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'$ EDITOniAL DOAIlDt
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tho local nftci published therein.
All rinhts of icptibllcatlon of special dis
patches herciu arc also reserved.
Plilladtlphla. ilurday, January 17. 1920
WHY A LICENSE COURT?
"KTOTWIHSTANDING their admission
' that the national liquor law enforc'ng
the prohib titory amendment to tho fed
'eral const tution supersedes the Brooks
high license law in this state, the
common pleas judges are planning to hold
the usual license court on Mai eh 1.
They might as well announce that they
would adjudicate bankruptcy cases in ac
cordance with the state law which was
superseded in 1S98 by the national bank
ruptcy law, passed by Congress in the
exercise of its const tutional function.
. If the federal law is valid, then the
state, law no longer runs and no power in
tne state has any right even to consider
tin application fo a license to sell intox
icating liquor. No license is needed to
sell nonirttoxicating beverages.
TheTpower of the license court to func
tion has been destroyed by supersciing
federal liquor regulations. This might as
well be admitted now as at any other
time. Those optimistic saloonkeepers
who applv for licenses, and the judges
who attempt to grant them will be wast
ing their time, if not actually violating
the federal law in a vicious manner.
DIRECTOR WINSTON'S PLANS
rIRECTOR WINSTON denies that
-' iJonaid M. Hepburn.' a mechanical
and industrial construction engineer, has
been appointed as head of the street-
cleaning bureau with the ultimate inten- I
tion ff -utt'ng h;m at the head of a
consolidated h:ghway bureau in the" De
partment of PubMc Works.
But a man of Mr. WinHoVs wide bus
iness experience is not likely to consent
long to the division of lesnons'bilitv for
the care of the streets nmong thee dif
ferent bureaus, with three independent
heads oct'ng without consultation with
"one another.
We prefer to believe that Mr. Winston
fs not vet prepared to take the public
fully into his confidence, and that when
the proper time comes, he will announce
that he has perfected arrangements for
putting tho care of the streets into the
hands of one bureau with the most cap--nble
man that he can find at the head of
it
AN AILING PHILOSOPHER
MANY people disagree with Uncle
Dave Lane. Many others have de
nounced him. Yet. according to his
lights, Uncle D-n-e is an honest man. He
says little that he does not sincerely be
lieve. Of how many politicians can this
be said?
The sage of the Twentieth ward has
frequently been held up "and verbally
stoned by the reformers. Yet Uncle
Dave has never dodged. He has done
lus fighting in the open. He has made
no secret of his bel efs and his purposes.
He was a fair fighter because he didn't
wear an elaborate disguise. Even those
who find his political theoiies abhorrent
will be glad, therefore to learn that he
is recovering from the effects of his re
cent illness.
Even as a terrible example. Uncle Dave
lias his ues. Most people, however like
liim because he has never been a hypo
crite. "ROBIN HOOD" DE KOVEN
REGINALD DE KOVEN, who died sud
denly at Chicago at the" age of fifty
nine years will be known in American
musical history as the composer of
''Robin Hood" when it is forgotten that
lie wrote anvthing else.
"Robin Hood" was one of the finest
light operas ever written in America. It
took its place along with the best of its
class in England France, Germany and
Austria. Its merit explains its popular
ity. In the hands of a less canable com
pany of s'ngers than composed the Bos
ton'ans 't wu'rl iiave hpe" velcnmed en
thusiastically but with Barnabee, Mc
naIH. Frothinirham and Cowln.s. nhiv
P'Msted by Jessie Bartlett Davis, there
Jjl'jj a conjunction of a delightful light
I puru wiui eiuuifjiu milkers una actors
which compelled public attention for
f rnauy seasons.
Pe Koven wrote other things of merit,
but non of them hd thn lastintr appeal
that characterizes "Robin Hood."
ONLY TEN MORE NEEDED
THE ratification of the equal suffrage
amendment by the Legislature of
Indiana yesterday brings the number of
consenting states up to twenty-six. Sinco
January 1 the amendment lcs been rati
fied also in Kentucky and Rhode Island.
