davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1923-02-14
THE WAYS OF WASHINGTON
BY RILLIAM PICKETT HELM,

next twenty-five years, let us say,
more public building in the District
of Columbia than there has been since
1900"
That is a lot of building. AS we
recount the great structures which
now house the government, We must
! indeed be on the threshold of a gil
gantic public building boom If we
are to double our present structures
in twenty-five years.
is this building going to be fed
eral or private?" Mr.. Wood asked.
Mr.. Moore replied. 1T Is thirty eight
1yearS since a real department build
ing was completed In this town;
thirty-eight or forty years"
moth structure that houses the Inte-
rior Department. completed within the
past five or six years.
, 1T is very necessary to watch all
public building in Washington" Mr..
Moore continued, as If in answer to
this thought, 'or We shall find men
doing what the late Secretary of the
Interior did.
He got an appropriation for build
ing the geological survey building
the Interior Department in the build
ing. The building Is so big that
there is no landscape about tit oc-
icupies every bit of the space-and 1t
is too big building to have any
!where in the District of Columbia.
| 1T is absolutely a commercial office
| building. The bureau Of mines should
have been located out in the country,
and so should the geological survey,
where they could have plenty of land
to expand"
Mr. Dickinson asked about the two
white buildings back of the present
Agricultural building.
"These buildings are merely two
WINGS" Mr.. Moore replied: "The
plans contemplate new building
joining them"
Did you ever walk from one of
those buildings to the other? The
proposed new building will be COM
modious one.
The Treasury annex. next to Riggs
National Bank, in Mr.. Dickinson's
iopinion. is purely an office building
of the value of the site) cost about
five times the amount you really
should put into an office building.
He asked if we could not get away
from such massive structures simply
i for office use. Mr.. Moore agreed
heartily.
'But that building" Mr.. Moore con-
Itinued, lis part of the frame OF the
white House.
"All three sides of Lafayette Square
should have monumental buildings
There should be a State Department
building, containing with other things,
rooms for the entertainment Of foreign
visitors.
"The Treasury annex is a part OF
/ that scheme. Only one-third of the
contemplated building has boon con-
structed. The completed building will
extend to H street"
And when it does, of course the
Belasco Theater, the Dolly Madison
house (now occupied by the Cosmos
Club and the intervening buildings
will be raZed to make way for the
lnewer structure.
Mr.. Moore and the representatives
were not just passing pleasant half
hour in day dreaming. They were
talking business and talking officially
Their remarks were printed and dis
!tributed by the government. The oc-
i casion happened to be meeting OF
the appropriations subcommittee and
remarks quoted above may be found
on pages 427, 42S and 42s of the
printed hearings on the appropriation
bill for independent offices for the
coming fiscal year.
Evening star., 1923-02-14

the public school force was estab-
lished. Since then various changes
have been effected, but always by
means of the appropriation acts from
time to time as occasions have arisen.
The need Of changes has been great In
the sixteen years. Conditions IN the
schools and general conditions have
altered materially in that period. Now
1t Is proposed to write a new substan-
the successive school salary changes
effected by the appropriation acts with
adjustments to bring the system up to
the point of present-day requirements.
In consequence Of the process Of
amendment by appropriation acts the
school pay system Is at present incon-
sistent in many respects, and various
inequities have grown out Of the need
Of administrative adjustments as a re.
suit. This now-pending measure,
which needs but House action to put
1t in conference stage, and, therefore,
in the way of final enactment before
March 4, will give the school system,
with little increase in the total appro-
priations at present, a carefully bal.
anced pay scale, with increases as.
sured to officers and teachers who have
for long time been working with in
adequate compensation. Under the
House committee amendments one in.
advertent injustice Of the Senate bill
will be corrected. AS the bill was first
passed certain teachers for whose
benefit the measure was framed would
actually lose money for the next five
years. Under the proposed amend
ment this moderate increase of Az
per cent will begin at once.
If only to effect the passage Of this
bill and its submission to conference
with good chance for its final enact
ment at this session, another District
day should be granted in the House.
This meritorious bill should not be
permitted to die for lack of attention.
Evening star., 1923-02-14
Constitutional Change Complexes.

