davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1934-09-11
Protests Abandoning
The p Street Car Line
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star:
With respectful difference to the
present traffic planners. the proposed
wiping out of the street car line west
of Dupont circle and through the
center of Georgetown is very ques-
tionable procedure. The abandoning
of this line would impose much in
convenience upon large number of
people in this section of Washington.
The crowded cars, morning and eve
ming, on the P street line calls for an
increase, not decrease, in passenger
carrying facilities in this zone, and a
substitution of considerable num-
ber of busses, adding more unneces-
sary cost to both passenger and opera
tors, will not adequately meet the
popular demand.
With due regard to those who have
private cars, and those having a per-
sonal interest in bus lines, it seems
inconsiderate to overlook the majority
of residents who are dependent on the
safe and reliable street car service.
Buses will never satisfactorily take
the place of street railway service for
mass movement of passengers. They
have less freedom of space for en-
trance and exist.
Buses, having less space for pas
sengers, are crowded and stuffy at the
hours when men and women desire to
ride in comfort and arrive on time,
to and from their business.
The bus line fare is one-third more
than the street car token and affords
less convenience in transfers, thus re-
ducing the advantage of the weekly
pass ticket to both shopper and busi-
ness person.
Statistics show that, through a
term of years, there are far more ac-
cidents and personal injuries per pas
Senger mile on trackless conveyances
than on street rail service.
The P street line into the resident
Georgetown section is its main artery
of passenger service. Why not i'm
prove and make use of the present
car rail line instead of destroying it,
and adding the questionable expense
of a poor and undesirable substitute?
A fleet of busses will not solve the
traffic problem at any point, but will
merely confuse it.
THOMAS N. RORERTs,
Evening star., 1934-09-11
Bus Company and Merger Benefits

The Capital Transit Co. may be
perfectly correct in its argument that
any approved rerouting scheme should
take cognizance Of the future Of the
Washington Rapid Transit Co., which
runs the Sixteenth street and other
busses. But this does not necessarily
mean that the future of the Wash
ington Rapid Transit Co. should be
the future desired by the street car
company.
AS shown by the records, the pur-
chase price of the bus company in
1925 was $515,966, which was paid by
the North America Co. (Which owns
the controlling stock in the merged
street car company to Leon Arnold.
Without going into the details of the
bus company's later purchase by Har-
ley P. Wilson, and the arrangements
to have the merged street car COM
panies buy it from Mr.. Wilson, it re-
mains that the proposition today is to
have the Capital Transit Co. not only
buy the bus company at the 1925
price, but pay, in addition, 1927, ,253,
which represents the bus company's
Indebtedness. Operation of the bus
company since 1925 has not been a
particularly profitable undertaking.
The deal, as proposed by the Capital
Transit Co.. might benefit the North
American Co., as it would cover not
only that company's original invest
ment, but make up for losses since
the investment. But the Public
Utilities Commission, which must
approve the deal, is looking out for
the interests of the street car riders
If the newly formed Capital Transit
Co. shells out $S43,0OO for the bus
line, it means that the company has
Evening star., 1934-09-11

Dear Sir: What do you think of
the latest hats for women? Sincerely
Miss L. B."
Well, Miss B., what we think of
the new women's hats is what We
always think of women's hats, it
all depends upon the woman.
Some of 'em can wear EN-, and
some of 'em cannot, and that's that.
The trouble comes in when those
who really shouldn't, nevertheless do!
There isn't more than one woman
in a thousand, according to many
masculine critics, who ought to at
tempt one of these new fiat affairs.
At least 998 out of every 1000, how
ever, are willing to be strictly up to
date at all hazards.
X X
One may sympathize with women
in their eternal search for a be-
coming hat.
Men grab the first hats that come
handy, and let it go at that. They
may look themselves over, as they
try a new one on, but if it sits
comfortably, and looks half way de-
cent, they are satisfied.
Not so a woman.
She wants a hat that becomes
her, and nobody else's idea of be-
comingness shall have much to do
with it.
Especially the salesgirl's.
You look beautiful in that, dearie,''
says the saleSgirl.
The large fat lady, looking at her
self in the mirror, knows that she
does not look beautiful in the hat.
Yet she may buy it, after all.
