Evening star., 1937-05-29
By MIC. r.

Well-known newspaper woman. Mrs
Herrick in her department In the
Country Gentleman, Women in the
News" is commenting on Miss Atke-
sons work in agriculture. She says:
When she was a student at the
| University Of West Virginia, she
wanted to take some classes under her
famous father, who was dean Of the
School Of Agriculture. But she was
the only girl In the class And when
1t neared the time for her to get her
degree. she thought it would seem 50
curious for a girl to have a degree In
| agriculture that she switched over
to liberal arts and got an A. B., and
then an M. A. in English She taught
| English at the university for a while
| then went on to Ohio State University
to receive doctors degree in English
In 1919.
But the love Of the land was in her
blood. She mixed it with ink, and
wrote her first play, on an agricultural
theme, sold 1t to the Country Gentle
man, and thereupon abandoned teach
ing for writing.
To-day there are girls enrolled in
the agricultural schools the country
over. But Miss Atkeson, without real
tzing her independence any more than
most true pioneers do, was indeed a
pioneer And it is public opinion that
has chased along after her point of
view, rather than her early interests
having to change to conform to new
yardstickS -.
Miss Atkeson is one Of the few
women listed in Rus, the Agricultural
| Who's Who, and. If mistake not, the
only woman writer in the book She
Is one OF the most distinguished men,
bers Of Alpha Xi Delta college soror-
ity. She does quite bit Of lecturing
And loves to travel"
The book Of Miss Atkeson's which
was reviewed here last week was her
fathers life story. He was an emf
nent pioneer In scientific agriculture
in this country, and his history makes
very enlightening reading in these
| particular times.
| Mr.. MENcKEN, in the June Amer
ican Mercury, announces in
pretty unmistakable terms that he
considers that We have the near pros
pect OF dictatorship before us. He
does not use the horrid word. He
proceeds with ironical obliquity. But
his fears are unmistakable.
What he really does is to write
new Constitution for these United
States, in which he deferentially in
| corporates what he takes to be the
| Presidents true philosophy of govern
ment. Here are some Of the items
| OF the new document Of our rather
dubious liberties:
Before he enters on the execution
| Of his Office the President shall take
| the following oath or affirmation: I
do solemnly swear that will Gin so
far as I deem it feasible and conven-
ienD faithfully execute the office Of
the President Of the United States,
and will ito the best Of my recollection
and In the light of experiment and
second thought) carry out the pledges
made by me to the electors during my
campaign for election (or such of
| them as may select).'
The President shall have the
| power: To repeal or amend, in
| his discretion, any so-called natural
| law, including Gresham's law, the law
| of diminishing returns and the law
Of gravitation.
The duties OF each (of the cabinet
members) shall be to make speeches
whenever SO instructed and to expend
the public funds under the direction
Of the President in such manner as
to guarantee his continuance In
ONCE"
Getting around to the duties of
Congress under the new charter, Mr..
Mencken outlines what he considers
to be the current state Of affairs as
follows:
"All legislation shall be by bill.
Every bill shall be prepared under the
direction Of the President, and trans
mitted to the two houses at his order.
- No member shall propose any
amendment to bill without permis-
sion in writing from the President or
one Of his authorized agents.
In case any member shall doubt the
wisdom Of bill he may apply to the
| President or to any authorized agent
OF the President for light upon it and
thereafter he shall be counted as
voting aye In all cases a majority
OF the members shall be counted as
voting aye"
And, as might be expected, on the
lively question of the Supreme Court,
Mr.. Mencken is particularly engaging.
He says:
80 The judges of the Supreme
Court and of all inferior courts shall
be appointed by the President, and
shall hold their Offices until he deter
mines by proclamation that they have
become senile"
He adds modestly that he Is aware
that his draft Of new Constitution
Is incomplete, and requests that
readers, whether legal or lay, who
detect defects will notify them to me-"
when; he promises, II shall be glad
to embody rectif1cation in later text.
-" Suggestions for the new Con-
stitution's improvement may be sent
to me in care OF the editor of the
Mercury" Somebody ought to get
quite bit Of fun out Of that.
|ONE Of the surest signs, to this re-
viewers way Of thinking, at least,
that the psychological aspects Of the
depression are on the wane, Is the
magazine articles now appearing IN
increasing numbers in which writer's
spool our former terrors. Such an
article appears in this months Scrib-
ner's. It Is, in fact, the leading arti-
Gle. Its author is Henry F. Pringle
and its title Is, with significant light
ness, 1T Was Nice Depression"
Listing some Of the benefits Of the
debacle, Mr.. Pringle puts down these
go In 50 many ways the world
| WAS 4 better place, The cheats and