While there is no assurance that the
joint resolution to amend the Consti-
tuition by changing the dates for the
meeting of the newly elected Congress
and for the inauguration of the Presi-
dent will pass both houses at the pres
ent rapidly waning session, the fact
that the upper house gave its assent
with little debate and with no dispoSi-
tion for delay signifies that congress
sional sentiment is strongly set for the
proposed change.
According to the proposed amend
ment, as it was approved yesterday by
the Senate, the Congress chosen in
November will assemble the first Mon
day of the following January. It will
organize and, presumably, act as the
canvassing board for the electoral
votes and render the verdict within
the next fortnight. On the third Mon
Gay in January, two weeks after the
houses have thus met, the President
is to be inaugurated, and his term of
four years will begin from that day.
In practical effect, as the amend
ment is now worded, these changes
will not affect the terms Of members
OF Congress or Of the President and
Vice President elected before the final
ratification Of the amendment. Thus
immediate adoption by Congress and
ratification by the states within eight
cen months would not. bring about a
January inauguration in 1925, though
st might effect January assemblage
Uf tho Con9rass elected in November,
Evening star., 1923-02-14

1924. That is, ratification effected be-
fore November, 1924, would result in
a January-meeting Congress. but not
a January-inaugurated President, for
the present presidential term does not
expire until March 4, 1925.
If this amendment Is adopted by
Congress, and ratified within the next
year and half-that is-before the
November election In 1924-the term OF
the newly chosen President and Vice
President will not be four years. but
three years and a little less than
eleven months. They would be in.
augurated March 4, 1925, and quit Of
flee on the third Monday in January,
1929. Similarly, members of Congress
elected in November. 1929. the now
sitting members, will remain until
March 4, 1925.
Now comes a complication. What
Of the senators whose terms do not
expire until March 4, 1929, those elect
ed in November, 1922? Suppose the
amendment Is ratified before the next
congressional elections. Senators are
chosen to take their seats in January,
1925, to retire six years later, 1881.
The Sixty.ninth Congress will meet in
January, 1925, and will supposedly end
on the eve Of the first Monday in Janu.
ary, 1927. The Seventeen Congress
will meet in January, 1927, and will
cease on the eve of the same day in
January, 1929. But there are certain
senators, elected in November, 1922,
who cannot be retired until March 4.
1929. Others must be elected the No
vember preceding to take their places
in March or to overlap in service be-
tween January and March. Thus the
Seventieth Congress will consist Of a
newly elected House and a partly
soon.to-retire Senate. For the pro.
posed amendment does not apply to
the terms of senators or representa-.
tives already elected.
1t is not an easy thing to change the
federal schedule. This amendment
looks simple, but in analysis and pros
pective practice it seems to be de-
cidedly complex. Possibly these COM
plexities, one of which has just been
pointed out. will give pause in Con-
gress before final approval and the
amendment is submitted to the legisla-
lures for ratification.
Evening star., 1923-02-14
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.