It must be ratified in ten more states be
fore it becomes effective.
Among the states which have not yet
ratified are Vermont, Connecticut, New
Jersey, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona,
.Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho and Washing.
in, where it is confidently expected that
Uftlrmatlvo action will be taken. What
will happen in Delaware, Maryland and
Vy"es Virginia Is, not xrtfv but the
croup of far oout;ie,m tvHS, PVj
i- expected tottvor the amem
"
I
this paragraph rntifV women will have
the vote in every state.
Thus far 70,000,000 of -the population
of the country nrc committed to tho
proposition, for this number of people
live in the twenty-six ratifying states.
The ten more states needed will bring tho
proportion of the population favoring the
change a long way above three-fourths
of the total.
LATEST WAR SCARE ACCENTS
NEED FOR UNITED PEACE
America's Delay Favors Both Russian
Projectors of World Conquest and
Hysterical Tory Propagandists
rpo AN announcement of a hurry-call
- from Paris for British diplomatists,
add an English semiofficial statement
summarizing perfectly well-known recent
successes of the Russian Bolshevists,
Season with reports of the debut of the
peace league of-nations, which, according
i to us cut cs, has the power to "plunge the
j whole world in war." Stir with the spoon
I of fancy. Bake in the oven of imagina
i tion. Serve in a casserole of hysteria
ware and await indigestion.
That mal"dy seems to have attacked
the chancelleries of western Europe yes
terday. At least it is charitable to so
interj ret an amazing exhib'tion of panic,
and if the fright were real there is hope
for the ministrations of common sense
to act as a cure.
A new world war does not "threaten,"
for a new world war is an imposs'bility.
The populations of exhausted nations
would not wage it. Theie is no cash to
pay for it.
Moreover, no honestly discenvng eye
can distinguish between the Bolshevist
situation today after the "semiofficial"
bulletin has been issued and the status of
roil'tpnt Leninism at the moment im
mediately preceding that disnlay of
British delirium. The soviet armies may
have the l-adius of Ghengis Khan or
Tame-lane in whose old territory they
are, by the way. now operating but they
cannot leap beyond the Ciucasus or scale
tho Hindu Kush over night, nor simul
taneously sack Warsaw, Delhi, Kabul,
Teheran and Pekin by the foice of a fiat.
If the governments of nations wh'ch
were our allies against Germany lolly
believe otherwise they need a mental diet.
If propaganda has seeped into "semi
official" circles and is staging a grand
stand play, the sooner such a detestable
exhibit is called off the better for the
health of the world.
Furthermore, it may be seriously in
quired whether this revolving ball is
actually as ill as certain selfish and in
sidious forces existent upon it seek to
maintain. In an atmosphere which
thoughtless observers have characterized
as "gloom." the machinery of the league
of natiors began to move yesteiday. The
absence of the the United States has been
called calamitous. So it would be if our
isolation weie to become permanent. But
thfre is scant likelihood of such folly.
The foundations of sorrething far dif
ferent from "another world war" were
laid in Paris on January 1G, 1919. What
will be reared upon it is, of course, de
pendent on a host of contingencies. But
the virtue of the basic principles cannot
be blackened by the mistakes or offenses
of their interpreters.
The present "crisis," factitious though
it may be. is fraught with some pos
sibilities demanding frank explanation.
It is not unusual for the overstatement
of fancy to beget the impression of fact
upon which lamentable action may be
based.
Evidently there is considerable fear in
England that the recent Bolshevist vic
tories presage peril to the British pos
sessions in Ind'a. Much loose talk
abounds concerning the chances of a
soviet-inspired Moslem uprising in that
eastern empire. Apart from the piepos
terousness of 'conceiving a triumph of
atheistic bolshevism over one of the most
tenacious of all the great faiths of tho
world, the line-up of religions in India
gives nause to the notion of communist's
conquest. In the great peninsula the
Mohammedans number hardlv rrore than
one-fifth of the total vast population.
