davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1923-03-01
The Alley Emergency.

With so few hours remaining of
the present session of Congress and
of the Congress itself, many worthy
measures press for attention and
mutually conflict in their demand for
consideration. There is one bill. how
ever, that should be given especial
attention. for it is designed to meet
before the gavel falls it will leave a
deplorable and most distressing con-
dition here in Washington.
This bill provides for an extension
Of the time for the closing and vaca-
ton of dwellings in alleys in this city.
Under the terms of the law, enacted
several years ago and subsequently
extended. some 5000 houses in alleys
must be vacated by. June l next.
These dwellings,, which are In a very
bad state of repair, owing TO the pros
pect Of their vacation and loss of rev.
enue from them as residences. house.
it is estimated between $4,000 and
$1,000 people. If this law takes effect
on the 1st of June all of these people
will be thrown out of their homes, and
there has been no provision for them
elsewhere.
There is nobody to blame for the
failure to provide proper homes for
these people. Earnest efforts have
been made by organizations and by
individuals to secure money for the
construction of substitute housings.
But the funds have not been forth
coming and in the conditions that
have prevailed. with prices far beyond
normal, it has been impossible to meet
more than a slight fraction of the re-
quirement. Hope was at one time en-
tertained Of municipality aided
project of construction, but for that
no authority has been given and none
seems likely. These housings must
be provided for through private enter
prise. possibly philanthropically in
spired.
Two propositions are pending in
is known as the Commissioners bill,
which extends until November IA,
1924, the date for the vacation Of the
alley houses. The other, a substitute,
provides three zones" Of vacation, or.
rather, periods. Under it one-third of
the alley dwellings would be closed
on the 1st of June next, another third
a year later and the last a year from
that date. BY the Commissioners bill
all will be vacated within seventeen
and one-half months from June next.
Under the substitute bill all will be
vacated within twenty-four months
and most of them within twelve.
In the circumstances it is earnestly
to be urged that action should be had
on one or the other of these bills.
Failure to act means the eviction of
nearly $4,000 people from homes
which, though poor, though in many
respects insanitary, though so located
as to be breeders Of crime and vice,
are, nevertheless. the only shelter
that they possess.
Evening star., 1923-03-01
Clubs.

Comment is often made on the in.
crease in the number Of clubs in
Washington and the growth Of their
membership. It Is remarkable. but
there Is g reason, and SO far as one
can Judge by human standards the
generations ago all men were COM
menting on the growth Of fraternal
or benefit associations in America,
and Americans were often humorously
spoken Of as a nation Of "j'iners." The
instinct for timing" was a good one,
and the great majority Of those or.
ganizations proved their worthiness in
encouraging charity, thrift. friendship
and other virtues. In other days a
club was generally a group Of men
called together for various forms Of
diversion and for good fellowship"
which usually meant a good deal Of
Iibatfon. The modern club stands for
something better. There are clubs Of
and for men and women. and "good
fellowship" and good sistership. with.
out drinking, seem to be the incidental
rather than the chief aim. One of
their big aims seems to be intellectual
Improvement Of members and the do
ing Of good deeds for non.members.
One gets this note in tho news at
holidays and at times OF especial
stress among the poor. In the news
papers one finds accounts Of the dis.
tribution Of gifts among children and
Evening star., 1923-03-01

OF baskets Of provisions among the
poor. Again, all these new-style clubs
seem to go in for instruction in seri-
GUS subjects. Persons who are authori-
ties in their fields appear before the
club, and club members in their turn
speak on matters in which they are
particularly we'll informed. So 1t
seems that the modern club in Wash
ington, and no doubt in other cities,
partakes Of the nature OF the old
fashioned mutual improvement So
ciety" of town and village and Of the
equally old-fashioned lecture lyceum,
each Of them a valuable institution.
The modern city clubs. those that are
conspicuous in the newspapers. seem
to be on higher mental and moral
plane than most of those associations
of men which were called clubs in the
long ago.
Evening star., 1923-03-01
Force of Public Opinion Must At
feet Labor Board.