hey should not pass. A roly-poly,
5ovial, priest-like sort of Frenchman.
who twirls his eyeglasses on a string
In MS pensive moments. The ideal
wearer of the velvet glove that en-
cases the hand of iron. A believer to
the depth of his marrow in the right
and might Of France, and determined
to impose her will. Suave, concili-
atory, gentle and just, but granite at
the psychological moment. Never had
France a soldier who was 80 much
the right man in the right place as
Degoutte in the Ruhr.
II X x4
Representative Richard Yates. con-
gressman-at-large from Illinois. for
mer governor of that state and him
self the son of its famous civil war
governor, was in lively demand this
year, as usual, for Lincoln day
speeches. His father was a boon COM
panion Of the Great Emancipator.
Representative Yates is fond of re-
calling, doubtless on the testimony
of his paternal ancestor, that Lincoln
was an tnveterate office-seeker in the
days before he became President. In
Sangamon county and in Illinois.
and in the city of Springfield, "Old
Abe" ran, or tried to run, for nearly
every public position in the voters
gift. None, it would appear, was con-
sidered beneath his dignity, and he
aspired to many in vain.
X 4 X X
A cabinet officer, discussing with
the present writer Senator Brookhart's
recent prediction that Congress one
day would be run" exclusively by
blocs and on the bloc system. ven
tured to suggest a brand-new sort
Of bloc. 1t was already in existence,
he said. 1t had many members. 1t was
bipartisan and non-partisan. 1t
played no favorites. 1t had few scru-
pies 1t had everything, in short, the
cabinet minister averred, except a
name. So he christened 1t. He called
it Tho Malice Bloc"
*** +
American lumbermen on the Pacific
coast recently presented Thomas Sam
mons, United States consul general
at Melbourne, Australia, with the tall
est f1agpole in the world. 1t is nearly
200 feet long. AS Mr.. Sammons pre-
sides over no American official prem
ises where the giant could be suitably
set up, he decided to bestow the flag
pole upon the Australian government.
1t was first put up adjacent to the
federal buildings at Melbourne and
the Stars and Stripes f1oated over Aus
tralian official territory for the first
time in the commemorative history.
Later Australia decided to transfer
the flagpole to Canberra. the new
capital, situated approximately mid
way between Sydney and Melbourne,
but 1t could not be transported with
out cutting it into pieces. Therefore
the pole recently was shipped to the
entrance to Sydney harbor. at kirri-
billi Point, where 1t can be seen far
out to sea Its tiptop light at night
will be the first land signal to be
sighted by all vessels, both from the
United States and elsewhere.
(Copyrght 1921
Evening star., 1923-02-14
Replies to Mr.. Wiley on French in Ruhr.

the use Of the trenches during the
war? Does Mr.. Wiley know France
charged this government for the land
where this government erected con-
crete wharves? Does Mr.. Wiley know
that France charged this government
for transportation of our troops? Can
Mr.. Wiley state one noble, generous
act France did for this government
during the war and up to the pres
ent? - =
The French Ambassador Jusserand
in an address, said if the Germans
would only say they are sorry the
French would melt! Does Mr.. Wiley
agree with this statement, and would
the French troops melt-or be washed
out Of the Ruhr on pillows of their
own tears? Does Mr.. Wiley doubt the
word of American correspondents that
the French have colored troops in
Germany and German women are
forced by the French in command to
put up with the outrageous actions
OF these poIpred troops? 800
MARY JEANNEFrE WHITE
Evening star., 1923-02-14
Bonar Laws Warnings.

Opening of the British parliament
yesterday was attended with more
than usual interest because of two fac
tors, the definite beginning of the new
ministerial regime in legislative pro-
gram, and the disclosure Of the atti-
tude of the government at London in
respect to the two delicate situations
abroad, the Ruhr and the near east.
Premier Bonar Laws speech. follow
ing that of the king. was in a way a
warming, first to France, that the al
lance would not necessarily be main
tanned If events in the Ruhr make it
necessary for England to withdraw
her troops from the Rhineland: second
to Turkey, that, despite any war
WEAKNESS England might feel. conflict
to maintain the status quo in that area
will not be avoided.
Bonar Law did not go so far as to
define the possible cause Of with.
drawal from the Rhine. Either France
or Germany, he said, may make 1t i'm
possible for England to maintain her
forces. Further conflicts between the
French and Germans, such as at Gel
senkirchen, where lives have been lost
and reprisals have been undertaken.
are doubtless In this category OF pos.
sible causes. The premier went so far
as 70 say that withdrawal would be a
great misfortune, for It would mean
the end of the entente.
Apparently there was no coupling OF
the two situations. the Ruhr and the
near east. Mr.. Bonar Law did not sug-
gest that a breach Of the entente over
the Ruhr would lessen England's re.
sponsibility in the Turkish crisis.
Thus there may be an entente in the
near east, while it dissolves in Ger
many. The premier, it Is to be noted,
declared his belief that Turkey will
sign the treaty proposed rather than
fight.
Without doubt the ministry will now
be attacked for it's foreign policies, and
it Is perhaps quite willing to stand the
brunt of such an onset in parliament,
which would serve, in some measure,
to lessen the pressure upon 1t on the
score of the domestic situation. which
remains delicate. The laborites, who
occupy a strong minority position, are
not concerned in foreign affairs, so
long as they do not react upon the In
dustrial conditions at home. They
want the unemployment problem
solved, living conditions improved,
wages raised and advance made to-
ward economic stabilization. II the
Georgeites concentrate upon the for
eign situation they are better equipped
to set the pace in parliament, leaving
the laborites to trail with occasional
openings for attack. 1t Is obviously
not the policy of the Georgeites to play
into the labor party's hands by making
domestic conditions the prime issue.
for on such questions their record Is
not so good from the labor point OF
view as to relieve them Of RESPONSE
bility and attack. Thus the present
strength of the ministry lies in the
fact that it faces an opposition divided
in interest.
Evening star., 1923-02-14

