Evening star., 1923-01-10

The Post Office Department has been
caught mapping. 1t announced few
days ago that the appearance OF the
portrait of Martha Washington on a
new Accent stamp next Monday, Janu-
airy Is, would be the first time the
face Of a woman had been so honored
in the history of the United States
Post ONCE. Immediately the phiIa-
telists came! forward with a stamp
issued in 1902 bearing Martha Wash
ington's face, and one issued in 1893
bore the face Of Queen Isabella of
Spain. Strange that the experts of
both the Post Office Department and
the Bureau of Engraving and Print
| ing had completely forgotten the 1902
| stamp and neglected to check Up their
records.
However. it is more than a coinci-
dence that in all the history of Amer
team womanhood no woman stands
out in the same class of distinction
as Martha Washington. the wife of
the first President. If the Post Office
Department had renembered the 1902
stamp. what other woman would have
been selected in place of Mrs. Wash
ineton? Some months ago. at the
request OF a South American lady of
note, special committee of public
men was appointed to name the ten
leading women of American history.
The committee began it's work most
blithely, but what has become of it's
list?
What woman in our history stands
next to Martha Washington in promi-
nence? Is ii Susan r. Anthony who
was the r'oneer in women's rights of
n~
lard. thf pioneer of prohibition? Or
Clara Parton. who founded the Amer
ican Ped Cross Association? When
tthe nhxt stamp is set apart to the
honor of an American woman whose
face will appear upon it?
+ X X X
At the conference of women, called
by the Department of Labor, which
will meet in Washington this week
there will be a great assemblage of
representative women on behalf of
labor interests: also delegates from
the Daughters of the American Revo-
flutibn and the Federations of Wom-
ems Clubs and from church organiza- :
tiQns of all creeds. But there viii
bf no national officer representing the
women's party. because nothing in
serests the controlling officers thereof
unless it reiterates that women are at
least equal to men, (which nobody
can deny" Why. they are twice as
equal.
The biggest instance of locking the
stable door after the horse has been
stolen appears in the bill to be intro
duced in a few days by Senator
Brookhart to make stock dividends
illegal He claims that these are
subterfuges to avoid excess profits
taxes and income taxes. and he cites
a list of corporations prepared at his
request by the Federal Trade Com
mission after the Supreme Court had
ruled that there is nothing in exist
ing law to stop such evasion. In that
list he undertakes to show that com
panfes have declared dividends in
stock amounting to $500 per cent of
their original capitalization. and the
total of such dividends amounts to
more than s2.000.0 100000. The taxes
thereby sidstepped amount to hun
dreds of millions according to the
senator 1t is believed impossible to
make the proposed law retroactive.
K X K 4
Lothar witzke. the German spy who
was convicted in wartime of espion-
age and sentenced to die, but whose
sentence was commuted to imprison-
ment. subject TO parole in 1885. is
likely to be released through the in
tervention of the German ambassador.
It is argued that he is "the last of the
political prisoners" and therefore
ought TO be let go. The basis is not
accurate. for he is not the last of the
prisoners; and. even if he were, that
does not constitute grounds for Glenn
ency. Here is an opportunity to
test Germany's sincerity. Exchange
Witzke for Grover c. Bergdon. Two
of kind; Germany harbors one. we
hold the other; let's swap. Bergdoll
! is probably the last, or at least the
most conspicuous. cf the traitors
whose family acquired wealth in this
country only to use it to betray the
country. Why should America be
more lenient than Germany?
In confirmation of Keynotes' state
ment recently, that farmers cause
their own freight bills to swell by
not cuIling their potatoes before ship
ment, and grading or cleaning their
grain and other shipments, comes
now a statement from the Depart
ment of Agriculture. published in its
weekly bulletin, Weather, Crops and
Markets: