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BELL, SOW WALNUT KEYSTONE, MAW J00O
BsyMdMresa flll communication io Evening
Ledoer, Independence Square, Philadelphia.
sjvtxbzd At thb rniLiniLrnu rosTorrics as
I-.CO.P-Ct,JJ HAIL, UATTSU
rMUdrtpMa, Frldsr. Normbr 2, 1917
THE MURDERBUND IS A
PLUNDERBUND
IT REQUIRES neither soothsayer nor
. v prophet to predict tho ponderousness
Jot "the burden that will rest on the tax
payers of Philadelphia If the community
r
of associated politicians now In control
of municipal affairs continues to mis
manage and dissipate tha city's funds.
The frantic efforts of the murderbund to
keep independent councllmanlc candi
dates off the Town Meeting ticket is
emphatic evidence of the Importance at-
'fetched by the coalition of wreckers to
ccntrol of Councils. They can survive
the lots of a few major offlces, provided
they are left In control of tho money
appropriating body. Not for nothing did
they bring gunmen to Philadelphia to
batter tho Fifth Ward Into line, and not
Tor nothing are they Invoking the tech
nicalities of tho law and resorting to
every trick In the gang repertoiro to.
prevent the public from regaining con
trol of Councils. They needed Deutsch,
and went tho limit to put him Into
ofllce. So they are going the limit to
.void the most dreaded of all calamities,
from their viewpoint 'tho loss of even u
ijji majority in Councils.
Let no citizen of Philadelphia who
Intends to vote for decent government
(think that lie has dono his duty when
he votes for tho major candidates. Tho
election of Independent Councllmen Is
even moro important. It Is money tho
murderbund Is after, first, last and all the
tlme, and Councils Is the Immediate
source whence It comes.
Mr. Gaffney, chairman of tho Finance
Committee of Councils and a man whose
Intentions arb nppieclably superior to
those of most of tho gentlemen with
whom he hunts politically, does not think
much of Controller "Walton's report to
veallngr the dangerous condition of tho
city's finances. He wishes to tell the
people that "neither politics nor political
parties will euro their financial ills." "We
are confident political contractors won't.
When a fnan gets desperate he begins to
pyramid his notes.
Here is the city of great wealth on
the verge of bankruptcy because political
contractors demand and get a percentage
of 'municipal expenditures eacli year as a
private profit for themselves. "Let the
system continue tho tieasury's so sick
It can't be cured, anyhow," seems to be
Mr. Gaffney's argument. Who lias pulled
the wool over his eyes we do not know,
''but we more than suspect that tho in
troduction of an ordinance fixing tho tax
rate-for next year at $1,25 Is camouflage,
sure and simple. It might just as
logically be fixed at fifty cents, for the
'iMHi Mayor una ras auvisors nave got tho mu-
S'-v jf '-if.lia1lfv Inin biiMi n linln flint 1,n tl !:
rate would be equivalent to paying divi
dends out of capital a kind of 10-per-cent-.week
proposition. It can't be done,
and nobody knows It better than Mr.
Gaffney does. We doubt if he would even
undertake to defend a $1.25 rate. It Is
just another trick of the gang to fool
the people.
)f tl.1. JCOOI, uco itwuiu uo u VJiailCB Ul
ft. s janaat- 41AaA TAiafl 1- n tnH.. at
keeping taxes down under a decent ad-
Jttlnlstratlon, and they'd rise as fast under
ang administration next year as they did
last year, and faster. It Is true we have
been driven Into the mire, but we do not
Intend to be lashed from there Into tlip
y sjlllcksands.
-The murderbund was going to reveal a
teantto "frame-up" in the Fifth Ward
The revelation has not arrived.
,d, a propaganda, of lies, a campaign
'if further intimidation, attempted pros-
tttutlon of the courts and wholesale de
jrtlon have been resorted to In a des-
iterate, effort to stay the tide r" public
itf . sjaswnaiion. aii uavc mo muraerouna is
. .' . .- t i..j.t . .. .
sjbowri ta be also a plunderbund, dlssl
stain? roverfues, riotously extravagant
std engaged in the process of rapidly
bankrupting the public nsc. This at a
, Mn every household in the land is
the pressure of war taxes and
i iHMMPM eoeCef living;.
I
JS0:
uwt-..tlij nwr-
iT v
i
a,,1 j)ijr.-?,;
funeral next jfosek to'flll a dozen political
cemeteries.
It Is up to the people to nhow whother
they can be fooled or whether they nro
masters of their own city.
UNITY AT ROME
THAT all political parties In Italy .iave
dropped their partlsanohlp, even the
Clericals and the Socialists shaking hands
In nn unprecedented co-opcratlon. Is a
bright gleam of hope In tho clouds that
havo huiiK over the much-harassed king
dom. It was precisely tho opposlto of
this development Unit was tho chief pur
poso of tho German onslaught.
It now nppears that Cadorna has man
aged his retreat with much moro skill
than he has been given credit for, with
the result that tho Hun Invasion has been
going forvvnrd at a considerably slower
tatc. If It Is soon brought to a standstill,
Italy will look back upon some serious
losses, but will look forward to a moro
united political llfo than sho has had at
any tlmo since sho entered tho war.
Hussla and Austria early In tho war
suffered losses In slnglo battles as great
as thoso of Italy's army without being
put out of action.
THR NEW WAR TAXES
w
AR costs nro usually levied from the
top down upon the grades of wealth.
Tho nature of tho new taxes which nre
to bring two billions a year Into Uncle
Sam's war chest shows how slightly tho
wealth of America has been skimmed thus
far in financing our huge enterprise. It
Is an encouraging Indication of the vast
depths of our tesources that so much Is
being obtained without dipping far Into
tho pockets of smaller Incomes.
The small-salaried man will not suffer
from the Imposition of taxes on Pullman
chalis, telegiams, expcnsio club- and
tho like; his mall Is not eces3lvo and his
annual expenditures on amusements will
not have to bo curtailed very much to
lighten the governmental burden on his
recreations. A prolonged war would come
homo to him with severity, but wo need
not cioss that bridge yet. For the pies
ent the avenigo citizen will get no greater
dlscomfoit from war taxes than the con
stant reminder to economlzo and that is
a discomfort which he should welcome.
JOFFRE !
COULD wish that Joffre wero In
V it
Italy and wo hopo that lie Is.
COTTON NO LONGER KING
A PECULIAR Idea Is that the rehabili
tation, commercially and otherwise,
of the South Is due almost wholly to high
prices for cotton. Tho latter Is an enor
mous producer of money, but crop diver
sification and rebellion against the old
dependence on cotton constitute perhaps
the most influential factor In southern
prosperity.
The alue of the 1915 coton crop, for
Instance, was $7GO,000,000, but tho value
of dlvei billed crops, Including grain,
sugar, hay, tobacco, vegetables, fruits, for
tho bamo jear was $1,957,000,000. It
live stocky is added to the totul value of
these other fatm products, tho total was
$2,850,000,000, or neatly four times the
wortli of tlTe cotton crop. Approximately
but 25 per cent of the agricultural in
come of tho Soutli now comes from
cotton.
As showing the remarkable progress
of the section, Senator Runsdell, of
Louisiana, who furnished the foregoing
figures, points out that "in fifteen years
the number of southern banks quad
rupled, while their deposits increased
from about tin re quarters of a billion to
neaily three billions. These figures show
that the South now has banking re
soutces as gieat as the entlro country
had as late as 18S4."
"Cotton ate king and I is got It," a
planter In Alabama used to boast before
tho Civil War. Cotton kept tho South
poverty-stricken for years, but new pros
perity Is following Its iclegatlon to a
proper place In the catalogue of farm
products.
A MILLION MORE FOR WHAT?
TTn3 NOTE that the Rureau of Street
' ' Cleaning wants a million moro next
year than It had this jear. Citizens will
be positively dazed by tho effrontery of
the proposal. It is notorious that tho
streets are not cleaned and that the city
apparently gets little or nothing for the
two millions nnd a quarter It Is nlready
spending. AVhy throw good money after
bad? Why split another pot of a million
with the contractors? Millions for clean
streets, but not one cent for tribute!
Aaron Burr left a leprous legacy to
his country In the form of Tammany
Hall. Who founded the "Organization"
In Philadelphia?
There Is nothing wonderful in the
discovery that crlmo has lessened on
account of the high cost of whisky.
Spell "murder" backward and you have
"red rum."
Put It down In a book that Hanni
bal won the victories but Rome won the
war. The eagles of the Kaiser may go
far, but however far they go they will
eventually go back
Hoover should now turn his at
tentlon to the rising rates on peanuts.
With quotations mounting more than
100 per cent, the prospects are poor for
next spring's circuses. And the dye
shortage is lkely to make the pink
lemonade founts run dry.
Mr. Redfleld Is the fifth Cabinet
member to declare for woman suffrage.
But the Cabinet might as well follow the
President's Indorsement of the cause in
a body, for it would be a wonder If even
one of them was an "antl." We will
never have any more anti-suffrage Cabi
net members.
Frieda Hempel has agreed to learn
"The Star Spangled Banner" and sing it
at a concert in Providence. The German
lnger eald she didn't know it the last
time she was in the Rhode Islrfnd city.
The Incident recalls the saying of Mar
garet Fuller, iranscerldentallst friend of
teron, "I accept the universe," To
Cr)ys, wm h heaJr MT K, re-
LiDGEEr-liriJADELPHlA; BIDAY NOVEMBER '-j 1917
EVENING
DR. KARL MUCK
AND U. S. ANTHEM
Boston Symphony Leader's Atti
tude Revives Question of
Musical Prussianism
PLAIN', ordinary American citizens who
rise reverently when "Tho Star
Spangled Banner" Is played have hitherto
been innocent of the fact that they were
suffering an embarrassment of their iirtlstlo
sensibilities. Nationals of other countries
who hao stood during the playing of the
anthem, paying courtesy to tho land in
which they wero staylng,and following the
comentlonnl code of International amenities,
were not aware that the performance was
Insulting to tlicm. Musicians of whalecr
nationality In the personnel of bands or
orchestras have played the American na
tional hymn at concerts without the men
acing consciousness that they were doing
something deatructho of musical art Con
ductors have placed "The Star Spangled
Banner" on their concert schedules minus
the sense that they wef "'ntng the har
monic contour and studied Integral char
acter of their programs.
Dr. Kurl Muck, conductor of tho Boston
Symphony Orchestra, has dlscocred and
uricocrcd all these Items He refused to
put "Tho Stnr Spangled Banner" on his
program earlier in the week at rroldcnce.
It. I Ho has Indicated that he will not
put It on his opening program for the New
York season His Initial Philadelphia, con
cert Is too far In the future to mnko tho
performance of tho American anthem on
tho program a momentous Issue, although
Its Inspiring strains would bo highly ap
propriate In the city of tho Declaration of
Independence. Tho precedents of his re
fusals Indicate that he will maintain tho
harmonlo alues and artlstlo unity of his
program by a palpable omission and a dis
regard of tho legitimately patriotic feel
ings of the people among which ho Is a
guest
Doctor" Muck's Standpoint
Here H Doctor Muck's standpoint and
his defense:
"Why will people ho so silly? Art Is a
thing by Itself and not related to any par
ticular nation or groups. Therefore it
would bo a gross mistake a lolatlon of
the artistic tasto nnd principles for such
nn organization as ours to play patriotic
airs
"Does tho public think that tho Sm
phony Orchestra Is a military band? Or a
balltoom orchestra? No' Tho Symphony
Orchestra Is a classical musical organiza
tion, composed of tho finest musicians, with
arjing temperaments and cultivated tastes.
To ask them to play homo compositions
would bo almost an insult.
"Art is international. All tho nations at
war aro represented in my orchestra.
"Wo want no consciousness of national
differences In tho orchestra. To Introduce
such a thing would disrupt an organization
which has been Uilrty-sU jears In tho
making.
"To ask us to play 'The Star Spangled
Banner' Is embarrassing. It Is almost nn
Insult. Such an attempt would be djstruc
tle of tho ey thing the Symphony stands
for musical art. The public has no right
to demand it."
