davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Lending at a Loss

American creditors holding mis-
cellaneous certificates of indebted
ness of German origin now appear
to have been victimized by Nazi
financing policies to the tune of sew
eral hundred million dollars.
In brief, the situation is this: A
substantial number of loans to Ger
man corporations, municipalities and
other agencies, have been floated in
this country in the past 20 years.
Until the Nazi government imposed
its own unorthodoX financing princi-
Piles to the amortization of such
loans they were being handled in
normal manner. This condition was
terminated, however. with passage
of a German law prohibiting further
direct interest payments on foreign
loans. Instead, it was required that
such payments be made by the Ger
man debtor to a government con-
version agency with the latter
undertaking to negotiate its own
bargain with the outside creditors.
BY this system, for instance, GER
tain British creditors we're paid on
a sterling basis but at a fifty per
cent discount. The proposal to
American creditors to whom interest
payments have been overdue since
1887, was not on a cash basis but for
the tender of fifty-year, three per
cent bonds in the sum of $73,000000.
About half of this total, incidentally,
was marked for payments in arrears
and the remainder to care for pay
ments of the next two years.
In the eyes of the Securities
and Exchange Commission, the issu-
ance of the proposed bonds to Amer
lean creditors amounted to the float
ing of new loan. By the terms of
it's statute, the S. E. c. felt that such
action called for the receipt of full
information behind the proposed
securities and to this end a hearing
was scheduled for this week. A Ger
man request for withdrawal of it's
proposal has left the question in
further doubt until the commission
can arrive at its ultimate deci-
sion, but this plain implication that
the German conversion agency has
definitely abandoned its intent to
issue the bonds apparently dooms
American creditors to loss of the
pending interest, and quite probably
the principal.
The mildest lesson which might
be drawn from the whole incident
is that it demonstrates the hazards
of international finance in a world
where solemn obligations count too
often for too little.
Evening star., 1939-09-20
The Vacant Judoeship

President Roosevelt's choice OF a
nominee to fill the vacancy on the
bench of the United States District
Court created by the death of Justice
Joseph w. Cox is a matter of very
real concern to the residents of
Washington, who very properly re-
gard that court as being essentially
q local tribunal.
In recent years the District has
had no representation on the United
States Court of Appeals despite the
fact that there are number of emf
nent lawyers practicing in the Cap
ital who are qualified in every re-
spect for service on the appellate
bench. The Department of Justice,
taking the position that the Court
Of Appeals is more of a national than
a local tribunal, has refused to recog-
nize the contention of the District
Bar Association that Washington
lawyers as such were entitled to be
represented on the appellate court
Evening star., 1939-09-20
THIS AND THAT
BIZ Charles E. TrdceUell.

then. into the open air. When one has
new stamp to show to friend half
a mile away, one seldom takes the car,
but walks, and such walks are recreative
in every sense. Also there is something
about philately, evidently, which keeps
people slim. Play this up for all those
who want to get rid of too much fat!
We always have noticed that this par
ticular hobby seems to appeal most to
the so-called slim-jims, and evidently
serves to keep them so.
Fortunately for the average worker,
when something goes wrong the mo-
ment he gets down town, he has his
work to do.
Buckling down to it, therefore, is the
best possible solution, after blowing of
a bit of steam. AS an aside, and in the
interests of plain truth, it is probably
Just as we'll to blow off in the direction
Of some wholly disinterested person. It
is common observation that most persons
in the present regimented world-and
it is not all confined to Germany, by
any means-know perfectly well which
side their bread Is buttered on" Uni
versal education, while possessing many
merits, has bred up race of regimented
beings, used to the idea of all doing the
same thing at the same time and in the
same way. The idea of the leader
(teacher) is pretty we'll known every
where. The youngest child soon gets the
idea that it is probably better to take
it out" on schoolmate than to "bawl
out" the teacher. Hence fights.
In public places it Is always noticed
that the irate patron always takes UNI
bragg at the poor fellow at hand, who
has nothing to do with the situation
irate patron seldom goes to the head
man who might have something to do
with it. This is letting off mental steam
in the place where, If it does no good, at
least offers the least danger of roper
cussions.
Letting off steam always does good,
if no more than to ones curiously re-
pressed bump of self-respect.
After a little anger, with heated epi-
dermis, there is strange glow of salts
faction which most persons will not
admit but which they all secretly under
stand well enough.
OF equal necessity, however, is the
forgetting
If this cannot be mastered, it is better
to keep ones mouth shut.
But if you are able to forget, that is,
calm down, as quickly as you can become
angry, then you have your nerves we'll
under command, and no amount of
things going wrong" at the beginning
of the day can upset you too much.
Especially do not hold resentment
against the one who seems to be start
ing it all. He or she, in all probability
is simply acting on orders from some
little American fuerher whose ways of
thought are really amazingly like those
Of the big one across the sea.
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Endurance Test