The decision of the Supreme Court
in the Pennsylvania railroads dispute
with the Railroad Labor Board, in
which the authority of the latter to
enforce decisions is denied. although
it was sustained in its publicity con-
tentions. has directed attention anew
to reorganization suggestions. There
seems to be a general opinion that,
in view of the changed conditions in
the railway labor world, the arbitra-
ton functions which the Chicago or
ganization admittedly possesses will
be ample to make II function proper
ly so long as public opinion backs it
up.
"The decision of the court does set
up the Labor Board as an arbitration
tribunal of extensive influence" says
the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Its
function. according to the court. is
that of promoting cooperation be-
tween railroad executives and rail-
road labor to the end that the trans
portation systems of the nation may
be operated in the public interest.
AS we have said before, however,
some reorganization of tho board that
will bring the agencies controlling
railroad income and railroad expendi-
ture closer together and VIII elimi-
nate from the board those represent
atives who approach every question
from the point Of view of the advo-
cate rather than that of the judge Is
desirable" The decision will be
helpful in the future" the Canton
News is convinced. because it calls
for "co-operation in running the rail
roads. That is exactly what is need
ed" But while this decision on one
point strengthens the position of the
board in the matter of suggesting
how representatives shall be chosen
to negotiate wage scales" the Will
Transport Sun is convinced "it does
not solve the problem Of how deci-
sions Of the board can be enforced
and disputes between the railroads
Some action which will lead to en-
forcement of the boards decisions is
necessary" The Philadelphia Record
argues that the board cannot pre-
vent strikes, and cannot even outlaw
a strike. But it's right of investiga-
ton and decision may be influential
and therefore useful. 1t can assist
of the controversy. educate public
opinion and have considerable weigh,
with both the companies and the
unions. 1t Is quite possible that the
fight Of last summer was not in vain
AS moral influence there are still
possibilities of usefulness in the
board, and we believe neither COM
panies nor unions will be quite as
ready again for a trial of strength
as they were last year"
In addition, the decision emphasizes
"the necessity that the board be given
Evening star., 1923-03-01
EDITORIAL DIGEST

power to enforce its decisions the
Waterbury Republican holds, in in
dorsing the plan to abolish 1t alto
gether and combine II as division
of the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion. But it is the opinion of the
Chattanooga. News that before any
such action is taken the changed ma
tional labor situation be considered.
inaSmuch as 'ndtion-w wide concert of
action SENS to have been abandoned,
both by the roads and their employees,
following the strike of last summer.
Negotiations between ii road and its
employees are now confined to the i'm
mediate system concerned. Contracts
are made accordingly. The brother
hoods seem also to have adopted this
plan" Regardless of the fact that
the decision shows "the board has no
power to enforce its rulings" the
Mobile Register argues that the de-
ctsion strengthens the influence of
the board and clears the atmosphere
Of the confusion that has existed in
regard to its functions" If lit were
given teeth" as has been suggested.
the Baltimore News feels that lit
might have more direct power but
it would be vastly restricted to its
use. Without teeth the power which
it has can be used almost autocrati-
cally. The effect of this, supposing
that the board survives and conse-
quently gradually attracts to itself
the authority of tradition, can scarce
ly be forecast. If the principles
underlying the board live and are
extended it may be necessary to de-
velop an entirely new theory of ad-
ministrative government"
1t should be remembered, the Proyi-
dence Journal insists, that the board
gets certain new moral standing
under the decision and should enjoy
an added prestige henceforth through
the definite permission accorded it TO
employ publicity as lever in the
furtherance of it's plans" 1t equally
is certain. as the Boston Transcri pt
sees 1t. that while decisions of the
board may not "be the best that
could be reached. the court decides
that resistance to its decisions will
hereafter be made in the light of full
publicity and the parties disregard
ing the judgment given will be called
upon to justify their action before
the bar of public opinion or to face
that hostile sentiment which on occa-
sion can prove so powerful" Dis
agreeing with this argument, the ST.
Louis Post-Dispatch characterizes
the outcome as "a Labor Board de-
feat" to which the Chicago News
rejoins that this significant decision
should enhance the prestige of the
board and lessen opposition to 1t
from every quarter"
The Duluth News Tribune replies to
both opinions by insisting that
whether the decision will strengthen
the board or end its usefulness will
be determined by developments. 1t
will strengthen its position If an
enlightened public opinion gets be-
hind the decisions of the board and
supports them vigorously. It will
weaken that position If the board
fails to win public confidence. If the
public backs the Labor Board both
nj Nd
very carefully before they flout its
Haci oion9o
Evening star., 1923-03-01
A Street Car Fare INQUIRY.