In a Difficult Position
Doctor Muck's attitude and defense of It
reie the question of l'russlanlsm In music
during tho period of tho war. Ho Is al
leged to be pronouncedly pro-Ocrman In his
smtuthy. His private ilews ho has a
right to hae and hold He is, however,
a public character by lrtue of his direc
tion of one of tho oldest and greatest Amer
ican orchestras His private views need
not necessarily cleave to those of the coun
try in which he Is placed, but certainly
his opinions as an Individual should not
contravene the public opinion of that na
tion, stubbornly and gratuitously. He ovyes
both responsibility and courtesy to those
who make possible both the existence of
the orchestra which he heads and his own
opportunity for artistic expression of his
musical soul.
The Boston Symphony chief's position is
a difficult one Certain sedate Hub citizens
awake each morning fearful that during the
night he has blown up tho Harvard bridge
or twiddled his thumbs to his nose at tho
Sacred Codfish. .At tlmo of going to press
the bridge still spanned the Charles River.
But Doctor Muck Is metaphorically in the
position of twiddling his thumb. Even
though his policy Is countenanced by Major
Henry L Hlgglnson, founder and Maecenas
of the Boston Symphony, apparently it has
not occurred to either that his refusal to
comply with an established custom la In
sulting to tho American audiences for which
tho band plays, that It Is embarrassing to
their patriotic sensibilities to patronize con
certs in the consciousness that their national
hymn is tabooed and that good manners
and the sense of decency should surmount
a personal objection, no matter how deep
seated, no mutter though It Is cloaked in
the guise of art.
Good Breeding and Good Art
Art camouflages many abuses. In this
case It apparently is the last defense for a
pure antipathy and a Teutonic will to domi
neer. Doctor Muck rightly says that art
is international It really should be super
national Did he so icgard it broadly and
widely bis artlstlo sensibilities would not
be outraged by Inclusion of "Tho Star
Spangled Banner" on any program, however
pymphonlcally perfected Despite Doctor
Muck, the public has a right to demand Its
nerformance. It has a right to dictate to
Its artistic servants, of whom Doctor Muck
Is one with tho choice of returning to Ber
lin if lie does not care to abide by Its
wishes. There were conductors before Doc
tor Muck bpth broad-minded and good
mannered, and Germans at that.
Even now Mr. Damrosch, of the New
York Symphony Society; Mr. Stock, of the
Chicago Symphony; Mr. Stransky, of the
Philharmonic all Teutonic racially by birth
or derivation manage to play, tha" Ameri
can unthegi without embarrassment to their
artlstlo sensibilities or destruction of the
harmonlo Ideals of their program making.
Here Mr. Stokovvskl abides "by a venerable
custom, yet neither the spirit nor substance
of his program has been impaired by due
respect to the patriotism of his public
The American people have no quarrel with
German music; the war has not lessened
their appreciation or enjoyment of Bee
thoven, Brahms and the rest. They have
a very Just quarrel with Doctor Muck.
W. R. M.
HATE AND TRADE
With the war over and a peace agree
ment signed, Germany faces a period of
boycott troubles only measured in duration
by.ths worias capacity to nate. Even
though Prussian diplomacy should hood
wink a spineless peace commission Into al
lowing the world's great outlaw to escape
the Just punishment of crime, the Indirect
vengeance of the Injured will surely provide
an indefinite term of torture that may, even
In the absence of adequate restitution, sat
isfy tho demands of Justice. Agreements
between nations cannot guarantee the dissi
pation of personal hatreds. No signing of
parchment can popularize the "Made-ln-Germany"
brand. The Kaiser's signature
at the bottom of "a scrap of paper" cnnot
restore confidence In th honor oc Qarnunr
" " J"i.r""jj" "s isii-semaaiss
Tom Daly's Column
XIX ON TUB SOX
Partty hecaute of the Moh cot of Uvlng,
rarllu because we have faults of our
own,
We must be tolerant, fair and forgiving,
Leaving the sins of our brothers alone.
Bo we are stifling our sneertest laughter,
Canning the language that bites as tt
mocks;
This colgum's gonna be kindly here
after Nix on the Unocksl
Uncle Sam's postage today climb a
penny;
Save tt, dear reader, as much as you.
can.
Don't send us "signs," for we cannot print
any '
Ooshl but we're sorry we ever began.
Once we were "dour," but we mean to bo
"softer,"
Handing out flowers Instead of the
rocks.
This coluytn's gonna be Kindly here
after Xtx on the knocks!