The scare mongers have inadvertently
I ignored or else deliberately suppressed
that salient fact. Indeed, examination of
the "new war" sensation indicates just
such departures from truth as mav be
cunningly capitalized to protect Euro
pean iunkers, mil'tar'stic and capitalistic,
to befoul the mission of the league of
nations and to feed the public with such
lies as may give place to tragic facts.
This, of course, is a mere postulation,
for the realization of which something
like cosmic insanity would be needful.
But notwithstanding the present spree of
exaggeration the latest spur to our en
trance into world affairs is sharp.
The Bolshevist danger, although not
nearly so great as it is painted, is real.
Every success over formerly oppressed
and now helpless peoples fans the flames
of the Communist leaders' belief in
"world-revolution." It is difficult to con
vince any fanatic that battlefield victories
are delusory.
Lenine beholds the league of nations
imperiled by intrigue and propaganda.
He beholds the efforts of original enemies
of the pact to distort its meaning. He
sees America aloof from the partnership
and naturally rejoices in the disorganiza-
tion of forces,' the most powerful of which
are moral,
Given this moral unanimity, it is im
probable that any campaign for the Bol
shevist invasion of Poland would be now
projected, or that even an air-drawn
dagger would be seen over India.
The hearty and vigorous co-operation
of tho nations which defeated Germany
and of the neutrals in the peace league
would create a moral armament sufficient,
pe'haps, to impiess even the mad Reds
of Moscow. Ana it tne solid aspect of
authoritative peace did not alter the
situation in the late empire of the czar
there could be found in the league coven
ant thoroughly practical machinery for
the enforcement of h'gh principles.
This apparatus involves a series of
drastic measures which stop short of war
and only consider armed strife as a re
mote contingency. Ai tides XVI and
XVII of Hie covenant cover the case even
of surging Russia.
There are skeptics, of course, and
groups of cynical, selfish militarists and
capitalists who insist that Lenine's ad
vancing giyis can only be silenced by the
.artillery ,o his onponpntR,1But tho
u.u stntes mentioned at the beginning of i
EVENING PUBLIC LEDGEIPHILADELtHIA, - SATURDAY, JANUARY
united moral pressure of the ovcrwhelm-
ing majority of great nations expressed
In severe terms, though not in field cam- i
paigns, is something that has never yet
been tried.
There are reasons for believing that it
will succeed if the union of purpose is
sincere and complete, whereas many a
War has ended in hideous injustice.
Tho incorporation of the United States
into the league is extremely likely to
eiush two of the most nernicious miscon
ceptions ever circulated Lenine's. that
the world is disoiganizcd and is a helpless
victim of his hordes, and the mistaken
belief of certain European agencies in tho
efficacy of raising a hullaballoo to mask
malignant designs.
Ameiica has no monopoly of viitue,
but its position is fortunately such that
it is enabled, when it chooses, to give the
league of nations a much desired and
impressive balance. It is a mighty new
peace not the reckless threats of a "new
war," which has a still heartening op-
portunity to extinguish the latest lurid
and partly snecif us international panic.
PRODUCT OF HYSTERIA
THERE are two fatal objections to the
sed'tion bill framed by tho judiciary
committee of the national House of Rep
resentatives. One is that it attempts the
im"ossible and the ether is that it pro
poses penalties for offenses already pen
alized by law.
A thi'd oWcct'nn might he raised, and
it is the really vital objection to all the
anti-scd!tion laws thus far passed or
pioposed. It is that these laws are based
on the assumption that the state is a
sacred th'ng which it is a crime to attack.
This was the Prussian theory, under
which the citizen was said to exist for the
sake of tho state. The Ameiican theory
is that the state is the creature of the
citizens and exists for their sake. To set
up the cate as a fetish and to make
criticism of it a crime is to introduce a
new and dangerou , and oppressive theory
into American law.
