Evening star., 1923-08-15
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL y. COLLINS

"I want a young man who Is In
telligent. but who knows nothing
| about SIAM" declared President
! Cleveland 10 two North Carolina SEN
ators who were demanding that he
send a gunboat to lombard the CAPT
/ tai Of Slam, because his royal high
ness had wrongfully segregated Ger
! tain mahogany timber land belonging
to an American missionary
Just then in walked a young man
from Oregon, who had been publish
ing a democratic paper in Portland.
He had been spending some weeks
| in the Capital to secure appointments
to office for certain well-deserVing
Oregon democrats. These off1ce-see ek :
ers could not rely on the oregon
senators or representatives, for none
| of them were democrats. 80 they had
sent this young publisher. John Bar
rett. He had completed his mission
and had now called to say good-oye
considerate of his recommendations.
Barrett, what do you know about
Slam" demanded Mr.. Cleveland.
siam? Oh, Mr.. President | know
all about Siam; that, Is where Siamese
twins come from"
Thereupon President Cleveland ap-
pointed this wise young man to be
minister to the kingdom of Siamese
twins. And he bachelor!
Minister Barrett substituted arbi-
| tration in place Of the senatorial gun
boat bombardment, and in the arbf-
tration won all claims for the mis-
sionary. But he never met the twins.
A** X
Now another American is to go to
Siam-Prof. Sayre. who teaches inter-
national law in Harvard College. He
| Is a son-in-law of former President
Wilson. He is to become the adviser
to the king on international relations.
1t Ia alleged that he already knows
more about Siam than his distin-
guished predecessor did. when ap-
pointed, but perhaps his knowledge is
| not confined to twins or mahogany.
| The population of Siam is about
equal to that of New York city
over 100000.
sands of negroes have migrated from
southern states to the north. They
have been attracted by the high
wages offered in factories and in
building enterprises, and in some
cases by the reputed better living
conditions The migration has been
so extensive that it has caused eco
nomic embarrassment in the labor
situation in some parts of the south.
Archbishop Joseph ]. Higgs. D. D.
(colored), speaking at Howard The
ater last Sunday, deprecated this MI
grafton. He warned the negroes that
the task of making new friends In
Lar ,fS7rN cur
customs. would hinder the general
progress of the colored race" Unless
the migration Is slowed down." he
said. the work Of fifty. years would
be completely wiped out"
X X y X
Does not whatever applies to the
colored immigrant also apply to all
immigrants? immigration appeals. as
a rule, mainly to the imaginations
Of the most ambitious, who stand
ready to combat the nandicaps Of un-
familiar conditions. immigration
does not always develop sturdiness
of character, but the sturdy char
CRATE, seeking new opportunities.
The fact that they have cut loose
from lifelong conditions Is somewhat
like the influence Of finding oneself
In deep water Wnere one must
sink or swim"-and by heroic ef-
fort he swims.
y X X X
The last generation had it's blood
curdling sensation In the stories about
how the Ancient Order of Free and
Accepted Masons was numbering all
those who betrayed the secrets Of Ma
sonry. The preposterousness of the
tale gradually CAUSED IT to die out
Not many years ago there were aimi-
lar stories about the Knights of Co.
lumbus. detailing how they were