davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1935-02-03
Investigation Mistakes.

An official investigation, like peace
conference, too frequently results
in confusion confounded, and the cur
rent inquiry of the House Special
Crime Investigating Committee is an
instance in point.
The public and all individuals con-
cerned, it may be presumed, are anx-
ious to get at the truth, but ways and
means Of reaching that end appear to
be a matter of disagreement. Indeed,
the difficulty is so great that the CHAIR
man of the committee himself is
reported to have changed his mind
about methods of procedure.
It happens that the evidence thus
far submitted is hardly worthy to be
called evidence at all. No regular
court Of law would admit such blanket
charges, such unsupported generalities
as have been offered to date. Pos
sibly 1t Is true that certain officers
are in league with criminals, but, If SO,
who are they? Again, there may have
been trickery and corruption in the
relations between liquor dealers and
patrolmen and detectives assigned to
guard against illegal trading. but
where is the proof of this alleged
alliance or deception?
Edmund Burke was right when he
said that people cannot be indicted.
Strict justice provides that the same
rule applies to a class or a profession
1t is indefensibly unfair for any one
to place the entire thirteen hundred
members of the Metropolitan Police
force under suspicion. How long, it
may be asked, can organization morale
be expected to survive under that
kind Of treatment? What conceivable
excuse can there be for denying the
committee definite facts upon which
to render its report?
Furthermore, it seems a serious
error to bar from the hearings Maj.
Ernest w. Brown, the administrative
head of the force, and at the same
time to admit representatives Of the
press. If reformation really Is wanted
it is logical to suppose that the indi-
vidual most directly responsible for
the enactment Of that correction
should be permitted to hear about the
conditions he is expected to change.
Washington has hoped that tangible
good might come from the investiga-
ton, but the city appears doomed to
be disappointed. Prevailing handicaps
forecast that it may be merely another
useless endeavor, another opportunity
for civic improvement lost to a dis
franchised community.
Evening star., 1935-02-03
When Utopians Fall Out.

When Utopians fall out, then comes
the tug Of war. DR.. F. e. Townsend,
author Of the $200-a-month old-age
pension plan, has taken to heart the
criticisms Of his plan by "brain
trusters." But the brain trusters
have not daunted him in the slightest.
For example, he told the House Ways
and Means Committee during its
hearings on the administrations eco
nomic security bill that "every time
brain truster' says this plan is crazy
O hundred thousand new converts
come to our banner. Every time an
economist, who has had q hand In
the Job Of dragging production down
Evening star., 1935-02-03
Work Relief Plan Makes Uncle Sam
Personal Guardian of American PeopIe

work. the Government will offer to
provide him with cheap power.
This will be electric power produced
by the Federal Government. II can
be used on ranges, water heaters,
electric refrigerators and water
pumps, sold to the citizens on long
term Government credit. through the
Electric Home and Farm Authority.
The father in this family need not
be a resident of the Tennessee VAL
ley to get most of these governmental
grants. 1t is only that & wider field
of Federal activity is available in that
region because Of the work of the
Tennessee Valley Authority.
If the family had lived in the cot
ton belt of the Southwest, other Fed
eral activities would come to light.
Maybe it owned a farm that was
heavily mortgaged and about to be
lost through foreclosure. In that
case Uncle Sam would step in to
take over that mortgage. cut the in
terest rate. and make favorable terms
to help out the owner.
Then from Washington there Is
offered a plan under which Federal
credit will be loaned to the farmer on
cotton under terms that protect him
against loss, If the price should de-
cline. This assures ready cash while
waiting for a Federal bounty that is
to be paid for not growing cotton on
part of the farm. In return for this
bounty the farmer must agree to ac-
cept quota establishing the amount
Of cotton he can sell, but that agree
ment isn't hard to make, since it is
accompanied by a check.
But Washington is watching out
not only for the worker and the
farmer-it is fully as interested in the
business man and the banker.
To the business man who has been
pinched by the expense of maintain
ing code hours and wages, the ad-
ministration has sought to open up
avenues Of Government credit.
To the banker, whose assets have
shrunk during the depression and
who needs bulwarking in order to
meet requirements of the Federal de-
posit insurance law, the Government
has offered Federal funds in return
for preferred stock.
To railroad officials, whose trans
portation lines are financially en-
barrassed, the Government has ad-
vanced credit in return for promises
to pay.
The National Recovery Admins
tration was offered as a machine to
be used by industry to work out its
internal problems under govern
mental guidance. Federal authority
then was to be used to enforce the
agreements made by members of the
industry.
Washington now takes an interest
in the striker. It seeks to settle his
dispute with the employer. The Ma
tion takes a direct interest in the
farmer and his troubles, in the
stranded families of miners and
farmers, in the problems of the des-
titute aged and the dependent chill
dren. 1t concerns itself with the debt
problems of the home owner and the
business man. 1t seeks to protect the
savings of its people.
Political scientists see many poten-
tial dangers in this situation. They
piont out that when the people of a
nation look to their central govern
ment to solve their problems they
quickly can turn on that government
and demand radical changes if ex-
pected results are not realized.
l. (Copyright, 1891
Evening star., 1935-02-03
ssWHAT is YOUR LIFE?''
BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E FREEMAN. DID, LID DEL
Bishop of Washington.

