Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02

quently recurring state Of mind
4 is irony. Irony is not good
thing to put into print very
freely. Each generation is entitled to
have faith in its own lawmakers. Any
generation tends to resent having its
lawmakers pointed out as futilely re-
pealing past experience, or going coun-
ter to 1t. Nevertheless, history does
show that much of what seems new is
actually ancient. It shows that much
of what now seems expedient has been
tried before.
Persons called "intellectuals" know
this. Knowing it, they tend to say so
more often than our patience can toll
crate. That is one reason why the in
| tellectualS have, on the whole, less
weight with us than it is desirable they
should.
One man who must experience a good
deal of irony in watching current
Of Ohio. He is scholar and knows
history. Not only written history.
Senator Burton has been in public life
so long that he has seen fully quar-
ter of our entire national history In
the making. Within his own lifetime
he has seen the wheel make the COM
plete turn more than once.
Has Seen Tariff Cycle.
Senator Burton has seen the tariff
revised downward-in the early eos, by
the Democrats-and few years later
he has seen the predicted all-good fail
to arrive. Then he has seen the tariff
revised upward, in 1897, by the Repub-
licans, and again he has seen the all
good fail to eventuate. Again, and yet
again, Senator Burton has seen the
wheel make complete round-tarif
revision upward by the Republicans,
in 1909; revision downward by the
Democrats, in 1913; revision upward by
the Republicans, in 1922, and SO on.
These complete revolutions have been
| seen by many men still alive, not only
as to the tariff, but as to currency.
taxation and many other subjects of
legislation and Of judicial decision. ct
is unfortunate, perhaps, to couple Sena-
tor Burton with any generalization
about irony, for as it happens he Is
man with well poised mind and a
hopeful heart, who retains the convic-
ton that the spiral, on the whole,
winds upward)
Need Exists Half Century.
President Hoover has just appointed
Commission on Law Enforcement, for
the purpose, with others, as expressed
in his inaugural address, that justice
shall be more swift, that the procedure
in Federal courts shall be Simplif1ed
and expedited.
In connection with President Hoover's
commission, read the following passage,
the earnest words Of President of the
United States:
"Abuse in the administration of our
! criminal law should be remedied a.. :.
! The notification of small and technical
offenses, especially under the provisions
! of our internal revenue laws liquor
laws], render some change in our pres
| ent system very desirable, in the inter-
est of humanity as well as Of economy.
| The district courts are now crowded
with pretty prosecutions. -"
| President Grover Cleveland, in the
year 1885, in message to Congress ex-
banded on 1.-The growth through Federal
| legislation of new kinds of minor GRIM
| inal offenseS"
Incidentally, the legislation asked by
President Cleveland was never passed;
| the changes urged by him were never
made. The need that he pointed out
in 1885 remains today. together with
| through A years, as the imperative ne
cesSity for the work President Hoover's
Commission on Law Enforcement has
| undertaken.
Had Young clippers" in 1886.
In this field of history repeating itself
the illustrations are many. For exam
pie, read the following passage:
THE Fairport IN " Woman's
Christian Temperance Union is now
much grieved over the fact that boys in
public schools are carrying TASKS of
liquor in their pockets. tempting the
ascertain where the liquor has been
! obtained have been unavailing. Does
not every mothers heart in the land
cry out?''
OF course that is, you say, a COM
ment on the evils of our present-day
prohibition. 1t is, you say Cat least you
say so If you are "wet'O, proof of
the troubles that have come upon us
since and because the eighteenth
amendment was adopted in 1919.
But, indeed, you are quite wrong.
That passage is copied from a periodi-
cal published on February 18, 1886,
The Union Signal" then the official
organ of the w. G. T. u, and recently
resurrected by the present organ, THE
w. G. T. U. Bulletin"
-, Here Is another passage which reads
like today's newspaper talking about
present-day prohibition. Actually, it is
summary Of news article In the
New York Tribune for May %, 1909, the
summary being printed in the Herald
Tribune's Twenty Years Ago Today"
column: ,
Mason Trowbridge, one of District
Attorney Jerome's young assistants,
spoke last night to a youthful audience
at Calvary Baptist Chapel. He asserted
that the City Of New York spent $25,- |
100000 year fighting the evils caused !
by rum and declared that if the saloons !
were voted out of existence in this |
State there would be reduction Of at |
least third in the number Of GRIM |
1nals, paupers and lunatics."
Rail Valuation Is Old Issue.
We had, just the other day, a deci- |
sion Of the Supreme Court about rail-
road valuation which ultimately will |
determine railroad rates. BY many who |
read the conmotion in the daily news |
papers doubtless the situation was re-
garded as new. But it was not new. |
Railroad valuation happens to be one
thing that has gone round the full
circle once, and is just now midway of
this subject will lead to understanding
OF several other aspects of current af-
fairs.
Most of the railroads were built in
the SOS and '70s. They were built with |
little dollars, for in that period follow
Ing the Civil War the dollar was worth
about so cents.
Presently, in the late 'e0s, the little
dollar grew to big dollar. Thereupon
the railroads took a position about
valuation. They wanted the railroads
valued at the number of dollars actually
spent to build them. They wanted at
that time the valuation of railroads to
be what is called actual Investment
that is, the number of dollars (little
dollars) actually invested
The State Of Nebraska land other
States) took different view. They
wanted valuation to be what they
called cost Of reproduction is,
the number of dollars lhig dollarsl |