Misguided mortals who held us In terror.
Fearing we'd alba at their little mis
takes, A'otw may go piling up error on error.
We'll never notice their comical breaks.
Maybe we're saner and maybe we're
daftcr;
Thai's to be seen when the future un
locks. This colyum'a gonna be kindly here
after Ktx on the knocks
STILL, ere wo start to icform In this
fu.slilon, thcro nre a few little things we
would slam, things that have caused us to
fly In a passion, uttering sulphurous lan
guage (liko "pshaw!"). Maybe 'twould
take us nil morning to list 'em; maybe
you wouldn't list long. If wo did; maybe
we'd better, deep down in our system,
still keep 'em hid.
But for nil that, we Just can't help
shaking an accusing finger at the Clover
Club, crying: "Smurty, smartyl If you
hadn't poked fun at so many poor fel
lows who sat nt your tablo when you wero
joung and snl.ipy, you'd bo more gen
erally respected and loved now that ago
is upon jou, nnd jour wit would have
waxed mellower than ever your wines
were."
Our llngcr-shaklng Is aimed at no In
dividuals who may happen today to be
engaged In tho duty of sitting up with
the sick brother, but nt tho ghosts of past
punsters who started that gerlal organi
zation upon the downward path. Tlmo
was when tho Clover Club enjoyed power
und prcstlgo beyond that of any other
dining coterlcin this neighborhood. Moses
P. Handy, Louis N. Megargee, James
Pollock, Colonel A. K. McClurc, John I.
Rogers and others who have gono be
yond were tho keenest nnd tho wittiest
of tho town's bold bunquotters In the lato
eighties, when Charlie Deacon was the
busy little secretary and George Plerle, It
seems, was a mere kid, lisping the num
bers of "The Dai by Ram."
There was a deal of good fun at those
first dinners In the cozy second-story
room In tho Httlo Bellevue, a refectory
not nearly so roomy as the ono named for
the club in tho present hostelry. It was
line to be out of tho lino of fire r. cub
reporter, In a borrowed dress suit, per
hapsand listen to tho popping of the
pistols as tho diners poked fun at one
another. But later when Invited auests
camo in for tho rough house and It got
to bo tho fashion to expect that sort of
thing, It seemed to us the complexion of
the dub changed. Tho wit at first had
been like the flash of .sunlight upon a
brandished blade. It threatened, but It
never hurt. But later It needlessly pre
sented the point and pierced and stung.
This may nOt have been altogether to
blame for the passing of the Clover Club's
olden glory, but, at any rate, It was con
tributory. The Five o'clock Club,
which, If we mistake not, was instituted
by some who decried Clover Club meth
ods, became touched with that same dan
gerous propensity to hecklo its guests;
and that, too, Is not the club It once was.
A later entrant Into this field Is the
Terrapin Club, a sub-clan within the
Manufacturers' Club, of which deponent
knoweth little; but it has been Increasing
ly evident of late that the "vogue of the
villainous heckler" Is passee.
ON THE OTHER HAND, there's the
Kelly Street Business' Men's Association.
Don't Knlle!
Of course Kelly street Is a Joke. It's
no more than an Interstice between two
buildings on Tenth street above Chest
nut, and there isn't a single place of
business In all Its short length. The mem
bers of the dining club named for It
are not numerous, but most of them can
sing, and singing Is a better sauce for
one's dinner than speech-making. Also
the exercise of the singing chords seems
to expand the chest and give the heart
a chance. That n.ay be It or it may be
some other causation, but this much Is
true there's more heart, more fine sen
timent, in Kelly street than over we
noticed among those bigger clubs and
tho Kelly streeters are seasoned ban
queteers, mind you.
Listen to this: The first of the club's
members to pass out was Dory Bird, who
died In 1916. Dory's last name was no
misnomer; he was a basso and a good one.