man." Practically all of those with
whom He consorted, and indeed those
whom He called as disciples, were
of inferior gifts. It was His great
expectations concerning them that
awakened and evoked qualities Of
which they had never dreamed. He
was a maker and shaper Of life, life
at its best. 1t Is amazing what He
did with the raw human material that
came to His hand. The supreme
purpose of His life was to give to it
a new and finer Interpretation. There
were no "cold and barren peaks" in
His philosophy. The real and en-
during values of life were His quest.
No teacher is comparable to Him in
this respect.
Our modern world is desperately
confused concerning life, its purpose
and its meaning. Mighty changes
have come with alarming swiftness,
and even the stableSt and wisest
stand appalled, as they witness that
which seems to dissipate and destroy
long cherished ideals and ideas. There
Is much talk Of readjustment and
reconstruction. Doubtless all this is
true, but Of what kind are they to be?
Above all others, the youth stands
embarrassed and uncertain before
these impending changes. What shall
we of the older generation say to
him, out of all our accumulated
knowledge and experience, that will
serve him in his hour of need? Ger
tainly we cannot tell him that all
will be well and that things will
continue as they were. Surely we
have had too bitter an experience
to suggest that once industry and
commerce have recovered everything
else will take its proper place and
life will go on in the usual way. Life
and its meaning, yes, and its ultimate
destiny, these we must discover anew.
It is not all "beer and skittles," nor
Is it game of chance, with Shadowy
horizon at the end.
We shape our life by what we
hold to be its objective. In its
philosophy there must be reckoning
with its finer, nobler qualities. quail
ties that are expressed in its soul
yearnings. Take these away, disre-
gard them and we are as animals;
desires and passions are unleashed,
selfiShness and lust become dominant
and all-controlling and we pass on
to the later years diSillusioned and
dissatisfied. Life, as Christ conceived
it, is rich in its possessions, the
best of all being quiet and con-
tented spirit in harmony with the
purposes of God and secure in the
consciousness that it is giving of its
best to the world about it.
Evening star., 1935-02-03

