Evening star., 1923-02-01
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL V.'COLLINS.

Maybe this 10 the reason why the
District OF Columbia is refused ad.
mission into the union Of free and
voting states: A ballot box was In
stituted to give the citisens an op-
portunity to yota upon the National
LIBERAL Alliances question of repeal
ms the eighteenth amendment to the
Constitution. and the vote. 90 far az
tabulated. indicates that about rs to
voters want the right to drink
wine and beer. That is such q pro-
portion as to indicate that if the
District were given the franchise. IL
might vote, some day. to suspend the
Constitution and substitute the arti-
cles of the confederation. or might
even repeal the Declaration Of Inde-
pendence and amend the Ten Com
mandments. 1t IL 80 very reactionary
that there Is some question as to
whether public sentiment demands
that Adam give back the apple to
Eve and all return to the Garden Of
Eden. A ratio of IS to Is what
might be termed landslide" ex-
cept that 1t Is attributed to the fact
that In nearly all churches the whole
scheme was condemned in advance,
as uncalled for, unreliable and un-
patriotic. and congregations were ad-
vised not to vote or recognize the
Liberal Alliance at all. The few dry"
votes which slipped into the ballot
evidently came from folks who had
not waited for the regular sermon
before taking their maps. They
''snored." AS test of public senti-
ment. the whole scheme is 8 Joke.
A young lady In Cuba tried to call to
her mother who was In Cleveland, Ohio,
and so she called loud and clear, but
the mother chanced to be not listening
and did not hear her daughter. Another
lady, away up in Alaska. did hear that
call. Think Of all the stretch interven-
ing between the Cuban starting point
and the Alaskan lady who heard, The
voice came across the water to Florida.
II sounded over the Allegheny noun
tain heights and across the Great Plains
clear up to the Canadian Rockies and
on and on. over the Rockies, into the
snow -mantled peaks and valleys of
Alaska-3.50o miles. The wonder of
wireless radio Is too marvellous. We can
not comprehend It. and even our grow
ing familiarity with its achievements
cannot lessen the wonder. The din Of
industry. the cry of the wolves and
bears upon TIE mountains cannot
drown it. Above the roars Of the tenn
pests Of the Arctic came the sweet.
musical voice Of the singer under the
tropic sun of Cuba. Doubt that miracles
have been performedi -All these things
shall ye do, and greater than these shall
ye do"
In the month following Safety week
IN Washington. exactly twice as many
victims were killed in trafic accidents
as In the corresponding month of last
year. The number of motor vehicles
had increased 81 per cent in that year;
hence If the fatalities had grown only
81 per cent It would have suggested
, that Safety week had failed. But when
they grow 100 per cent il shows more
than failure Of Safety week: it demon
strates that there Is something wrong
In the enforcement Of traffic rules OF
that the rules are Inadequate.
The police blame the leniency of the
courts In not imposing more Jail sem
tences. regardless of the social stand .
ing of the culprit. Forfeiture OF driver
license Is one OF the most drastic pun
fshn1ents. and an effort is to be made 10
get from Congress specifc authority for
such forfeiture. since the power to take
away such licenses has been questioned.
y Il ~
One cause Of trouble lies in the incon