When he had been one year dead a score
or so of his friends, who had sung with
him in Kelly street, stole out quietly to
his grave and held a little song Bervlce
there. That's the heart stuff I
FOOD PROFITEERS are of no one
country or time. The world is their borne,
In a package of century-old news.
papers sent to us by W. W. Hanna there
la proof of this, and curiously enough the
Herbert Hoover connected with It was
one Hoover May. In the Belfast News
Letter of November 17, 1807, appears this
notice:
POTATOES AN , MEAL '
Whereas some ill-disposed Persons have
of lata made a Practice 6f attending at
the varldus avenues'of tho -town,' for the
purpose of forestalling thv Public Market
by buying up the POTATOES and
MEAL, Notice is hereby given, that any
person so offending will be prosecuted
with the utmost severity of the law.
And all Constables are Kreby required
to pay the utmost attention, and to de
tain any MEAL or POTATOES so offered
for sal.
HOOVER KAY. Jun.
P&M, 11. MM. "-
"BUT, MISTER, YOU MUSTN'T BELIEVE EVER'THING YOU HEAR!"
$rt y "'lfo'-yVr '' s'i" Y '
f ' . . . " J-, i . i.' -
Ti
. A .. 1
WAR OBJECTOR
STATES DEFENSE
Issues Must Be Thought Out, Not
Fought Out, Conscientious
Pacifist Urges
To the Vdilor of the Evening Ledger:
Sir Beyond a shadow of a doubt Ger
many Is the worst International brigand
the world has ever seen Today she btands
justly condemned by all civilized nations;
the world Is almost united in Its effort to
defeat her by means of war. If there was
ever a Ju-.t war. If there was ever a war
prompted by high Idealism and unselfish
purpose, this Is such a war.
.Nevertheless, we have in our midst a
group of men and women who absolutely
refuse to aid In the prosecution of this
war. It Is Incumbent upon this group to
show causo why Its members should not
be regarded us a menace as serious to the
nation as Germany herself. I am ono ot
that group, and I ask ou to permit me to
explain why I am a pacifist and con
scientious objector In wartlmo and why I
cannot aid In this war.
I am not ignorant of the crimes Ger
many has committed I neither deny them
nor see any legitimate reason for doubting
the reports circulated concerning them. To
attempt to defend them Is absurd. I
have tho greatest admiration for tho
men who conscientiously feel that tho
only way to restrain Germany Is to wage
war upon her. When I seo these men who
have Joined tho army, men who are willing
to make the supreme sacrifice that an Ideal
of world peace, freedom and democracy
may be realized, I cannot but admire them
Yet I cannot Join them because I feel that
the methl thy have adopted can never
bring aiout tho result they seek In fact,
I think that war must Indefinitely post
pone the realization of world democracy
rather than usher it in. Such a world
order must rest upon mutual understanding
and good will. War does not create either
understanding or good will. Tho problem Is
how can these forces bo brought to bear
upon the present situation.
For years the German people have been
taught that the other European nations
threatened their very existence, and tho
lVopIe doubtless believe this. Strange ns
It Beems to us, tho German people think
they aro fighting a defensive war. Strange
aa It seems to them, we think wo are fight
ing a defensive war In this war both
peoples seo a justification for their belief.
Our problem then Is simply this to con
vince the German people that we do not
wish them HI and to convince ourselves
that the German people are not fighting
for the pure love of carnage, This can
bo done only by creating some basis for
mutual understanding. There is, I think,
only one way by which such an under
standing can be created, rind that Is by
doing something that will convince tho
German people of our unselfish motives.
Tho German people will judge of our
motives by our actions, not by our words.
They will Judge us exactly as we Judge
them. To wage war upon them will not
convince them that we desire for them
equal opportunity for national development.
We must adopt a method that will adver
tise the" motives which animate us, and
point to the ends we see.
I do not now and never have advocated
an active obstructionist propaganda. That
Is a Method which I must condemn an much
as I do war Itself. It creates neither tinder
standing nor sympathy between tho con
tending factions. Nevertheless, when I nm
told that now the question must be fought
out, J. cannot but believe that eventually
the problem must be thought out, and until
than' It will not be solved. Serious Interna
tional problems cannot bo properly con
sidered In time of war. Does war aid In
dispassionate thlnkfng on International prob
lems? I believe that we can nevel- hope for a
sc-lutlon of international problems except
by 'negotiation iftef some bonds of synv
pathy have been found or created. These
nraotlatlons must Jesuit In the estahltt.
ment of some degree ot voluntary co-opera-Hon
among the nations. Tho very nature
of war makes it ineffective In the estab
lishment of voluntary co-operation. This
sort of co-oneraiion is a matter ot will, and
war is Ineffective when used to coerce the
will. It may gain an apparent, nut not a
real, -victory, we must win uermany to our
Ideals, not force her to aaopt the forms in
which we clothe 'they wMte reject! the
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It. The test of practicality Is practice. In
fact, every ideal Is made practical by prac
ticing It. Until an effort has been made
to put an Ideal Into practice, and that effort
has failed, there Is no justification In tho
chargo that tho ideal Is unpractical.