to COnSumpLlVe levels py SlauSuIeIluS
live stock and plowing cotton under,
says our plan is 'cock-eyed' means
just that much more business for our
Post ONCE Department" The last is
DR.. Townsend's way Of referring to the
mounting thousands Of letters written
in support Of his plan to members Of
Congress.
A new slogan has been evolved by
the Utopians, whether they be Town
sendites or mere brain trusters. It is:
Social security is just around the
corner" It is happy thought If it
is only a more modern suggestion that
prosperity is to be found at the next
turning. DR.. Townsend Is convinced
that by retiring from active work all
persons sixty years of age or over
100000 jobs will be open to unem-
ployed men and women under that
age. If this is not enough, then he
would reduce the pension age to fifty
nine or fifty-eight, or even lower
The late DR.. Osler drew national at
tention when he said that every man
over forty years Of age should be
chloroformed. DR.. Townsend, how
ever, prefers a more lingering and
perhaps more pleasant future for the
aged. He says that between twenty
and thirty millions Of Americans have
already subscribed to his plan. That
is sizable block of the whole popu-
lation.
The good doctor from California in
sists that his plan is the only one SC
far proposed that will painlessly ad-
just humans to the inroads of the
machine" Machines, he points out
are constantly depriving men and
women Of the means Of earning a liv-
ing. 1t Is equally true, however, that
modern machines are providing mil
lions OF workers with new kinds Of
jobs-as for example the radio, the
automobile and the airplane.
1t Is old-faShioned to insist that
work is the cure for human ills
whether it be for young or middle
aged or the aged. There is something
after all, in work beyond the mere
opportunity to earn a living. Pro-
posals to create a scarcity of labor
just as proposals to create q scarcity
OF pigs or cotton, though well mean
ing, may produce results very different
from those their proponents have in
mind.
DR.. Townsend objects to the sug-
gestion that his plan of paying 5000
month pensions may be too ex-
pensive for the country to bear. And
he calls attention to the fact that In
1887, it is predicted, the Nation will
have national debt ranging from
s35, 100000 to $4,000 100000. The
bulk of this, he says, will have been
spent by the brain trusters in a vain
chase after prosperity. He adds
who will say that we cannot afford
to try the Townsend plan?" Afte,
all, it is just another way Of spending
money. These who worry over the
possibility that the money may not
hold out appear to be in the minority
Evening star., 1935-02-03
Secretary Hull, 0ptim;s st.

II there were Nobel prize tor
invincible optimism in craftsmanship.
the claims of few of his peers would
outrank those of Cordell Hull. the
! United States Secretary of State. In
the face of insuperable odds and dis
concerting experience, Judge Hull
persists in pleading for improved in
ternational understanding, especially
in the realm of trade and tariffs, in
which he is so jealous q specialist.
Nothing betokens the unquenchable
Hull faith more graphically than the
proposal he submitted to the Senate
Committee on Agriculture at the end
of last week. Unabashed by the
circumstance that he was pleading
on the premises Of the august body
which had just refused assent to the
United States entry into the World
Court, Secretary Hull bravely sug-
gested that the United States sponsor
a world economic conference to dis
cuss stimulation Of international
trade.
He told the committee that once
such a plan gets really under way
1--WE would be surprised at the rapidity
with which nations would support
move to unchoke world business"
True to his consistent contention that
restrictions like tariffs are hampering
natural trade intercourse among the
peoples of the earth, Judge Hull
argued that the United States ought
to take the lead in breaking down
blind, dumb, nationalistic measures
which are getting us nowhere" but
which, on the contrary, are leading
to economic suicide" Nevertheless,
low tariff advocate though he be, the
Secretary of State decried any reduc-
ton of American tariffs except in
return for concessions by other
nations.
In the Summer of 1888 it was
Judge Hull's fate to head the Amer
ican delegation to the World Eco
nomic Conference in London. That
turned out to be an inglorious affair,
having been condemned to failure
mainly by President Roosevelt's un-
willingness to discuss international
stabilization. Since then the United
States has revealed a positive disin-
clination to consider any revision Of
the European war debts and, through
the johnson act, has bolted the doors
of the American money market
against new financing by delinquent
countries. We have just firmly and
finally boycotted the World Court.
Under all the circumstances, Secre-
tary Hull's suggestion that the rest
Of the world might be inclined to
accept Americas invitation to an
altruistic international trade confer
ence Is an example Of sublime optin.
ism not unworthy Of appreciation be-
cause Of the innate improbability that
1t will ever get anywhere.
Evening star., 1935-02-03
Professional Tennis
Distressing Britain
BY A. G. GARDINER.