A full inquiry by special commit
tee of the Senate into the question
Of street car fares in the District is
proposed in a resolution which, hav-
ing received the approval Of the Dis
trict committee and the committee on
contingent expenses, Is likely to be
adopted. This committee will, under
its directions, investigate the financial
situation of the street railway cor
porations operating here to determine
whether the rate Of fare as now
charged is equitable. 1t will, in short,
review the work of the Public Utilities
Commission in fixing the rate on the
basis Of the earning power of the
corporations.
Such an inquiry will probably be
helpful in setting at rest definitely all
questions relating to the Righteousness
Of the present street car rates, which
means the fullness and fairness Of
the inquiry by the Utilities Commits.
sion into the valuations Of the prop.
erty Of the corporations. This select
committee may take issue with the
Utilities Commission on the score Of
the valuations. Everything turns upon
Sba dctual money investment of the
owners Of the lines. 1t is contended
that the less affluent Of the two cor
porations cannot in the present con.
ditions earn sufficient gross revenue
from the former rate Of fare-six
tickets for a quarter or s cents
straight-to meet the fixed and over
head charges and operating expenses
and make any profit. 1t is contended
by citizens, though denied by the COM
pany, that the other corporation can
make a profit at the old fare. It
undoubtedly makes a larger profit now
out Of the present rate Of fare than
the company Of larger mileage, heavier
expense and proportionately less re-
munerative service.
The select committee Of the Senate
is likely to find, as the Commissioners
found. that the street railway situa-
ton In the District IL bad because Of
the differing financial conditions Of
the twe corporations. and that In a
Evening star., 1923-03-01
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERICK WILLIAM VILE.

DR.. Hubert Work, who becomes
Secretary of the Interior on March
4, has world war record Of which
the public is not generally aware.
He served at Maj. Gen. Crowder's
elbow in the provost marshal's Office
In 1917 and 1918, in charge Of the
hysical-examination system under
which Uncle Sam sent his mighty
legions Of at" young men into the
fray. After leaving the service with
the rank of colonel, DR.. Work VOL
unteered for duty at republican ma
tional headquarters and became VIII
II. Hays indefatigable collaboration
in "organizing victory in 1920. 1t
was the estimate Hays came to place
upon Works ability and depend
ability that caused the former to
name the Coloradan first assistant
Hays retired he urged President
Harding to appoint Work as his sue
cessor, and the promotion Work has
Just earned is a tribute to the es-
teem in which he is held at the White
House as administrator and cabinet
on an extensive scale. He knows the
problems of the great west from long
contact with them.
X X x X
Once upon time this observer
asked a well informed authority what
three men Warren G. Harding would
chiefly depend upon in an emergency
involving either his personal fortunes
or high politics. The answer was:
Harry Daugherty. John Weeks and
Harry New" Well all three Of them
now sit at the cabinet table. New
was wanted there from the outset
He would have been there on March
=; 1921, had he not looked upon re-
election to the Senate as a certainty.
The President has limitless confidence
In the Hoosier's sagacious counsel
and true-blue faithfulness. Indiana
political foes had about as much
chance OF wrecking News status
with Mr.. Harding as they would have
In attempting to muff1e the roar of
Niagara. The Harding-New intimacy
is geographical. professional and po-
iitical in origin. The men long have
been border neighbors in Ohio and
Indiana: both are newspaper men.
and each has been carrying water
in and for the G. o. p ever since
they were able to hoist il.
III there were anything in pride of
origination. France long ago would
have been on the road to the Perma-
nent Court of International Justice
with her rumpus in the Ruhr. For
IT was two Frenchmen. in the dim
and distant past. who first gave birth
TO the idea Of a world court of ar
bitral justice. The original patentee
was Pierre Dubois, who suggested in
the year 1905 precisely the kind of
tribunal set up in 1922 by the league
of nations. In 1923 another Gaul.
Emeric Cruise, devised a plan corre-
spending in essential detail with ar
ticle HN111 of The Hague convention,
providing for pacific settlement Of in
ternational disputes. John Bassett
Moore. the unofficial" American
judge now sitting OH the league court,
has tabulated that during the nine
teenth century there We're 1856 inter
national arbitrations. Only nineteen
occurred before 1850. indicating the
rapid growth in favor of arbitral ad-
1udication in cotemporary times.
x x \ y
William II. Moran. chief Of the
United States secret service. is a vet
Evening star., 1923-03-01

