "Inspection tour"
of some kind which. In effect,
amounts to a most excellent holiday
junket for a party selected from
among our honorable legislators AT
GOVERNMENT EXrENSE. These
junkets each cost the Government
anywhere from J10O.00O to 00.000. and the
only thing the. people of the country
ever g.t In return I. a report.
GOVERNMENT CLERK.
tive mind, or whatever you may
call the divine spark within you to
age, a ton of cold cream, or steam
enough, to propel a battleship
won't keep you actually young
looking.
Age is more a mental than a
physical process. Put a young girl
or bojy to live with elderly people
and he or she will rapidly become
much older than a child of the
same age living among other chil
dren. The constant system of
accommodation going on in the
young mind, the daily adaptation
to the older point of view, brings
about a premature age.
If you would be young, surround
yourself as much as possible with
people whose minds are alert and
vital. Keep in touch with children
and youn" tjeople and try to see
life in their terms of joyous ex
pectation. Regard Life As Eight in the
Morning.
If you are forty, think of life
as about 8 o'clock of a beautiful
sunshiny morning in early spring
and that all good fortune is await
. ing you. If you do this regu
larly and conscientiouslyyou will
notice a change in your appear
ance, aging, petulant lines will
grow dim, you will begin to look
young because you' have trained
yourself fo feel young.
Refresh your soul with music,
art and literature not trash.
Have as comprehensive a point of
view as possible, go to hear peo
ple talk on subjects whether you
agree with them or not. Talk,
argument, discussion does for the
mind what boxing and exercise
does for the body. Monotony 53
the death of the brain therefore
of youth and life. Nothing is so
bad for people as to see the same
set of individuals day after day,
to eat the same kind of meals, to
hear the samo jokes and talk over
and over the same subjects, to
have the same round of duties and
pleasures.
Change, the Salt That Preserves.
Change is the salt that pre
serves body and brain. If you are
a conservative, hear what a radi
cal has to say, and vice versa.
And above all things don't dwell
on your ailments, don't "enjoy poor
health" and revel in talking about
it. Your health, symptoms and
general bad feelings are not fit
subjects of discussion outside of
the doctors' office. Don't dwell on
ill health and age and you'll keep
young.
Beeler Scores Again
Applying CoKsaoa Sense to a Bad Problem in Crowded Street Can Be
Works Out a Plan Which May Make Ua All CessferUfcto aa &?.
By EAEL GODWIN.
. That old principle of physics which teaches s that two
solid objects cannot occupy the same space at the same tim
has been neglected for a long time in Washington -with the
result that everyone has tried to be in the same place or ge
to the same place at the same time every morning and every
evening.
Besnlt: Crowded street cars, badly mussed shoppers,
fretfdl office holders, bad tempered clerks, many letters from
Irate Citizen, whose name is Legion, and a general feeling of
incompetence.
To cure this rash JOHN A. BEEEEE, traffic expert who
has lived with railroads and railroad affairs all his life, cornea
to Washington as the adviser of the DISTRICT GOVERN
MENT looks over the situation.
He sees right away that the congestion is already beyond
the control of the street. car companies and that it is growing
every day, and -that by the end of the yearjf with'40,000 mor
people here, 'the. Government's war business will suffer ap
preciably. He sees that there are two ways to cure the eviL One
would be to build more street car lines and get more cars,
and the other is to change the habits of the city. It will take
months, -and perhaps years, to lJuild enough new street car
lines and get enough new cars. It -will be easy to make" the
changes in the schedule of the traveling public The profc
lem is to relieve the congestion TODAY.
Already he has taught the city somethingin the way of
getting on cars and avoiding useless stops. His latest sug
gestion to scatter the opening and closing hours of Govern
ment departmeats and-private offices promises to give every
one elbow room on the cara going and coming. Of course;
his suggestions are not laws.
As far as advising merchants .to open their stores at 10
o'clock a. m. is concerned, that recommendation seems-to-ba-
so radical a departure from the present plan that ffrr$ieE
thought is advisable. Trie mercnants tnemseivea undoubted
ly will take up the matter together. i
I would also depart in one small item from the Beeler j
recommendations. He advises closing the District Suilding;
at 4 o'clock p. m. .1 trust that some day the offices in that
building with which people have'to deal constantly will be.'
kerjt oDen ALL day loner. At present it is a hardship. to.
i some persons to get to tne tax omce, tne collector's omceor
the license omce, tne building inspector's omceanf tne-otner
puoiio omces, aurmg me nine auoiiea lor paouc Business.