But to the two minor objections to the
juiciarv committee's b'll: The measure
mnkes any acts acrainst the government
which result 'n the death of others a
ciime punishable bv death. Such of
fenses are punishable by the existing
criminal laws as offenses against life
rather than offenses against the state.
If pun'shment is all that is sought no
new laws are necessary. Not only is the
man who does the violence criminally
liable for its results but whoever con
spired with him is also crimirallv liable.
Every attorney familiar with the law is
aware of this.
The measure also provides that no
person accused of anv of the offenses
specified in it mav be excused from testi
fying or producing anv book, paper or
document on the ground that his testi
mony or the book or document mifht
tend to incriminate him. The men who
drafted this part of the bill icnored the
fifth amendment to the constitution in
cluded in the bill of rights ratified by the
first ses'on of the first Congress and
passed on September 25. 1799. and then
submitted forthwith to the states and
ratified by eleven of them within about
two years. That amendment provides
thst no person shall be compelled, in a
criminal case, to be a witness against
h'mself.
The men on the committee are lawyers
and thev are not unaware of this pro
vision. Thp fart that thev have consented
to a bill drafted in nla'n violation of tho
constitution proves that they have not
at the present time sufficient poise to
frame suitable legislation against rpvohi
tionary activity, even if such legislation
were advisable.
A REGULAR GUY
TT iS all so chic," said Captain Bruce
" Bairnsfather, describing things seen
in America.
As he places chief among our assets
and the chiefest of things that delight
him our prettv girls and our musical
shows we take it that he was not using
French but abbreviated English. He
meant "chickens." He added that they
were a little b!t of all right, first-class
and all that sort of thing; and thus
labeled himself as pretty much in the
same class.
It is really quite a relief to have the
captain with us after being patronized
by the poets and other highbrows from
across the pond. He seems to be a reg
ular guv with a fondness for revues and
the bright lights.
Ah, the lights! My word! He never
baw anvthing like them, by George!
All of which is what we might have
expected from the creator of Old Bill.
It is a cinch he wouldn't grouch. If he
saw a better 'ole 'e'd go to it!
The first meeting of
llorological the league of nations
was held in the clock
room of the French foreign office. While
members ticked off the miuutes, the only ab
sence noted was ours.
We gather from re
On the Fires of Truth marksof Sir Oliver J.
Lodge that the me
dium of whom it can be said that her work
is well done is rare. Which is just what one
would expect with so much at stake.
Word comes from
The Snub Direct Brownsville, Tex., that
Villa has left Chihua
hua nnd intends to cut tho Mexican National
Railroad. Probably not in his se.
Now that Uncle Dave
Political Broth Lane is recovering his
itnlity (which causes
all to rejoice), we may expect the old-time
bagu to come nut for Herb.
Mayor Moore's reception in Harrisburg
J Is indication of the truth ofMark Twain's
i declaration mut huiuiub bulix-cub uKe sue-
cess.
Many complaints are being mtde of the
taste of city water. This may be due to the
fact that more people are drinking it now.
If that rocket ever reaches the moon it
will probably find II. C. L. toying with the
green cheese.
Sir Oliver Lodge is here to prove that
there is no ban on spirit! "over tLcrc."
Fashion Note Perils are still beig
chosen in soft red and yellow tints.
Ever so many city officv'UoIders ,7f.-?
to be ou the flrins line in the rcsr iXllr
RED-HEADED AND HOPEFUL
Tom Cooper In State Legislature Fur
nished Precedents for Congress
Later Recognized ln
' "Reed's Rules"
Ity GEOItOK NOX McCAIN
T IIAVIJ referred in the pnst to the parlla-
itipntnry ability of Alfred Crawford, of
Philadelphia, nnd Speaker Henry K. Bovcr
in the House, but in the Semite during Ids
term of office .Scuntor Thomna V. Cooper, of
Delaware, shone fortli eonsnicuou!ly as a
parliamentarian almost vlthout a peer.
