The Washington herald., 1915-12-30
Scientist Says Life
May Exist on Venus

II any of the other planets Is inhab bited.
II Is Venus. and not Mars, according
to DIR. John A. Brsshear. noted Pitts
burgh astronomer and maker OF scien-
tific instruments. who took fling at
Prof. LowelIs Marcian canal theory in
an Informal interview yesterday. In con-
nection with the proceedings OF the Sec
ond Pan-American Scientific Congress.
DIR. Brashear said that his researches
had convinced him that life on the earth
Is conserved only by the atmosphere. and
that II has been finally determined by
astronomers that the atmospher OF Mars
Is only one-seventh as dense as that Of
the earth.
On the other hand. said Dr. Brashear.
the density Of the vapor surrounding
Venus is such that It Is highly possible
this planet is teeming with life. though
most likely in forms quite different from
those OF the earth.
Most Americans Drug Addicts.
Nearly two-thirds OF the people OF
the United States are drug addicts II We
include among habit-forming drugs al
cohol, nicotin and caffein." declared DIR.
Harvey W. Wiley, the pure food expert,
in an address at one Of the sessions.
When We speak OF drug addicts. how
sense. and refer rather to those who
are slaves to opium or the cocoa leaf
and their derivatives.
THE length of time necessary to ac-
quire the drug habit Is variously esti-
mated at from a few days to a month
or more
DIR. Wiley declared that the most potent
factor among the various means adopted
to prevent the drug habit Is education.
Ia, lAt. ,,,.I ,~tt
titles which may be applied in sup
pressing the drug habit. DIR. Luis Lopez
de Mesa, of Colombia. declared that with
such diversions motion pictures. the
aters. sports. and similar amusements
easily assessible. the use OF alcohol be-
comes purely occasional.
Urges Commercial Education.
I'm commercial education lies the hope
for the future of American business -
declared Elliot II. Goodwin. secretary of
the Chamber of Commerce OF the United
States. addressing the Pan-American
Congress on the subject of commercial
education yesterday.
Commercial courses dealing more par
ticularly with the finished products of
manufacture were advocated by DIR. AL
bert 4. Snowden. of the National Asso-
citation OF Manufacturers in addressing
the PanAmeriCan Congress.
The usual texts for commercial
courses" he said, are exceedingly din
cient in the detailed treatment OF manu-
factured goods as a factor in commerce.
They deal chiefly with the raw materials.
factors which bulk large in the world 8
commerce. but which do not offer the
abundant difficulties in trade promotion
and trade competition that are encounter
ed in extending the sales oi manufactur-
cred goods. The manufactured goods
may require for their Introduction into
new territory much detailed study OF To-
cal needs. which promotive and educs-
tive effort.
THE more the goods are treated or
modified in the plants OF the manufac-
turers, the more the trader needs to
know about them and their adaptibility
to the conditions to be met with in vari-
Gus localities OF the EARTH
school Attendance DIscussed.
Attendance at school should be made
compulsory for children between the
ages of and l3. according to Eduardo
Roge. of Uruguay. who discussed the
question of compulsory attendance at
elementary schools. He suggested sew
eral methods by which a compulsory
attendance law could be made effect
i've. among them being: The estab-
lishment of free schools in sufficient
number. we'll distributed throughout
the country, so that no one may plead
lack of schools as an excuse for non
attendance: severe punishment for par
ents who make use of the services OF
their children within the ages men,
toned. during class hours; a law pro-
hibitinS owners of workshops or fac
tories from employing children of
school age during class hours: the Gre
alton of societies by well-to-do per-
sons to collect the necessary funds to
provide clothing and shoes for the
poorer children. and the organization
Of a school police service exclusively
engaged in running down the children
of school age who may play truant.
Punishment cannot cure the criminal
nor deter others from committing
crime. declared Prof II. s. Won Klein
smid, president of the American Asso-
citation of Clinical Criminology. in an
address at one of the sessions.
Urges Treatment for Crime.
Punishment only serves to augment
the anti-social attitude of the criminal
and to return him to society to perpe-
trate even more daring crimes than he
had committed before" the speaker
continued. Treatment. not punish
ment, is what is needed: Intelligent.
sympathetic. and SYSTEMATIC treatment
under the best conditions and by the
best advised scientists that can be
secured for the work.
This is not a call for the introduction
of sentimentality for the unfortunate Of
fenders.' said DR.. Won Kleinsmid. but
for a serious Investigation of tolerated
and encouraged practices which every
where are shown to be those agencies
that contribute to he perpetuity and null
tiplication of the criminal class"
An artificial environment to enable the