Washington Is the most beautiful
city In the United States. in the opin-
ion of the chairman of the Fine Arts
Commission. Charles Moore. but it is
to become yet more beautiful.
Mr.. Moore was talking the other
day with group Of representatives
about the future of the city. Among
them were Messrs. William r. Wood.
Edward H. Wason and L. j. Dickin-
son.,
Representative Wood agreed with
Mr.. Moore.
washington Is a beautiful city.
Mr.. Wood said. but 1t would be still
more beautiful II you would devote q
little of your time to cleaning up
Pennsylvania avenue"
"All right" responded Chairman
Moore, 'let us get those street car
tracks relocated on Sd street. clean
out this place in front of the Capitol
and then go to work and clean up the
Avenue"
What do you mean by relocating
the street car tracks on Sd street.?
Mr.. Dickinson asked.
Take the tracks away from In
front of the Capitol and make the
Botanic Garden really part Of the
Capitol grounds, as originally in
tended"
where would you put the street
car tracks?''
Back on Sd street. Then let them
come on up Sd street and make 1st
street practically part of the Capitol
grounds. That would be much
cheaper for the trolley companies
because they now have two circles
they have to go around"
Sounds rather ambitious, doesn't it.
Bue the Fine Arts Commission chair
man has more to tell.
What would you do with the space
between the present Capitol grounds
and the Grant monument" asked Mr.
wason. would you have that pub
lie highway
THAT would be controlled in the
same way as the drives in the Capt.
tol grounds"
"It would be Capitol driveway"
yes"
Mr.. Wason remarked that the great
est disappointment to a stranger COM
ing to Washington was the appear
ance of Pennsylvania avenue. MI
Moore agreed.
'.What 1 meant" Mr.. Wood went on
"was to get rid of these unsightlJ
buildings on Pennsylvania avenue
because, if 1 understand correctly, the
original scheme was to have all the
ground on each side of the Avenue
occupied by office buildings, so thai
there would be one grand avenue te
the Capitol"
All of which led Mr.. Moore to re.
mark that the original plan provided
for a mall with government struc'
lures on each side; that on the north.
ern side of the mall there would be
no private structures, but public ofhce
buildings to Pennsylvania avenue. ;,
The northern side Of Pennsyiyana
avenue, under the plan. would be
available for private building. Ant
then the chairman of the Fine Arts
Commission made this slsnlncah'
statement: A..
I'VE are going to have within the
Evening star., 1923-02-14