"Tom Cooper, red-lieailed and hopeful."
wni the way Georco II. Wolshons once de
scribed liim tliitty jcars ago: and the de
scription chiug to him down to his lamenta
ble death a few years ago.
I?x- Senator and former Judge James Gay
Gordon is one of the very few survivors of
the extra session of 18S3. I nm sure that
j the lapse of jears has not blotted from his
, unusually retentive memory n parliamentary
, '" '--" -'" ' " " "";:
It was made in the State Senate and is
todny one of the authorities embalmed in
"Heed's Rules," a recognized standard au
thority on the subject of parliamentary law.
It was in the matter of counting a quorum.
TN" TnE Senate one day, during the extra
-- session of 'S3. Cooper offered a resolution
to rescind a pieviotis resolution pledging the
Legislature not to' accept pav L' the appor
tionment bil's were not passed. The session
vas an expedient of Governor Robert B.
I Pattion. Tf the reo'iition to take no pav
unless the Democratic apportionment bill
were passed weie adopted it amounted to a
loss of .flfiOO to eacli ..lember of House and
Senate. And that was unthinkable. '
It was a mighty clever scheme of Patti
son's to forte the Legislature to adopt his
idea or suffer pecuniary loss.
On Cooper's part he was trjing to get the
"no-pay" resolution rescinded, fo ns to leave
every one in the Senate free to vote either
for the Republican bills or for compromise,
and then stick to their guns if tho Governor
should eto them.
When it came to a vote Senator Agnew, of
Beaver, sat silent. The Democrats also re
mained silent during the rollcall. This left
the Republicans casting but twenty-five
tes, when twenty-six were required for a
constitutional quorum.
Agnew was stubborn. He was tall, thin,
ascetic and dyspeptic. He was the son of
former Chief Justice Agnew, of the Supreme
Court. He was a reformer of the most rad
ical tjpe, although elected at a Renublican.
He was the specimen of officeholder who
would sacrifice his party unless it lived up
to the extremest of his extreme views.
THE Cooper resolution partisans kept call
ing the roll nnd filibustering in the hope
that some one would yield. Tho uoon ad
journment wns orrleieil.
During recess Senator John K. Revburn
and Cooper arrived at the mutual conclusion
that those whose names were called on the
yeas and nays nnd who were present but
refused to answer were officially present,
whether they voted or not.
It was decided to nut Reburn in the chair
and tight it out on this line. ,
As soon as the Senate convened Senators
Gordon and Kennedy, of Phi'nde'phia, called
the 5eas and navs and then declined to vote.
Cooper instautlv raised tiie point of order
that the fact of their calling the cas nnd
nnjs was proof that they were mescnt. Rey
Imrn decided the point well taken.
Then followed a regu'nr Donm brook com
motion on the Democratic side of the Senate.
There were appeals and charges of "bull
dozing," n faorite bit of desoriptie slang
in those days. Rut it was in vain.
When the vote was taken Gordon and
Kennedy and the rest of the Democratic
Senutors who were visible were counted as
present and voting.
BUT the worst was yet to come.
Cooper was not content to leave
the
situation in any doubt. He plotted a scheme
among the Republicans with the obiect of
reducing the Democratic position to tho last
point of absurdity.
In connection with Senator Amos Mylin,
of Lancaster, John 11. Revburn nnd a few
others of their kind. Cooper arranged with
Mjlin, who was president rro tern of the
Senate, to call Kennedy to the chair at a
time when only the dull routine of a Senate
afteruoou was ou.
In u few minutes, as prearranged, the Re
publicans, led by Cooper, started a fight. It
was so cleerly staged that the Democrats
walked into the trap. It was a purelv par
tisan issue, of no particular importance, I
think, but Senator Homer Humes, father of
the present United States district attorney for
western Pennsylvania, called for the yeas
and nays, which, I beUeve. was seconded by
Senator Gordon, of Philadelphia.