Why?
The hat represents woman's attempt
to be herself.
She realizes that in hats she has
more choice than in most articles of
dress to achieve the perfect symphony
of herself.
That is the reason she puts so much
time upon this accessory.
If she searches long enough, she
feels, she still can find the one perfect
hat which is becoming to her, despite
the fact that the styles make her look
silly" as she says.
She believes two things, first, that
one of the prevailing styles may look
good upon her, after all: and, second,
if she finds none of them does, she
feels sure that she will find some other
type that will.
That hat is sheer romance to the
feminine mind.
This is because she realizes better
than most that the human faces is,
after all is said and done, the real me,
the real you.
When we think of another human
being, we think of the face, especially
its expressions.
It is not 20 much question of
beauty, really, even with a woman.
1t is a matter of appropriateness, of
bringing out the good points, and
shading the poorer ones.
This is beauty only in a sense.
Mostly it is comman sense as ap-
piled to a particular problem.
How becoming" means more than
just good looking. 1t indicates that
the wearer has some insight into her
own character, and somehow, even if
by chance, has managed to set it forth.
X X
No one would assert, least of all a
mere masculine observer, that every
woman who sits in front of mirror
in a hat shop consciously thinks Of
Evening star., 1934-09-11
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

all this, and definiately says to her
self, Now I am trying to fit my
soul, not my head"
No, she simply wants a becoming
hat. she says to herself, if she says
anything at all. The chances are
that she says nothing, but tries on
one hat after another, hoping at
last to find the dream which will
become her so well that every one
will recognize the fact-and turn
around and look at her.
Personality, as achieved by the
human head-that is the result of a
woman's hat properly selected. There
is, of course, a mighty field for error
here. The casual observer sees it on
every street. Matching hat shapes,
lines and colorS to ones mouth. eyes,
nose, hair, facial contours, and the
like, is not at all easy.
The prevailing pancake hats seem
to have been designed for certain
type of young woman, and, on that
type, look rather well, but it is ques-
tionable whether even all young
women can wear 'em, irrespective of
type, let alone older women.
X 4 X X
The fat type of hat is an un-
mistakable Hollywood touch. 1t be-
speaks world where all women are
young.
Since the remainder OF the world
makes no pretense to universal and
unfailing youth, but is rather forced
into admittance of the passing years,
it is not to be wondered at that
thousands of perfectly lovely women,
although not exactly Hollywood types,
find the selection of the hat difficult.
There ought to be, obviously, as
many kinds Of hats as there are
women, but such state of affairs
naturally never prevails and cannot
prevail.
The wearer must make the best
of what she finds, and in this enter
tanning pastime there is every chance
for a mistake.
X X
Time, that curious thing, has a
great deal to do with hat, especially
woman's hat.
Women know better than men how
funny-there is no other word for
it-a hat years old looks in its
sixth year.
Now why is this?
The hat is the same, the woman
may be almost the same.
Time has done something there,
worked another of its strange changes.
And many a husband, who has
particularly liked a certain hat upon
his wife, is amazed, some years later,
to find that it no longer looks good"
upon her.
So there must be something to
'style," after all, he is forced to
confess to himself. Time changes
and styles change But the roll of
time brings back old styles, to be in
style again. How does that come
about? Because time is an unknown
quantity. Style is an unknown
quantity. There is no telling what
time or styles will bring about, es-
pecially when it comes to women's
hats.
Try as the ladies will, in their
efforts to get becoming styles, they
cannot escape the influence of the
moment. That is what style means,
in the last analysis. While this in
fluence may seem bo be nothing but
caprice, basically there must be more
to it than that. 1t Is this ineScapable
ingredient that makes millinery
almost science.
Evening star., 1934-09-11
Life, Liberty, Property
Practically SYNONYMOUS
To tbe Editor of The Star:


Much is heard at the present time
about human rights and property
rights. The former are being exalted
in some quarters to the exclusion of
all other rights, while the latter are
being constantly disparaged, and their
very existence almost denied.
Life, liberty and property, as used
in the Declaration of Independence,
and in the constitutions of the
several States and that of the United
States, are practically synonymous.