DR.. Baltasar Brum, president OF
the Republic of Uruguay. who has
just formulated a plan for q pan
American league of nations. will re-
tire from Office in a fortnight, at the
completion Of his four-year term in
the presidency. Formerly Uruguayan
secretary of state. DR.. Brum is one
OF the youngest men who ever
achieved the chief magistracy Of his
country. being only thirty-nine years
old today. He is of Portuguese
Brazilian origin, despite the Teutonic
aspect Of his surname. DR.. Brum
is divorcee, and took public occasion
to say he will not marry again. The
constitution of Uruguay does not
permit retiring president to aspire
TO the office a second time until
after lapse Of eight years Brum
visited the United States. while
secretary OF state, in 1918. He Is q
progressive in politics and an ardent
champion of unrestricted interna-
tional arbitration. Treaties to that
end were signed by Uruguay with
Great Britain, France and Italy.
BRUINS successor in the presidency is
Senor Serrato, a bank president.
X X \ X
Unnoticed by his compatriots, ex-
cept philologists who observe such
things. President Harding has con-
tributed a new idiom to the Ameri-
can language. Ever since he put
"normalcy" on the map. Mr.. Hard
ing's excursions into unexplored rhe-
torical regions have been carefully
studied. 1t was in his recent message
on the British debt that the Presi-
dent spoke of the negotiated ad-
tustment being plight" against war
and wal, expenditures" We are ac-
customed to another and more de-
pressing thought when ordinarily we
talk Of a plight" though, when
used as a verb in connection with
lovers troth. the word has a sweeter
ring. There's a man in Washing
ton who. evidently like President
Harding, looks upon the dictionary
as wondrous realm crammed with
gems and treasure beyond the imag-
inings of folks who search It only
when in doubt how TO spell a word
He Is Wendell Phillips Stafford. as
of the District Of Columbia. Justice
STAFFORD. gifted poet. has composed
a brilliant ode to the dictionary. "All
the literature Of our language is in
that one book" says Stafford. "and
ANYBODY could write an immortal
work If he could put its contents to-
gether in the right order"
\
Pen picture, supplied by an Ameri-
can colleague on the peace confer
ence military commission, of Gen.
eral Degoutte, the master of the
Ruhr:
"A typical French general. Met the
Germans once before in a decisive en-
gagement, when he repulsed them on
the Chemin des Danes, on the road
to Verdun, which the French vowed
Evening star., 1923-02-14
To the Editor of The Star

To the Editor of The Star:
Will your paper publish this answer
to w. H. Wiley's communication in
your paper Of Tuesday night?
ask Mr.. Wiley if he does not know
France forced war on Prussia in 1870.
Before that, does he know that, on
what was then considered good au-
thority, the French sent their Ambas-
sador Bennedita to the Prussian gov
ernment, suggesting war be made on
Belgium and Luxemberg, so France
could annex these two countries?
This act has never been denied by the
French government Did not France
seize Nice and Savoy from Italy when
Italy was not in a position to offer
defense? Now France wants to seize
the Ruhr section of Germany. This
was arranged for with Russia in 1917,
before Russia became soyietized.
Docs not Mr.. Wiley know france
charged tMt government rental for
Evening star., 1923-02-14
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILASDER JOHNSON.

Psychology and the Valentine.
To a psychologist I spoke.
He brought me strange surprises.
Each sentiment seems but a joke
Since hearing his surmises.
The love Of family and friends
Which I so dearly cherish
Is but complex, he contends,
Which nature won't let perish.
When I indite valentine
To her Of my affections,
What I supposed were thoughts o1
mine
Prove mere world-old reflections.
Oh, Cupid, let your quiver fall!
Although the statement vexes,
This "love" is made up, after all,
OF affects and refiexes.
Evening star., 1923-02-14
The School Paw Bill.

1t is especially to be desired that the
District shall have another day in the
House this session. Certain legislation
Is awaiting action that is Of prime i'm
portance. One Of the bills which has
come from the House District commit
tee. and which, it Is expected, will be
put forward on the next occasion. Is
the measure, known as the teachers
salary bill. already passed by the Sem
ate and amended by the House com.
mittee.
In respect to this measure 1t should
be noted that it is the first move for
establishing statutory pay basis for
the teachers that has been made since
1906. In the so-called organic act
passed IN that year q scale Of pay Tor