eran of that branch of the Treasury.
although his is still the sprightliness
Of dynamic youth. He Is completing
, his forty-first successive year in the
Sherlock Holmes division of the gov
| ernment, having entered it in 1882.
Although the public associates the
secret service almost exclusively with
detective work, shadowing, sleuth
stuff and other mysterious activities.
it's primary function Is to safeguard
the currency of the United States.
That is why. ever since the service
was instituted in the late eos. it has
been a division of the Treasury. In
tracking down the crooks who re-
Gently flooded the country. with coun-
terfeit money Moran and his men,
therefore. engaged In the practice of
their genuine and original profession.
"The chief" as his faithful suberdi-
mates fondly call him, was in person
al charge of the protective arrange
! ments for President Wilson through
out the latter's European journeys in
1918 and 1919.
X 4 X X
Beware the all-absorbing and faith
! full radio broadcasting apparatus, We
Of loose tongue! One night of recent
| date distinguished citizen of Wash
ington, having delivered a stirring
| message at a certain comm morative
meeting, was prevailed upon to repeat
/ it for the benefit of listeners in
| throughout the ethereal universe.
Having submitted, more or less grace
fully. he was conducted to a broad
purpose. He was not aware that
n inL a1 II
and sent on their way, for better or
| for worse. At any rate, he began
operations by neutrality-suspicious.
sciously to himself. IS he fancied-
body knew anything about it until
several days later when letters ar
] rived from the four points of the
compass complaining of the profanity
which had introduced Mr.. IS re-
cent radio performance.
Yankee tourists and business men
can't be frightened out of foreign trav-
| cling plans by rumblings or rumors OF
| war. The State Department issued
10.434 passports during the first seven
| weeks of the present year. compared
| TO II ,922 during the same period a year
ago. OF the round 201. 900 passports is
sued in 1922, the department estimates
that 20 per cent were for business pur-
poses 35 per cent for tourist purposes
and the rest for miscellaneous objects.
Passport experts figure, on the basis of
several years computation, that the
,, rush season in American traffic to for
eign shores sets in with the eighth
| week of the calendar year-the one just
ended.
In the Harding cabinet sits man
| who was graduated from university in
! the early sos. He had a disconcerting
experience while walking down 42d
/ street, New York. the other day. A
| weakened little old man approached
him and. calling him by name. ejacu-
! lated: you're e--, aren't you? When
| they were in college the decrepit little
| fellow was the champion athlete of the
varsity and renowned on every campus
| in the east. The cabinet minister In
those days WAS the frail one. The
twain reminisced. They soon discov-
cred that nearly all the big fellows and
strong men Of their day had died in
middle life. Nearly all of the weak
| lings,' like Mr.. Harding's coadjutor in
question. were alive. hearty and grace
] fully approaching old age.
Evening star., 1923-03-01
Col. Harvey on War Debts.