Under these respective instruments
the right to acquire, own, and enjoy
property is entitled to the same pro-
lection as are the rights to life and
liberty. These rights are inherent in
man. They were not created by con-
stitutions and laws, but are simply
recognized therein and protected
from interference. These rights are
also inseparably related and inter
dependent.
Patrick Henry (and God be pleased
that more of his kind were alive
today preferred death to life without
liberty; but neither life nor liberty
can be enjoyed to the fullest extent
without property to maintain the
one and sustain the other in enjoy
able exercise
This was well expressed by Shylock
in THE Merchant of Venice" when he
said in response to the decree of the
Venetian court confiscating his prop
erty:
"You take my house when you take
the prop
That doth sustain my house; you
take my life
When you take the means whereby
I live"
Those who are differentiating be-
tween human and property rights to
the diSparagement of the latter show
lamentable ignorance of human
history, and deny the most vital and
fundamental principles of our in
stitutions, principles which are the
basis and support of our civilization,
or of any state of society in which
life is worth while.
ALEXANDER SIDNEY LANIER.
Evening star., 1934-09-11
Why ''Single Tax Plan
Is Not Really a Tax at All
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
So many single tax suggestions
creep into print that it seems worth
while to tell what it is all about.
Very few single-taxers seem to know
and If the professional economists
know, they are mighty careful not to
let the cat out of the bag.
A guinea pig isn't pig, hay fever
isn't fever and single tax isn't a tax
The fundamental idea would have
been better expressed by such a term
as equal rights" or "the natural
order" or individual independence. "
The movement contemplated employ
ment for all who wanted 1t. and the
abolition Of industrial slavery, by the
restoration Of natural rights. It con-
templated poverty, with all the mani
fold evils that flow from it, not as a
natural condition to which a vast
majority of our people were fore-or-
da1ned but as the result of an eco
nom1c wrong; the holding of land.
the field of all labor and the source
OF all sustenance and wealth, idle and
out OF use when there were thousands
OF hungry, homeless men that could
establish and maintain themselves on
1t just as Adam and Eve, the Pilgrims
and the pioneers did. Just as every
man now does outside of civilization.
1t contemplated question Of right
and wrong, contending that we were
all here with equal permission and
with equal right to the use and enjoy
ment OF the elements provided for our
existence. All these are comprehended
by the term land" but obviously it
would be impossible to divide and ap-
portion the land. Land, however, has
a utility value which increases with
the social development and this util-
1ty value can be divided and appor-
toned just as the utility value Of a
steamship or railroad can be divided
and distributed. Let those permitted
the exclusive use of land by title deeds
pay into common fund, that is, the
county or State treasury, whatever
such exclusive use of that land is
worth. Take for the use of all the
people that utility value of land which
is created by all the people and the
functions of their government. The
oretically this would put so much
money into the treasury that there
would be no need for taxation and
because the appraisal and collection
would be made by the same agencies
that now assess and collect taxes the
term tax" was unfortunately asso-
ciated with it.
If one believes that all men have
equal right to the use and enjoyment
of the elements provided by God, and
necessary to existence, he is a single
taxer whether he knows it or not
and the guinea pig is a rodent, no
matter what he believes.
j. B. CHAMBERLAIN.
Evening star., 1934-09-11
Employment Now; in 1880.
From the YOUNGSTOWN vindicator.

~HN@@A NAN 410abebUWn NluulCAtOfs
In the Spring of 1880 the Bureau
OF the Census reported that 48 ,s29. 900
persons were employed gainfully in
the United States, as against 4O,1SO,-
600 employed at the last of the FIRST
half Of this year, as reported by Dom
aid Richberg, director of the Emer-
gency Council. Among the persons
counted as employed four years ago
were more than 1,250, 900 between the
ages Of 10 and Is years. It appears
from this that from 1000, 900 to
100000 fewer adults are EMPLOYED
this year than in 1880.
Taking the average for 1923 to
1925 as 100, the index of factory en-
ployment four years ago was So. A
drop to 81 was noted two years later.
but that is not a means for estimat-
ing the total employment, for the
installation Of machinery was greater
than it ever had been before the
period OF six years ending with 1929.