HEARD AND SEEN
Easter .Monday or Eggless Mondaywhich?
Easter Sunday "was a -wonder and
alter I had attended dtvtne services
at 7:45 (new time) I walked, down
town. "JIM" BAKER, secretary of
the Senate, standing on his porch,
waved me a welcome.
Anil Anvm th trwfc further I
caught sight of the head of. COM
MISSIONER GAKUINJSK sirang
in an upper story of his house.
On Connecticut avenue there ap
peared to be two classes of people.
Those bound for church and those
bound for the golf club. Among
those churchward bound -was JOHN
NELSON, M. C from Madison,
Wisconsin, with whom I chatted
concerning the chances of IRVINE
LLENROOT for the Senate.
And as we stood there, CON
GRESSMAN GILLETT, in the
slickest looking car you ever saw,
shot up Cathedral avenue. Church
or golf?
Further on, in front of JOSEPH
TUMULTY'S house, I saw a Ford
car smashed in like an accordion
and a man who was picking up the
pieces said it had run into a trolley
pole. When will those be removed?
BILLY RODENBERG, riding by
in a new automobile, made me hop
in with him. He believes in treat
ing Washington with, a broad, jfirfr,
and liberal policy, and I wish then
were more Congressmen with th
same spirit
LEVI COOK made a -wry face a
me. Perhaps ha Isn't accustomed to
stovepipe' hits."
ARTHUR DUNN, went 'to St
John's church yesterday.
.With broad use of the editorial
"we." S. M. STOCKSLAGER, of the
McGill building, discusses the ques
tion AntoasofiUes vs. Pedestrians at
length, and I quote Mr. Stockslager
as follows:
The only possible advantage to
be gained by requiring pedestrians to
cross streets only at the regular
crossings Is to the vehicular traffic,
for anyone must know such foot
passengers could cross elsewhere
with, much less danger than at suck
crossings. But they are driven to
these crossings In the Interest of- the
vehicular traffic and. IN THEORY
assumed to have a prior right-of-way
at such crossings. But whoever saw
or hears of any vehicle driver will
ingly complying with such. theory or
regulations! we are sure we never
did. On-the contrary, particularly In
the vast majority of crossings where
there Is no crossing policeman.-they
blow their horns when a block or
more away and expect all pedestrians
to run to cover or be run down.
They usually choose the former.
Government Ownership of .Telephones at
the National Capital.
(Continued in Last Column.)
telegraphs. I only urged the purchase of those pneumatic
tubes as a little entering wedge. That was my subtle
diplomacy."
If Senator .Bankhead and his friends that recommended
the purchase of the interesting pneumatic tube outfit will go
on record as above suggested, they will find the record of.
value later on.
THE PEOPLE MEAN TO OWN THEIR OWN NATU
RAL MONOPOLIES, AND THEY WILL OWNTHEM. And
they will select for purchase those that have.real value not
discarded, extravagant, broken-down pneumatic tube con
cerns or out-of-date express companies.
The war is educating the people rapidly. Congressmen
that do not keep up with the procession will have a chance
to think it over at home.
P. S. Concerning theproptrty of the local telephone
monopoly in Washington. The property status is clearly
fixed by the statement of the company that it is not paying
expenses by charging present legal fees. This shows, of
course, that the franchise in itself is worth nothing unless
the people should consent to tax themselves an additional
amount in order to MAKE IT WORTH SOMETHING.
The mere franchise being worth nothing, the Govern
ment should pay a fair price for the actual property of the
telephone company, making allowance, perhaps, for the in
creased war value of copper in the wires, and,- perhaps, not
eliminating in computing the price of the telephone instru
ments the large profit that the Western Electric Company
makes by selling goods at an extravagant price to its big, rich
brother, the Bell Telephone Company.
-The Government should always be just and generous.
But this does not mean that it should play the part of the
formof TiorTftiQiTifT far o fimlrl Vriflr Ufa Vinna Via all Qvr
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ators see tne point.
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