Evening star., 1937-12-05

1t in again once the fish is caught,
1t may be that specimen will come
to hook-and what an emblem it will
make when properly mounted for a
party now employing a secondhand
donkey as both an emblem and a
lure.
Among those things far greater than
itself which this party intends to
swallow are the following:
Forty-eight sovereign States.
The Federal system.
The Constitution OF the United
States.
Sound money, the credit and the
reputation for fair dealing of the
Government.
The wealth-producing capacity Of
the people.
The management of all business.
The liberties of some 1870 million
people
The control Of all their wealth.
And the real owner of the donkey
itself.
HARRISON TILGHMAN.
COntenOS fueftO Rico
Is Against "Independence.~
To the Editor of The Star
1T is indeed regrettable that occa-
sionally biased individuals from the
United States take it upon themselves
to visit Puerto Rico, and in my opinion
they intend solely to embarrass our
officials and also those of the Puerto
Rican government
Unbiased individuals, who have
toured the island and likewise kept
in close contact with economic and
political conditions, fully realize that
the vast majority Of Puerto Ricans
could not conscientiously endorse 'ab-
solute independence" Without a
continuance Of special privileges for
her merchandise, the numerous in
dustries and associated enterprises
would suffer serious disaster and cause
a situation far more detrimental, owing
to the present large population. than
when Puerto Rico was under Spanish
rule
Agitators from the United States
have, In the past, visited Puerto Rico
for the purpose of creating dissension
among her people and encouraging
separation from the United States"
Such advocacy is an insult to the
greater portion of the inhabitants and
this has been demonstrated in many
instances. particularly in their last
election when, by an overwhelmingly
large majority, they voiced their dis
approval Of independence"
Puerto Ricans are not unaware nor
| ungrateful for the valuable assistance
which they received from our admins
tration during the years of poor eco
nomic conditions and which, as Amer
ican citizens, they had every right
to expect.
Puerto Rico should be granted state
hood and when the independists aban-
don such impracticable ideas and COM
bine their efforts with those who seek
the admittance Of the island into our
great United States, our Congress will,
in my opinion, be more inclined to
| give favorable consideration to such
a plea.
CASPAR THOMAS.
An Interesting Story
OF Riley's Poe Hoax"
To the Editor of The Star.
| MR.. JOHN HIX in his Strange As
It May Seem" has display ref
erence to the Poet Riley. His an
nouncement is Fame by Forgery"
and adds: James Whitcomb Riley
| won his first recognition as a poet
by writing under the name of Edgar
Allen Poe" To this Is also added that
as Riley was unable to get his poems
published he wrote poem in the Poe
style" and pretended it was lost
work Of Poe.
| This Is an unfair reflection on the
name and fame of Mr.. Riley. 1t has
only a suggestion of the truth. Mr..
Riley as a young man was engaged
on local paper in the city of An
derson. Ind. His work was reporting.
gathering and frequent con-
tribution of some Of his rhymes. An
other local paper of opposite politics
and as a part of continuous political
fight, took delight in ridiculing Riley's
stuff, as an excuse for assaults on
the rival paper.
I knew Mr.. Riley personally. but
had the whole story from a friend
who worked on the paper with Riley.
1t was decided that Riley should write
a poem In the Poe" style and with
it they would bait q trap for the rival.
A very old book was unearthed by
one OF the conspirators and on the
fly leaves Riley wrote the famous
poem Little Orphant Annie" The
writing was covered with dust and
rubbed in the dirt to give the appear
ance OF extreme age. It was printed
and the paper explained the. finding
OF the old book; its aged appearance
and from the material and stvle II
was believed to be an unpublished
work OF Poe. The poem was not
signed with Poe's name. Riley never
signed Poe's name to anything he
ever wrote.
The alluring "Poe" bait was in the
words and form of the last line OF
each stanza: AN the gobble'uns II
git you, ef you don't watch out"
The petty political rival did walk
into the trap, lauded the poem and
remarked as to the great find and the
fortunate thing that the poem had
been saved from complete oblivion
True, some metropolitan papers and
literary publications accepted it as a
lost work Of Poe and were incensed
when the truth was known. The
scheme was never intended for any
thing for practical joke on a pestif-
erous competitor.
The fame Of James Whitcomb RILEY
never hung on the probability of his
writing under the name of Edgar Allen
Poe. j. w, THOMPSON.
| Calls on Congress
To Save Us From the 'Isms.'
| To the Editor of The Star.
THERE is little question in the fact
that we are in for a change. a