Making full allowance for the
heavy mixture of bombast and blus-
ter, not to say downright mendacity,
that saturated Hitler's speech at
Danzig yesterday, the world is in
formed that Germany is resigned to
an endurance contest with Great
Britain and France. The Chamber
lain government last week announced
it is preparing for war of three
years, if necessary. Der Fuehrer
counters with the defiant proclama-
ton that the Reich is ready to fight
for seven years and answer its enc
mics bomb for bomb,' or even five
hundred bombs for one.
Herr Hitler did not directly link
Russia with Germany's vaunted
staying powers, but Goering had pre-
viously intimated that it is the Soviet
Unions boundless natural resources
on which the Reich depends to cir
cumvent the British blockade. 1t
would be fatuous to deny that, with
Russian raw materials at her dis
posal, Germany's industrial genius
will enable her to maintain a re-
sistance which, so far as it depends
on munitions OF war, will be exceed
ingly difficult to wear down. Under
energetic German direction, Russia
is probably capable of serving the
Nazis with no less effectiveness as a
granary. It is combination Of
formidable possibilities.
Der Fuehrer holds out an inferen-
tial olive branch to Britain and France
Evening star., 1939-09-20

by reason of the fact that a great
proportion of its work consists of
purely local matters. But whatever
may be the merits or dement's of the
departments attitude with respect
to the Court of Appeals, it has no
application whatsoever to the Dis
trict Court.
Although only one Of the three
most recent appointees has been a
District lawyer, the local bar, until
Justice Cox died, had numbered no
fewer than half the justices among
its membership. And it should be
noted that this claim of the District
lawyers for the right of adequate
representation on the trial court
bench is not quixotic, but arises from
very substantial reasons.
The work of the District Court is
composed very largely of District
matters. Some have placed the figure
as high as ninety per cent. At the
present time, the docket of the court
is seriously congested and it is i'm
portant, first, that the President fill
the vacancy promptly, and, second,
that the new justice be qualified to
enter at once upon the duties of his
office and be prepared to assume his
full share of the courts work. If
this latter requirement is to be met
and it most certainly should bet is
imperative that a local lawyer be
chosen, for nonresident, no matter
how capable, would necessarily be
lacking in the background and IA
miliarity with local procedure essen
tial to the prompt and efficient as
sumption of his judicial duties.
A survey of the membership of the
local bar, including lawyers in pri-
vate practice and those who have
already distinguished themselves in
the public service, cannot fail to i'm
press the President with the high
caliber of the men available for the
post, and a desire to serve the best
interests of the Nations Capital will
dictate that one of their number be
chosen to fill the vacant judgeship.
Evening star., 1939-09-20