Inc processes OF George harvey,
American ambassador at the Court of
st. James. are not exactly of the va
riety which became known genera
tion ago as "shirt-sleeve" diplomacy.
but they lack nothing in directness
and plain speaking. Col. Harvey, in
fact. has indulged generously in plain
speaking before British audiences,
and, more to the point, he has made
them like it." Repeatedly he has
called a spade d spade, and instead of
bringing the structure of diplomatic
intercourse tumbling down with a
crash, relations between his govern
ment and the government to which he
is accredited apparently have been
strengthened and bettered in every
way.
Col. Harvey spoke again last night
in London at dinner given by the
Pilgrims in honor of Stanley Baldwin,
chancellor of the British eXchequer.
and in celebration of the funding of
the British debt to this government.
His speech was of the usual Harvey
esque brand, felicitous and freighted
with kindly feeling. but straight to
the point. Funding of the British
debt, he said, was d great deal more
than the largest financial transaction
in history, and more in it's significance
even than the first conclusive set
tlement of a really vital problem
since the armiStice. Ii bore with it
the enhancement of respect and, he
believed, the everlasting friendship of
the two great nations to which the
entire world looks for the preServa-
tion of solvency and stability which
are essential to the prosperity and
happiness of mankind. The United
Kingdom, he asserted, continues to
rest on the rock Of financial integrity
and national honor.
Then. having paid the British the
tribute which was their due, Col. Har-
vey took a shot at the fiction that
Great Britain did not really borrow
money from the United States, but
merely pledged her credit that loans
might be made to more needy allies.
and he referred to an official state
ment by the British government con-
veying that impression. He denied
that this government had asked Great
Britain to guarantee one cent of the
loans made to the other allies. and ex-
pressed the hope that at some suitable
time "the British government will,
with equal formality and no less ex-
plicitness, remove the misapprehen-
sion created by this unfortunate illu-
sion.''
Up to this point the ambassador
had been speaking to his British hear
ers, but in concluding his address he
enlarged his audience to include all
the governments which are indebted
to the government of the United
States. He assured them that the
United States "had no intention of
running the credit" of any govern
ment by canceling it's debts to this
country.
Evening star., 1923-03-01
BY THE MAnaUIsE DE FoNTENOY

Powis Castle, the principal country
seat of the Earl of Powis in Mont
gomeryshire-the Castle of Garde
Doloureuse" of Sir Walter SCOTS
novel "The Betrothed"-is about TO
surrender its wonderful literary
treasures. For the Powis Castle
library. relatively unknown, and
which for a strange reason, explained
below, has escaped the attention of
photographers, is to be sold through
Sotheby's in London three weeks
|hence-that is to say, on the Goth. 21st
and ed instant. The collection con-
tains many works of great rarity, in
cIuding the Shakespearean quartos.
the 1900 edition of THE Merchant of
Venice" and the 1922 edition of
"Othello" There are number of
exceedingly rare books of the tlf-
teenth and sixteenth centuries In
Welsh. But perhaps the volume
which appeals most to the imagina-
ton in the Forthcoming sale is
uuarto copy of the first edition OF
Millions "Comus," and of which the
first performances of the masque was
given under his supervision in 1854
by the children Of the first Earl OF
Bridgewater, lord president of the
council Of Wales. at Ludlow Castle.
his Official residence. 1t bears the
signature as well as a number OF
marginal notes of the great poet. IL
is understood that large bids Will De
made for this wonderfully interesting
COPY of "Comus" and for the snake
To-, hnll n
well known American collectors ana
that the treasures are deStined 10
cross the Atlantic.
!; X X
Powis Castle, formerly known as
Red Castle, being built of red sand
stone, is Of great antiquity, having
originally been the seat of Owen
IAp-Griffith, the last Welsh sovereign,
Prince of Powis-Gwenwyn.
The latter's descendants having be-
come extinct in the male line, the
castle passed through the distaff side
of the house to the Herberts, a junior
branch Of the great family of which
the Earl of Pembroke is the chief.
| There were Herbert Earl Of Powis,
also a Marquis of Powis, and even a
Duke Of Powis, who played an i'm
portant role at the Stuart court of
st. German after the deposition and
exile of James II. The great Lord
Gives son married the only sister
and sole heiress of the last of the
Herbert lords of Powis. and. on be-
coming through this union the owner
of Powis Castle and of all the landed
property connected Herewith, was
created Earl Of Powis of the present
| line.
Powis Castle Is huge baronial pile
| built on an eE1inence in the midst or
, very extensive and beautiful park,
and contains marvellous collection
| of Indian curios and relics brought
from the orient by the great Lord
Give. to whose victories the British
crown is so largely indebted for the
possession of it's mighty Indian en-
pire.
X H. II X
1t was this Lord Give, whose title
is borne today by his descendant. the
eldest son and heir of the Earl of
Powis. who, it may be remembered,
stormed and captured Calcutta and
| inflicted, condign punishment upon ITS
cruel ruler for the atrocity stili
known In history as the black hole
| of Calcutta"
II the literary treasures and collec-
tons of books and manuscripts OF
lPowis Castle escaped the attention