LONDON, February 2.-Britain is
agog over an impending revolution in
the tennis world resulting from the
decision Of the council of the English
Lawn Tennis Association to support
the removal of the ban on paid film
work for amateurs.
Such decision would have been in
conceivable a year ago, for sport is
the most conservative institution in
England and the L. T. A. has been
the most unbending pillar of that
conservatism. Anything like a sur
render to professionalism has been
regarded as an objectionable sin and
this sudden reversal Of policy has
created sensation.
It is the thin end of the wedge of
professionalism. and with so powerful
an Endorsement from so obdurate q
quarter it Is expected that the pro-
posal, which 'emanates from the
Czechoslovakian L. T. A, viii be
Evening star., 1935-02-03
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

"The Capitol was thrown into
state of wild excitement this morn
ing" says The Star Oh
Fire at the January rs. 1885. "by
Con;+ol the discovery Of . fire
under the iron roof o.
the House of Representatives, just
over the file room, where are stored
all of the valuable records of Con-
greSS. About quarter before II
O'Clock this morning, before many OF
the members had arrived, few large
sparks were seen to fall upon the
floor of the House from the roof
above, which in a minute increased
to quite a shower of fire. About the
same time some one on the dome was
seen to wave his hands and shout, tc
attract attention to the roof below
him. The few Representatives In the
hall and the officers and pages rushed
for the doors and for a moment
seemed to expect an explosion .and
see q repetition of Saturdays scene
in the British House of Parliament
It was shouted through the corri'
dors that it was a fire in the upper
loft of the file room. The fear OF
dynamite vas dispelled in a momen
and there was rush for the marrow
iron staircase that leads to the f1as
staff over the House. 1t was fcuno
that the wooden platform about the
staff and the staff itself were en-
veloped in flames. The roof beneath
/ had burnt through and the flames
were eating away the woodwork ir
the room and the leather covers oi
the old records had begun to cur
up with the heat.
Assistant Doorkeeper Chauncey
and a couple of Capitol policemen
were the first on the scene and handed
out the boxes Of papers to the en-
ployes of the file room, and others
who were soon gathered about. The
wind was very high and the iron rcoi
was burnt through in several places
For several minutes nothing could bt
done as there was no water and nc
way to get at the place except up 4
steep and narrow iron staircase run.
ming up three stories, upon which
two men cannot pass each other
After some delay, however, bucket'
Of water were passed up. Meanwhile
some one had turned in fire alarm
but before the Fire Department cculo
respond and get their hose on tbs
roof the fire was all out except
few smoldering embers.
"In the room to which the fire was
confined were stored the records OF
the first session Of Congress, with
all the original reports of commit
tees, of the proceedings OF the House
and reports Of the various heads OF
departments, including some valuable
reports dated 1890. The close prox-
unity of the fire to these volumes
rendered it almost miraculous that
they were not burned. They could
never have been replaced and their
loss would have been a great mis-
fortune.
s'The members of Congress ex-
pressed surprise and uneasineSs that
there should be such lack Of means
of extinguishing fire breaking out
in this way. The fire was remote,
not easily accessible, and its origin
could not be traced. Had 1t started
among the musty volumes it might
have been accredited to spontaneous
combustion, but the fact that the
books were not burned at all-the
fire starting in a clear. open space
excluded such a theory.
'Later-The fire is supposed to
have been started by electricity as
q number Of the wires used in light
ing the hall pass the point where
the fire began" A
Evening star., 1935-02-03