When somebody spoils your working
day right at the start, what do you do?
One OF the best ways of meeting such
q situation is to rave bit and then
forget the whole matter.
Much will depend, of course, upon
ones position in the establishment. Let
us hope that it is one in which one may
speak out plainly.
Then few choice words, with or with
out expletives, will clear the air, settle
the mind and, what is more important,
the nerves.
Nerves are things you never know you
have except in such situations, and in
times of physical pain. And to sensi-
tive person these are times of pain, Of
course.
What has become of the word "neu-
rasthenie"?
It's still in the dictionaries but you
don't hear people talking about it any
more.
They don't even talk of nervous
prostration much.
All this comes about because modern
research has shown how little we know
about the nervous system after all.
A wholesome trend of modern thought
is less and less talk about matters Of
which we really know next to nothing.
Less talk, of course, among the plain
people.
%riyn &c hot
there are many more things to talk
about nowadays. One does not always
realize this, except by taking stock. But
1t is easily seen, when one considers how
far more widespread are the wholesome
hobbies of mankind. In the old days, for
instance, probably not 500 people in the
United States collected small tropical
fishes and kept them in tanks in their
own homes. Today there may be as
many as 100000 people, including many
children, doing it. This means that
there are half a million people with
something very interesting to talk about.
1t is a good bet that not many of these
people think they have nerve troubles
Of any kind.
Similarly, the great hobby OF stamp
collection, which boasts the nobbiest Of
names philately, has been extended to a
perfectly countless number of persons,
especially boys and girls. Few of them
will ever be nervous, in the old sense,
because they have life-giving hobbies,
avocations which keep them in mental
and physical trim during the hours wheI
otherwise they might have time to brood
over their health. You ask, perhaps, how
stamp collecting may help ones precious
health, and the answer is easy: 1t
takes one out of ones self and thereby
keeps the mind in natural equilibrium.
at least it works this way with most
people, who are not introspective, out
quite outward in their look on life. A
stamp, though small, serves the purpose
quite as well as a battleship for these
people. And then, too, stamp collecting,
strange as it may seem to some, takes
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Spurton Mother

I know the bracken and plume tipped
grass
Will gentle the lane when my children
pass
Thru the quiet countryside at prayer
With hill-screened havens waiting there.
When Mars drops death on the city street
They will be hearing the young lambs
bleat
And the tinkle of an old sleeps bell
Telling the night that all is well.
I can bear my cross with gratitude
For the peace of purple moor and wood,
Lighting the mists Of their unlived years
And only my pillow shares my tears.
EVELYN NORCROsS SHERRILL.
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Community Chest