All progress Is made in the faco ot
tho self-styled practical man. For my
part, I feel that there Is nothing so imprac
tical as war, simply because It does not
result In voluntary co-operation between
contending parties.
I eellng as I do. I cannot aid In tho prose
cution of nny war. regardless of tho mo
tives assigned as Justification for It. I must
remain a pacifist In wartime, because I
feel that in pacifism alono a true solution
of this problem is to be found.
Could I with clear conscience aid In a
policy which I feel must delay tho realiza
tion or our bright ldeals7
J. HOWARD BRANSON.
Lansdowne, November 1.
WASTED BUTTONS
To the Vdltor of the Evening Ledger:
Sir Wo read with interest an article
which appeared in the columns ot the
Eveni.no LtmaKn entitled "Buttons Aro
Going to AVnste by Millions In Philadel
phia." You make a strong plea to discontinue
tho use of bono nnd horn buttons because
of their great value as fertilizer, which is
probably a sound conclusion, in view of the
conditions. But you go further and state:
"Ono shudders to think how many extra
thousands of acres of land could have
been cultivated If all America went but
tonless." It might bo possible to convince the world
that such materials as horn and bono should
be used.wheie they will do tho most good
as fertilizer. But your reform measure
would undoubtedly be defeated If you en
deavored to get tho viorld to go buttonless
Even to think of the possibility ot doing
away with that most necessary and con
venient article, the button, which has made
a permanent place in our lives during the
gieat century of development Just passed,
is enough to make one shudder.
Furthermore, It should be understood that
buttons such as aro worn and have been
worn on men's find women's outer garments
aro not made of bone, but out of the vege
table ivory nut, a product of South and
Contral America, which Is admirably suited
for buttons.
That this material seems to be designed
by nature for buttons Is evidenced by the
fact that no other economic use has been
found for It during tho last century, and
especially because it meets Ideally all the
requirements of a button material durabil
ity finish, coloring possibilities and beauty
HENRY T. NOYES.
Rochester, N. Y., October 31.
"A LETTER Fr6m HOME"
To thb Editor of the Evening Ledger:
Sir Wherever we go today we see sol
diers or sailors, generally young, well-built
fellows, worth our looking at. IHs a new
sight to us Americans, these men In uni
form, and sometimes we look at them
curiously, as If they must belong to a dif
ferent breed. But, as a matter of fact they
are the picked youth of our country, some
thing made strikingly visible to us by
tho uniforms they wear.
This youth of the country comes from
cities and towns and farms nt tho call of
the country's need If these men were
doing their ordinary work of peace time we
might not notice them among all tho others
In .the crowd. But they are doing your
work and mine today; they are our hone
for a world of peace In the future.
Youth Is eager and ardent and' doesn't
always show Its own feelings; but to tha
youth doing the ordinary work of peaco time
we all know how much a letter from home
means and how much the sight of a friend
ly face In a strange place. No one can
tell how much his own word of cheer may
do; how It may lighten a blue hour or
keep a man from some passjng tempta
tion. What will we do In the way of chaer
and f Jlendshlp to help this youth' of our
country, made plain to us. wherever we go?
Give them some of the home things thev
left behind I Let them know that we are
of the same blood and that every soul In
America Is back of them as they set out
on the greatest crusade in the history of
the world 1
"What would we have done for the weary
frozen soldiers of Washington at Vatiav
Forge? What for the battle-scarr.H Jlu
and boy of the Civil War? ifero ,, ""
chance to do what he would have Jiked to
do for them, The opportunity knocks at
your door: what will yrfu do, 'with It? .
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What Do You Know?
QUIZ
1. A new Hem say that "Drltnln has bees
raided liy an air armada." What was
the dreut Armada?