Cooper, ns a part of the scheme, started in
on a long harangue nbout the stubbornness
of his Democratic colleagues. He made the
same point of order that Revburn had sus
tained. Kennedy, jouug, able, eloquent and
resourceful, promptly ruled the point not well
taken; then came the eas und nays.
It was the same old result twenty-five
Republicans oting and the Democrats pres
ent refusing to respond to their names.
lie retcrsed the ruling of Reyburu that
those who called for the yeas and nnys should
be counted even though they did not vote.
Suddenly, as if the idea was an inspira
tion, although it had been carefully mulled
over, Cooper withdrew his remarks on his
nppeal and raised the point of order that at
least the chair uas pieient Kennedy mak
ing the needed twenty -six votes.
There was nothing left for Kennedy, the
temporary presiding officer, to do but climb
the heights of absurdity and decide that ho
was not present although .n the chair.
When Representative Tom Reed as speaker
of the House at Washington made his cele
brated ruling ou counting the quorum he cited
the Tom Cooper case in defense of bis posi
tion. The new municipal administration is
showing appreciation of the fact that the
province of a city government Is tc get the
work done rather than to provide places for
political adherents.
The Young Lady Next Door But One
wonders if it wouldn't be n good idea to
lure all the Bolshevists into Siberia und then
keep them there.
The Senate investigation goes far tu
prove that constructive criticism, when bot
tled up, is nlWuys in danger of becoming de
structive criticism.
England bus come to the conclusion that
if she had takcu time by tho forelock there
would now be less dauger of hair-pulling in
the Kast.
What appears to have been thoVnatter
with Commander Ragley was that there was
nobody to save him from his friends.
The Bolshevist propaganda made great
progress yesterday. All pedestrians wore red
noses and red cars,
It is n mighty small community that
won't possess an "orlgiual Hoover man" Jf
KAki m works out, v
PPWfciviittu'1-
V.', Mi. t i I I I N k f rif
I WWI l -I I u -
lx.Wavr
I
ymmsk
i r i rHt..' At,. is
THE CHAFFING DISH
The New Era
Rev. Homer Topo dellveied an address
celebrating the arrival of national pro
hibition News Item.
When Homer smote, 'is bloomic' lyre
'E made us dry from sea to tea,
And wot we think wo may requite,
Enceforth, will be on strict Q. T.
THE FEMINIST MENACE
By William McFee
(Special Correspondent of the Chaffing Dish)
Editorial Note When William JIcFce's
novel "Casuals of the Sea" was published, in
JVIO, it made a considerable sensation. The
other day we were talkinp tolth an admirer
of Mr. McFee's uork who was once connected
with a Philadelphia publishing house. lie
told us that after "Casuals" was published
he read if, J!7;cd it greathi and wrote to a
literary agent in Xeu York, "Why don't you
ever send us something like 'Casuals of the
Seat'" The agent, rubbing his hands, re
torted that he had sent the manuscript of
that vem book some, time before, and it had
been declined. Our friend looked the matter
up and found that the book had indeed come
to the office, hal been read by the young lady
employed as a "first siete," and she had re
jected it.
We discussed this little item of neies in a
letter to Mr. McFee, and this is his icply:
TALKING of female first-sieves, without
actually going so far as to contend that
there is something rotten in the state of
Denmark, I would respectfully draw atten
tion to the fact that it was the result of
giving a woman too" much power which led
Hamlet to emit that aphorism. If an alien,
who has to carrv an Identification Passport,
with his thumbprint und a photo which
makes him look like a member of the crimi
nal classes, may venture an opinion, there is
just a shade too much of the distaff in Amer
ican life. It is my fate to receive a large
number of letters from young ladies who
really ought to be washing the dishes instead
of writing to strange men. As a rule they
arc "aspirants" to the magazines, or they
are living npart from their husbands and de
sire to "live their own life." One recently
demanded my exact age and the color of my
eyes, which to a person bordering on a sedate
middle age is little short of brutal. But the
point is, that these engagingly curious young
women are portents of a state of society in
which their sex is dowered with a perfectly
preposterous amount of freedom nnd power.