Although several weeks will elapse
before the opening of the annual
campaign of the Community Chest,
it is proper at this time for every
citizen of Greater Washington to
give serious consideration to a prob
lem which is the personal affair of
each.
The Chest this year takes on new
significance through the inclusion of
charities and institutions in the sur
rounding areas of Maryland and
Virginia, step which gives new
emphasis to the fact that while
political subdivisions may decree
otherwise, Washington and the met
ropolitan areas of the surrounding
counties do, in actuality, possess a
homogeneous character. Regardless
of the neighborhood in which they
live, the people of this greater COM
munity face the same problem and
the same responsibility of meeting
the challenge of misery, misfortune
and lack of privilege. The i'll, the
aged, the children, and the malad-
justed of one area are the RESPONSE
bility of the whole.
To meet the cost of carrying on
the work of mercy which has been
voluntarily shouldered by the private
citizens over period of many years,
a goal Of two million dollars has
been set for the coming campaign.
This is more than a hundred thou
sand dollars short of the amount
sought last year, when a deficit of
nearly two hundred and thirty thou
sand dollars marked the close of
the campaign. To accomplish this
reduction, not because of fewer
needs, but in order to fit the burden
to the civic pocketbook, budgets of
the member agencies have been re-
duced to a minimum A realization
of what this minimum is can be
gained by all those interested in the
weeks between now and the opening
of the drive. Each Chest agency will
have open house on dates to be an
nounced. Acceptance of their invita-
ton to visit them will open many
eyes. Some individuals may doubt
the value of assisting specific organ
izations. They owe not only to these
specific Units, but to the community
and themselves, the duty of seeing at
first hand the work being done and
the reasons for their inclusion in the
general fund. The open-house series
offers the best opportunity for this.
During recent years financial un-
certainty and other related matters
have resulted in the Community
Chest campaign falling just short of
its quota. The budget this year is
smaller, the number of sharing
agencies has been expanded, the
number of possible contributors has
been increased. BY far the most
serious questions to be faced are
those which can be answered only by
each citizen to himself: Am I doing
my share? Are others being required
to bear my responsibility? The time
to ask these questions is now, not
when the drive is nearing close.
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Takes Issue With Star
Editorials on Neutrality.
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor OF The star:
The Star is asking the people of the
United States to undertake the danger
Gus Job of seconding its friends" in the
international duel now under way.
The duel is the aftermath of an Eu-
ropean party at which two headstrong
men drank too deeply of power, becoming
thereby loud and boisterous and given to
singing Britannia Rules the Waves and
Deutschland Uber Allies 1t is obvious
that these songs cannot be sung together
in full harmony.
The Star feels that the existing neu-
trality law forces the United States to
second the wrong duelist, by inference,
the enemy" of this country. The Star
would examine the weapons of the op-
ponents and see that neither has the ad-
vantage or that the advantage is on the
right" side.
The Star advocates sale of arms on the
cash and carry" plan. We are selling
abroad lot of products now which could
be made into munitions but this is not
enough.
Every one knows who would buy these
arms; every one knows that British gold
for the purpose is already in the United
States, that American f1nanciers are
ready to close the deals and that Great
Britain has fleet strong enough to con-
voy shipments from this country to its
home ports.
Every one knows likewise that Ger
many is broke and has been for Is years
and that the strength of that nation lies
in its fanatical zeal for cause it be-
lieves to be right, in its single-minded
man power and in the ornaments created
at great cost to give weight to argu-
ments for national preservation,
which would otherwise be considered by
the other nations of the world as empty
and impotent.
If Germany is at present better armed,
we shall undoubtedly aid her by not SELL
ing arms to any belligerent. If We sell
to all on the cash-and-carry basis, we
sell to the country with the cash, i.e.,
Great Britain and thereby deal blow at
Germany Both the horns of this dilem-
ma are pretty sharp and the United
States will be pricked which ever course
it takes.
The humane view is that the present
law keeps our T. N. T. in storage, where it
will not kill human beings in Europe.
The Star Is in a position to know the
background of the duel, the nature of the
affront, who slapped whom, and who de-
serves to win. But The Star speaks of
our friends" In condemning to death
the neutrality law to permit the United
States to act as gun-loading second for
the allies, The Star automatically un-
fits itself for either judge or jury in the
case, being prejudiced in favor of one of
the interested parties.
It has yet to be proved that the United
States has sufficient interest in the out
come of the duel to warrant entry into
the dispute.
If the drunken must brawl, let them
fight themselves into sobriety. We are
comparatively sober now and it be-
hooves us to stay that way. The wine on
the table was not from our grapes. We
were not even at the party. D. G. A.
September 49,
Evening star., 1939-09-20

Already air speeds nine-tenths of
the velocity of sound have been at
tanned and science says that flight
surprising that speed is possibility.
Won't it be fun when an aviator can
shout something, race ahead, shut
off his motor and hear himself twice?
Evening star., 1939-09-20

There are three distinct theories
among scientists as to why the conti-
nents of America and Europe are
separated. These seem almost i'm
possible to reconcile, but the result
ing situation is highly satisfactory
on this side Of the Atlantic.
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Opposes Sale of Arms
To Belligerents.

To Belligerents.
To the Editor Of The Star:
If understand what neutrality means,
it does not mean that knowingly can
furnish a man a pistol with which to
kill another man. The same thing is
true of nation-neutrality means hands
off absolutely so far as instruments of
war are concerned and there is no way
of justifying the selling of any kind OF
war material to any nation at war with
another. 1t is second only to declaring
war and inviting. hostilities for any ma
ton to sell instruments Of war while
war is In progress. F. w. ZIMMERMAN.
Amarillo, Tex.
September H.
Evening star., 1939-09-20

The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to
the use for republication of all news dispatches
credited to 1t or not otherwise credited in this
paper and also the local news published herein
All rights of publication OF special dispatches
herein also are reserved
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor must
bear the name and address OF
the ,Driter although the use OF
a pseudonym for publication is
permissible. Please be briet!
Evening star., 1939-09-20
How to MaiDtsin Peace
Believed Primary Question.