2. What was the Ku-Klur Ulan?
3. What do we mean when we ear a number
is quadrupled?
4. With vi hat events In American history were
the Coiiestosa wagons connected?
B. W hear much of "the Italian debacle."
What Is the meajilnc nt the word ana
from what lantuace Is It taken?
0. About when was the typewriter Invented?
7. Or the writers of the Hook of Psalms who
was the most famous?
8. What la forace?
r Where la the city of Sydney?
M '"hat Is a sluice?
Answers to Yesterday's Quiz
1. The medieval method of maklnt slass was
rlumtlrr than the modern method. The
reiiiltlnc Irrrrularltlea in the aid floss
produce a more beautiful effect than that
nf the modern class.
2. Lullirr was the rellslou reformer .wbe
nulled the theses to Wlttenberc clrerch
400 years aco.
3. The counselor for the Department of Slate
become Aclfne Secretary of State In tha
absence of the Secretary.
t. Kmcrltus: honorably dlscbarted from serv
ice. S. Meiiocal la rresldent of Cuba.
0. Joan Ik officially "The Blessed Joan of
Arc."
7. Devonshire: on the peninsula which forms
the houthwest corner of Kncland, Devon
is the county nevt to Cornwall, which
la ut the tip of the peninsula.
8. William the Conqueror took Enzland In
1000. ,
0. October 12, Columbus Day.
10. Spun soldi cold thread prepared for weav
lac. ENGLAND'S HOOVER
NO autocrat, in or out of Germany, cou.d
have had a be'ter training for a Job
where only a flrst-claSs dictator will save
the people from the .weaknesses of their
own petty nature. He learned from youth
the stuff that men are made of through
endless, bitter war with the most Intrenched
trades union among organized labor In
Great. Britain the t,ouchy, fiery workers in
tho steam-coal trade, which Is the, pet and
handmaiden of the British Navy in war
or peace.
Lord Rhondda used 'to be called the
uncrowned king of the South Whales, coal
fields. And he ruled like an old-fashioned
king, who cynically declined to put too
much trust In divine rights. He preferred
to make his rights prevail by mundane
methods. Born In Aberdare, Glamorgan
shire, In 1856, the son of a small coal-mine
owner, he Inherited two pits, which today
would bo considered mean and tiny In
Wales. He Inherited, too, an astuteness
and a stern nonconformity which, so of ten
seem to run together. His father often
told the neighbors, who were 'also his work
men, that he meant David to be a big
figure In the coal trade.
D. A. Thomas, as he was until his barony
was given two years ago, was, therefore,
privately educated and went eventually to
Calus College, Cambridge, and was scholar
of Jesus and Calus colleges. Then he re
turned to the pithead. It was Itself some-,
thing daring then tor a Cambridge man to
take to business. The example has been
followed by thousands since.
The two small pits in tha Rhondda Val
ley, one of the many which run downward
to the Bristol Channel through 'the golden
lands of priceless steam coal, had grown
and doubled. Trade, then, was to the
brave and dating. "D. A." was .both. He
opened as his own shipper In the port of
Cardiff, but scton the enormous growth of i
tho coal trade made It better for him to
confine himself to mining. "To say that it
flourished like the bay tree would ,be as
dreamy as an Eastern, tale. Literally, hun
dreds of pits were sunk In a few 'years
within forty miles of Aberdare, and It w
only In keeping with his father's wish and
his own nonconformist conscience that D.
A. .Thomas .should be among-tho first to
add to his 'holdings.
Things went'cmmarvelouslyv But with
Industrial growth came Industrial strife.
South "Wales ha been for half a 'century
the hotbed ot the most advanced things
in trade-unionism. "D. A.," Individualistic;
and stiff-necked, fought It more than any
other man. Yet he had the name of- being
the best "boss" to work for In the coal field.
He fought the principle, his Cambridge
training taught him was abhorrent ; hut he
cared tot his men as hj father's old' neigh
bors. By no single man In Great Britain
wore traditions of the old school, which bs
Ueved In the personal tbuclf of working
eoneltlons, .better, upheld. Mr,' Htew,
umut the family 1W mnIjm gtjM Me
I eat mm mtixai: j
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