I would say that this free-verse which is
such a vogue just now is the literary equiva
lent of the loosening of the bonds of disci
pline in modern society. To those who de
mand the right to produce free-verse I would
say, "Yes, certainly, if you can write verse,"
To a young lady who wants to correspond
with me, u stranger of questionable probity
and virtue, I would say, "Yes, if you say
your prayers and can cook a IFieiier schnitzel
viit knit Kartoffcl Halal or prepare a Filet
dc loeuf aux champignons and get away with
it." There is a trick in this, of course. If
you can write poetry, if you have mastered
the metrical craft, you will not fob off upon
a simple public the rough elipplugs and odd
ments of your workshop and call it free verse.
If you can cook, you will not wr.nt to write
to n harassed stranger who is half off his
head with the hundred nnd one complications
of a ship's engine-room and who wants to
get homo to his tea. No, jou will already
have snared an accessible and eligible man
and will be busy adjusting the uoose nbout
his neck.
AT TIIE suiue time there is u danger in
udvising the publishers to employ big
fellows as readers of manuscripts. Arnold
Bennett deals with this very sk'lfully in ono
of his books on authorship. The b.g fellow
has bis own ux to grind. He Is preoccupied
with Ids own work. If he were not he w ould
not be n big fellow. And most literary men,
Pig anu lime, nre enooK-n-uioeK with preju
dices. I, for exnmple, would have turned
down II. G. Wells's last three novels. I
would have sent back Turklngton'B Ramsey
Miiyolland and advised hira to rewrite tho
last port again, leaving out the war I In
deed, I would have a sjlp printed and Bent
with al communications to autLors:
'No manuicript will le considered hy fjfo
1,, 1920
THE WEEK'S HIGH' SPO'TS
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1ST
.house which allocates more than six pages
in all to the great tear. Attention is di
rected to the fact that a considerable num
ber of things happened before August,
101 'i, which might possibly form the basis
of a readable story.
This, in red ink, might cause a fluttering
in tho covies now nesting in tho Litfcrary
Tree, but it would do a world of good.
A GAIN, you must remember that the idea
" behind the publishers use of young fe
male first-sieves is to tap the public taste.
If this means the occasional los3 of real
books, I fancy the publishers (who are doing
extremely well) ure resigned to it. After all,
I am prepared to concede that the average
publisher knows bis business. He may go
for big names, becoming a mere speculator
on futures, or even just an authorized printer
for a famous author. He may go for the sort
of books the first-sieve likes. He may pub
lish a large number of trashy talej and make
enough money to risk the issue of a few sound
novels. Or he may get somebody to translate
u dreary affair by the celebra'ed Czecho
slovak author Pesky Dustbinski und spend
thousands convincing the public that they
ought to read it. He generally gets there,
observe. Pesky Dustbinski's trilogy, "The
Apocalypse of the Nine AVhite Yak-Tails"
goes into twenty-seven editions, und the men
on the S :03 express are heard to remark, as
they deal the cards across the gray paste
board on their knees, "What's it all about,
uuyway?" It doesn't matter what they
think, my dear sir. Their wives are dis
cussing Pesky Dustbinski at the women's
club. It is they who make him what he is,
a wealthy, well-known author. It is they
who crown uS,kings or kick us out into the
yard. Personally, I object very strongly to
this. And I rather think that if American
men and women were to learn exactly how
this feminino paramountcy strikes the women
of the older civilizations they would be filled
with a wild surmise.
THIS is a big question too big to deal
with in a letter and involves an inquiry
into the very nature of Liberty. It raises
tho problem whether we westerners have,
after all, a monopoly of that blessed condi
tion. I have u dim, not-yet-worked-out
notiou that the women of America ivill wreck
democracy yet if they are not hobbled and
returned to the pastures. It Is unfortunate
that Liberty is symbolized as n woman, for
women know uothiug about Liberty. . . .