It Is interesting and significant to
note how many of the worlds greatest
philosophers and teachers have at
tempted to answer adequately the
above query. Aristotle and Plato, and
In more recent times from Sir John
Lubbock down to Arnold Bennett, who
wrote his ingenious little book,
"Twenty-four Hours a Day." one
after another has attempted to define
life, its meaning and its purpose. 1t
is probably true of each one of us
that as the result OF training, educa-
ton and experience we work out our
own philosophy Of life. Self-made
men and women are a common
variety. It is certainly true that the
answer to the question, What is your
life?" is the most important we face,
and the kind OF answer we give to
1t determines very largely our sue
cess or our failure, our satisfaction
or our disappointment. Some one
has gloomily said. in answer to this
question, that: Life is a brief in
terlude between the cold and barren
peaks of two eternities." Picturesque
as such a statement Is. 1t Is unin-
viting and unappealing. 1t would
imply that birth and death are for
tuitous circumstances and that when
we reach the last horizon we close
the chapter. The poet Wordsworth
has a more appealing and satisfying
idea where he says:
- d.,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds Of glory do
we come,
From God, who is our home"
Emerson well says: "a great in
terpreter Of life ought not himself to
need Interpretation" which suggests
that a life well and consistently lived
is its own and best Interpretation.
Experimental living, especially in the
earlier years, Is characteristic Of most
of us. We feel our way, testing out
one thing and another until we dis
cover our aptitudes and tastes, our in
tellectual and emotional reactions.
Once we have discovered these. We
deliberately shape our course. FIRE.
quently We get our finest interpreta-
tions of life's meaning and indeed Of
our own best gifts from others. Some
of the worlds greatest geniuses have
literally been discovered to them
selves by one who rightly appraised
them. Jesus was constantly re-
vealing to unSuspecting men and
women latent qualities of character of
which they were wholly unconscious,
One of the finest things said of the
Master was: He knew what was in
Evening star., 1935-02-03

of such an emergency as Is repre-
sented to exist In Washington.
First-Get the facts.
Second-Find the remedy for the
specific condition portrayed by the
facts, and do not unnecessarily i'm
pose governmental regulation Of all
private rental property in order to
correct the sins Of q few.
Evening star., 1935-02-03
Climatic Comparison.

IT understand the Slammers have
made up their domestic quarrels and
are on speaking terms"
YES" replied Miss Cayenne; their
reconcinations remind me of thaw
between two freezes, which only makes
matters worse"
Evening star., 1935-02-03

Rate by Mail-Payable in Advance.
Maryland and Virginia.
Evening star., 1935-02-03
Old-Fashioned Ways.

For good old-fashioned ways we yearn.
Yet life we would deplore
If those queer whiskers should return
That our grandfathers wore.
Evening star., 1935-02-03
All other States and Canada.
Member of the Associated Press.

The Associated Press is exclusively. en-;
Titled to the use for republication OF all
news dispatches credited to it or not other
wise, credited IN this paper ard nd also the
publication of special dispatches herein
are also reserved
Evening star., 1935-02-03
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.
The ReStful ITrknnXn.


You're thankful for the knowledg,
that you gather day by day.
You learn of strange commotion.
'mongst the people far away;
You follow up the doings of the ma.
tions far and near
AS they strive for the improvement
of our busy little sphere.
You hear the jingle of the gold. You
hear the trumpet blast
Amid assurances that Peace will reign
supreme at last
You grow somewhat apprehensive as
you watch the passing show
And feel that maybe there are things
twere better not to know.
Sometimes your mind will drift away
from the incesSant din
That goes to put on record who shall
lose and who shall win.
You think about the blossom and its
long mysterious sleep,
You think about the secrets hidden in
the ocean deep,
You think about the stars that swing
through the unfathomed sky;
You gaze and cease to wonder or tc
question "how?" or "why?"
You drift far from the present with
its weariness and woe
And feel a little thankful for the
things you do not know.
The Employment of Time.
'I suppose you know all about rail.
roads, banking and currency and kin.
dred subjects"
mo" replied Senator Sorghum. "Ii
I studied all those things I'd have sc
little time to make speeches that my
constituents would think I was neg.
lecting my business"
A Sympathetic Comment.
whats the use of so many laws?'
asked the discontented citizen.
"Now, don't be unreasonable" re.
Joined Farmer Corntossel. We've got
to let the Legislature do something
to show that it has been workin'."
The Refusal to Be Happy.
Now let us shed
An anxious tear
Ard bow the head
In solemn fear.
With grievous care,
Let's join to say,
1.-THE sun shone fair
On ground hog dayl"
Although the land
Is rich and free,
Though hopes expand
For you and me.
The Joys are slight
That they display,
The sun shone bright
On ground hog day!
Evening star., 1935-02-03

Patience" said Uncle Eben. fs
what some men takes credit fur when
dey's waitin' foh de sun to come out
an do de- work of de snow shovel"
Evening star., 1935-02-03

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telephone National 5000.
Evening star., 1935-02-03
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