To the Editor of The Star:
The controversy over American neu-
trality is caused by q sincere desire on
the part Of al interested to avoid foreign
entanglement. particularly to prevent the
Evening star., 1939-09-20
Approves Sentiments
OF Housewife"

Approves Sentiments
OF Housewife"
To the Editor Of The Star:
I read the letter signed Housewife"
in your issue of September 13, 1889, with
interest.
wish very much to shake hands with
Housewife to express to her my appre-
citation of one who is sensible and not
afraid to tell the truth.
feel certain that the women Of
America will defeat any attempt to in
volve this Nation in any European war.
JUST ANOTHER HOUSEWIFE.
September 20.
Evening star., 1939-09-20
WASHIN TON, d. G..
WEDNESDAY September 20, 1888
The Evening Star Newspaper Company

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Evening star., 1939-09-20
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washington. D. c,
Evening star., 1939-09-20

need of application OF physical violence
by ourselves in support OF commitments.
1t is unnecessary in support of pro-
posed course of action to remind us OF
our universal desire for peace. The ques-
ton to be decided is how best to main
tain peace.
1t must be kept in mind that however
much we desire peace We have certain
rights, interests and obligations and
while we may be willing to sacrifice these
rights and interests and ignore our OBJ
legations to number of our fellow citi-
zens most injured by such sacrifice, we
have to consider the effect of such a
course of action on the economic condi-
ton of the Nation.
The embargo on sale of implements of
war, arms and ammunition to belliger-
ent nation was intended to eliminate
all possibility of aiding either side in
a war between nations. we have already
learned that this well meant purpose
has not been accomplished, that this de-
parture from the accepted laws Of neu-
trality built up through the years by in
ternational agreement has placed our
Nation in an unneutral position.
It seems then that the repeal OF the
Embargo Act would restore our country
to the position of neutrality as accepted
and understood by international agree
ment.
It is evident that in the absence OF
decided advantages to our country, any
deviation from strict neutrality should
be avoided and arguments to adopt a
policy, the neutrality of which may with
justification be in question, should be
considered, only on extreme provocation
and after careful consideration.
I maintain that it is the desire and
hope of our people that our country be
kept out of war and particularly that
no act of our Government in the past,
present or future be in contradiction to
accepted rules and practices of recog-
nized neutrality, excepting only when
required for our own protection.
September 16. F.. F. PIERDON.
Evening star., 1939-09-20
To the Editor Of The Star:

that it is going to take more help than
just arms. In the last war it took the
combined help of England, France, Italy,
Russia, Japan and the United States to
bring Germany to halt. Why is it
supposed that France and Great Britain
can accomplish this feat now, with the
other powers either neutral or linked
up with Germany, by merely affording
them the opportunity to acquire addi-
tional arms?
Sentiment in this country, as far as I
can observe, appears to be against any
act that may create questionable posi-
ton, much less actual involvement. If
the embargo is lifted Germany is bound
to consider the action as unneutral, and
rightly so, because it is like changing the
rules after contest is under way. Ir-
respective of the fact that the rules as
now written favor Germany, they were
decided upon at time when all the
belligerents had opportunity to weigh
them carefully before ignoring them.
The minute that Germany Is satisfied
that this country is not going to remain
neutral III 1dCG, SIle Is DOuIlu W COILIuI
an offense that will force this country to
action.
It must be conceded in referring to
Col Lindberghs talk that his logic is
well-founded and worthy of careful
thought by those who are striving to re-
main at peace and to preserve democracy
In this country.
September 10. VERNON B. DODGE.