Bv
TJT I must desist. I hear the women of
iVmerica are protesting against the re
vival of "The Tnming of the Shrew." It is
a pity we have not a few more Petruchios.
I warrant me Kate didn't belong to a
women's club! I would subscribe to a fund
for placing in the hands of every schoolgirl
a copy of Katherine's last speech in Act V,
with the recommendation that she commit it
to memory and recite it nt her mother's club.
And so, as Pepys says, to bed, , . .
WILLIAM MoPEE.
Why Fillings Leave Home
"These fillings fail you nnd eomc out?"
The dentist jeered "Why, ma'am, you're1
daffy!"
But uh, since then I've had a bout
Willi adamant salt-water taffy.
M. V. N. S.
Bald Men Will Kindly Sympathize
When the will of John J. Gauss was pro
bated today there was a serious falling out
among the heirs. News Item,
A Bwect-voiced client has just called us up
to ask if we ever "climinato" material sent
in to the Dish.
Wo told her, alas, that wo do j but she was
eo Awfully nice about It that we ire j olng
toMnmp' It over again and see wlult we can
dd'ab&iiR. BOCUfMm
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CHANGED
IN DISTANT fields they lie,
Young lads whom you and I
Have teased and played with sunny after
noons, Have kissed or flouted under gentle moons
In distant fields they lie,
Beneath the blood-bought soil of Picardy,
Their names forever set
Among the great whom Time may not forget
In distant ilelds th'ey lie
Sojdothcd upon with majesty,
So far so far
We can but view their shining as a Btar
That thrones its deathless fire
Above the puny reach of our desire
Of love or grief.
It seems beyond belief
That we have ever known
These lads to hero-stature grown;
That these have ever been to us the gay,
tiight-hearted comrades of a summer day.
Ida Judith Johnson, in Contemporary
Verse.
Without casting any slurs against able
and conscientious correspondents, it may be.
noted as a matter of general Interest that the,
acutest phases of the Bolshevist peril usually
synchronize with a dearth of news elsewhere,
Report has it that a flock of wild gees
swiyit southward over the Delaware river at
Hog island yesterday. This gives confirma
tion to the theory that the old woman pluck!
them during a snowstorm.
The news of the world daily demon
strates thut the red flag of Bolshevism Is not
a banner but a signal with which to stop
the train of progress.
Giving the auto a 6how:
tag day till January 31.
Every day l
What Do You Know?
QUIZ
1. In whnt branch of scienco did Sir Oliver
Lodge first win his reputation?
?. What is the original meaning of the word
rostrum?
3. Name three operas by Reginald D
Koven, the American musical com
poser who has just died.
4. What is a Loehaber ax?
C. Why is the psalm tune "Old Hundredth"
so called?
C. What is wrong with this quotation from
Shakespeare "Cry havoc and un'Msa
the dogs of war!"
7. What American general was known a
"Old Reliable"?
8. Who was J. Q. A. Ward?
0. What is the opening form of address to
the Prince of Wales?
10. Which food contains the greater quan
tity of proteitf, meat or eggs?
Answers to Yesterday's Qulr
1. A hierophant is nit initiating priest or
an' expounder of sacred mysteries.
2. Herbert Hoover's iniddlo name is Clark,
3. Two rivers of India are the Indus and
the Ganges. .
4. "Impasto" is the laying on of color
thickly in painting.
D. The death of President Zhai7
has been attributed to cholera rnortua
caused by drinking iced 'a'r '
iced milk and catiug immoderately
cherries. ((. fr
C. "Infra dig." is an abbrevlatlor i of "
dignatatern," meaning "beneath a
7. Tv members of tho Medici fLJ.
became queens of France were U
eriuc, who married Henry II.
Marie, who married Henry iv.
8. The Republican national convention
to be held first this ye". u
0. Irving' story of "Rip Van i WlnMe w
published In "The Sketch RooK jf
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