In the period the demand for labor
was great and wages were high. Dur
ing the depression people, instead of
machines, were put to work in many
F~-A ~ "a o~AO SOA44bAyB OO1LI dCJS DClIlk
let on condition that hand work
should take the place of machine
work.
The output per worker rose from
an index Of 100 in 1899 to 157 in
1929, and if study were made of
the present period, considerable de-
cline would be found.
If the figures given by Mr.. Rich
berg, showing that since early in 1853
more than 100000 have returned 10
work are correct, there has been IA
increase Of about IS per cent in an
ployment. Production has increased,
but not at as high a percentage.
The industries which make labor
saving machinery are behind other
industries in the march to recovery,
which leads to the conclusion that
since there is more employment un-
der the recovery measures, a larger
percentage Of profits of late has been
paid out in wages, instead Of being
spent for labor-saving machinery. If
this policy continues, the big problem
Of labor, which has expressed fears
OF the results Of the displacement of
hand labor by machines, will be
solved.
Evening star., 1934-09-11
Lincoln Would Stand
With Roosevelt Today
To the Editor o: The Star:

To the Editor o. The Star:
notice the Republicans have closed
their factory for making monkey
wrenches," and have turned it into
making "baloney," which is being
used by Raskob, Smith. Wadsworth
& Co. under the Liberty League" IN
an effort to injure our President.
This same league has existed before
under various names. am here quot
ing a letter written 10 years ago
to a friend in Illinois by a great
American only a short time before he
was aSSasSinated.
Anything I might write or say
would not count, but whatever this
man said goes around the earth as if
he were still living. He had had
dealings with this same class of men IN
his day and he knew them. He wrote:
Yes, We may all congratulate our
selves that this cruel war is nearing
its close. 1t has cost vast amount
of treasure and blood.
The best blood of the flower of
American youth has been freely Of
fered upon our country's altar that
the Nation might live. 1t has been
trying hour indeed for the Republic.
But see in the near future q crisis
approaching that unnerveS me and
causes me to tremble for the safety
of my country. AS a result of the
war, corporations have been enthroned,
an era Of corruption in high places
will follow, and the money power of
the country will endeavor to prolong
its reign by working upon the preju-
dices of the people until all wealth is
aggregated in a few hands and the
Republic is destroyed. I feel at this
moment more anxiety for the safety
of my country than ever before, even
in the midst of war.-A. Lincoln"
Where do you think Mr.. Lincoln
would be standing if alive today?
Would it not be behind the President
as against those now being lined up
under the banner of the Liberty
League? Lincoln knew what it was
to be opposed by vested interests. He
knew how the get-rich-quick felt
about the poor or even the middle
class. He had the same feeling for
the common people that our President
has. Lincoln knew what it was to be
very poor, and if alive today he would
loyalty join Roosevelt in his effort to
regain some of the rights lost from
time to time in one way and another
by the people.
appeal to thinking Republicans to
consider these words from Lincoln.
He was our greatest leader. We have
never had his equal since. Mr.. Lincoln
would never join the Liberty League
nor would he attack either the Ameri-
canism Of the President or charge that
Roosevelt was trying to destroy the
Constitution. No man or woman who
is not under the control of the vested
interests believes it for a moment
Some people do not know that the
Constitution was formed by the great
est brain trust Of its time. Those men
saw into the future and they builded
for the future. We have amended IL
now 20 or more times. The orig
inal foundation is still down deer
solid as If made out of one piece OF
granite. The people know that. and
| they also know Franklin D. Roosevelt
stands four square upon it, % ,00O, ,0OC
people who voted for him still have
the same confidence in him and only
await 1886 to once more show it.
| c. s. HAMMOND.
Evening star., 1934-09-11
Incendiarism at Sea.

4UCeUulaTlSm dC Ocd'
Considerably more testimony is
required in the hearing now in prog
ress into the burning of the MORO
Castle, with the loss of probably more
than one hundred and fifty lives, to
establish with any degree of certainty
the circumstances of the disaster. Yes
terday officers of the ship declared
that the fire was of incendiary origin,
starting, apparently, in the writing
room of the ship, small apartment
on the promenade deck. Yet the flames
so quickly enveloped the lower quarters
of the vessel that the engine room
was invaded and the power was lost,
with the result that navigation was
impossible. This leads to the sug-
Gestion that there was more than one
point of ignition. If the fire was set
for the purpose of destruction GER
tainly the writing room was a poor
selection. A blaze there alone, with
the ordinary routine Of inspection in
progress. would have been compare
lively easy of confinement and pre-
sumably of extinguishment.
The narratives of the ships Off
GERS thus far examined fail to explain
the complete collapse Of the security
organization, even giving full weight
to the suggestion that many of the
passengers were under the influence
Of liquor, leading to their failure to
respond to warnings and to assemble
at the boats for evacuation of the
ship. If the ship was afire at several
places simultaneously both crew and
passengers might conceivably have
been thrown into panic. Yet evidence
has been given that there was time
for an orderly departure If the alarm
had been given promptly.
There seem to have been no boat
drills on board other than an assembly
of members of the crew on perhaps
no more than one occasion. 1t is to
be suspected that the passengers were
not required to gather at appointed
places for instruction, as is the rule
on ocean-going carriers. This fact
requires elucidation.
A plot to destroy the ship must have
had q motive. From Havana comes
the uggestion-almost the direct
charge-that the disaster was the
work Of Communists. 1t is hinted
that the operating company had had
trouble with its crews. This leaves
open the question Of why, If such was
the case, the malevolence of the in
cendiaries was postponed to the very
eve of the ships arrival at port, when
she would be close to shore and with
in easy reach from other coastwise
ships, which in that quarter are al
ways numerous.
Thus the charge of incendiarism
does not, without much more testi-
mony, fully account for the tragedy
does not, indeed, explain the almost
complete collapse of the safeguards
against disaster which are assured to
those who 60 to sea for pleasure or
for business. It may be warranted,
and If it Is established it calls for the
most vigorous and relentless probe to
reveal the agents of this horrible
Evening star., 1934-09-11
The Great Illusion.

Former President Herbert Hoover
in a second article criticizing the
New Deal policies published in the
current Saturday Evening Post, has
put his finger on the great illusion.
This is the apparent belief, on the
part Of men sincerely loving America
and American traditions, that popular
government and personal liberty can
stand up in this country under a
system of RECOMMENDATION and the re-
sulting Federal bureaucracy. Easy,
indeed, is the descent into regimenta-
ton when the path is creased with
Government money. Does any one
think that the farmers of America
could have been prevailed upon to
enter into the regimentation plans of
the A. A. A. for crop reduction had
there been no Government money to
pay them?
The New Deal has promised many
things. 1t has promised the farmers
equality in purchasing power with in
dustry. 1t has promised business re-
lief from certain competition. 1t has
promised labor collective bargaining,
which to many of the labor leaders
means but one thing, the unionization
of all plants and eventually the
closed shop. In one form or an
other, RECOMMENDATION is the answer to
all these promises. The farmers,
labor and the business men all are
to be regimented, and the process is
under way. When this regimentation
is complete, if it ever is, the individ-
ual citizen will have lost what in the
past ne has called his freedom
freedom to act in many of the things
vital to him. He will have lost free
dom of speech and freedom to pub
lish his views. Mr.. Hoover is con-
vinced that managed opinion" will
follow as surely on the heels of man
aged agriculture" and managed in
dustry'' as night follows day.
The New Dealers, led by President
Roosevelt, have scoffed at the sugges-
ton that their program is in curtail-
ment of freedom and liberty as Amer
leans have known freedom and liberty
in the past. And many of their fol-
lowers, willing togo along and not
sure Of anything but that they were
on their way, have found Mr.. Roose-
velt's scofdng comforting. They are
suffering from the great illusion.
Whether. the President and the New
Dealers have grasped the full signifi-
canoe Of what has been occurring
under their leadership is even a
question. They, perhaps, suffer from
illusion. Frequently one step leads
to another along an uncertain path.
And each succeeding step is taken
more easily than the last.
The polite way of controlling public
opinion is through propaganda. When
propaganda does not work to con-
vince all persons, then there is the
strong arm Of government remain
ing to lead the horse to the water and
also to make him drink. The propa-
ganda army in Washington today is
becoming myriad. 1t will continue, as
Mr.. Hoover predicts, to feed the great
illusion, at least for the time being.