Evening public ledger. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, August 14, 1920, NIGHT EXTRA, Page 8, Image 8

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, - PUBLIC LEDGER COMPANY
x craus it k. cunTis,rii)BNT
Charles II. L,uUnton, Vice resident:
John C. Jfartln, Secretary and Treasurers
Philip. B. Collins. John il Wllllsma and
, John J. Bpuriteon, Directors.
i EDiToniAfc noAnD!
t' Ctrcs II. K. CiiTin, Chalrmkn
v iPAVID E. SMILET Editor
AJOHN C. MARTIN
. General Business Mir.
s.
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ty Address all communications to Eventno
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rhlUdtlphU, 5ilurdiy. Autnl II, 1920
A FOUR-YEAR PROGRAM FOR
PHILADELPHIA
Things on which the people expert
(he new administration to concen
trate Its attention!
The Delaware river bridge.
A drydoek big enough to accommo
date the largest ships
Development of the rapid transit sys
tem. A convention hall.
A building for the Free Library,
An Art Museum
Enlargement of the water supply.
Homes to accommodate the popula
tion. WHAT IT ALL MEANS
THE explanation of the recent bond
transactions of the Sinking Fund
Commission with a syndicate of
bankers headed by Drexel & Co., is so
Infantile and inconsistent that it is
astonishing that it could hare been
signed by the Mayor, the Controller and
Mr. Stotesbury.
In, the first place, it sets forth that
the city treasury needed money and that
there was a large sum in the sinking
fund. An opinion was obtained from
the City Solicitor that it would be legal
for the sinking fund to make a tem
porary loan to the City Treasurer in
anticipation of the payment of taxes.
So. the Citv Treasurer was allowed to
borrow ?3,2o0,000 from the sinking'
fund.
Here is a transaction entered into on
the assurance of the City Solicitor that
It was legal.
Then the city offered $4,000,000 in
bonds for sale. The Mayor, the Con
troller and Mr. Stotesbury intimate
,over their own signatures that they
sere not sure of the legality of the
bonds until the lawyers of private
bankers, one of them Mr. Stotesbury's
own bank, had passed upon the ques
tion. They would not pass upon it un
rtCijJ theJ were going to make a bid. So!
the bonds were sold to the banking
syndicate In order that the city might
be assured of their validity and then
part of them were bought back from
the bankers, one of whom is a mem
ber of the Sinking Fund Commission,
and a broker's commission was paid
on the transaction.
This show of confidence in the legal
wisdom of the City Solicitor in one
transaction and the doubt of it in an
other, both set forth in the same letter,
.leaves the gentlemen offering the ex
planation in a most unenviable position.
The disclosures have justified the de
mand that there be more publicity about
the transactions of the Sinking Fund
Commission. If the transaction in ques
tion is not peculiar juggling, then some
new word must be invented to describe it.
CUNNINGHAM MUST STICK
MB. CUNNINGHAM intimates that
he has not yet decided whether he
will accept the chairmanship of the sub
committee on finance of the Republican
city committee. It contain- seventeen i
Varr supporters nnd six supporters of (
tnc city administration. Hut the chair
man, barked by popular sentiment, can
dictate its policy if he chooses.
Unless we mistakp his temper. Mr.
Cunningham will decfile to accept the
cuuirmunMiip, ami irnm mat urn;;(;
ground will defend the city employes
ngalnst everv effort to shake them down
for caninni-n contributions. Thnr . I
Kill lUt 11 '
is in hearty sympathy with the provi- '
ions of the barter was indicated by '
his remarks to a representative of this !
newspaper jesterday.
The charter absolutely forbids the ' pedestr'ans rush in front of swift-rush-policemen
and firemen to make Lny I ing vehicles, why people dash on and
campaign contributions, nnd by im-off nioxlng trains, hy thousands of
plication it forbids all other city cm- calamitous chances are taken every day,
ployes to subscribe" to campaign ' tiiai understand why financial
S. t. Th0J,'"'V0,"' "f Pr7io" '!w: fakers beget their fatal and monotonous
Aiuo vrvu II!I1'J'-1 UHlll.M m,, IJUllllCai
finance committee has found a. round
about way to hold up the i ity employe.
Even though the Vare majority on
Mr. Cunningham's rommlttee should
vote to follow the old custom, Mr. Cun
ningham as chairman can frustrate the
whole plan by telling the men thut they
need not contribute, and that if they
do they will suffer the penalty which
used to be meted out to those who
didn't.
SWEETNESS IN THE NEWS
THARLY this week there was n si2n
J ' in the window of n Wni ...i
store announcing that customers r-nniii
-- .-.u, f,,.i.i y i
-have all the sugar they wished for
twenty cents a pound. Testerdaj it
was announced that a retail grocer in
New Yoik was offering sugar to his
customers for seventeen cents, with no
limit ou the amount bought.
The slump in sugnr prices which
every one has been expecting is here.
Because there was n sbortaee in the
world crop it was thought that tlvre
was no limit to the price which could
bo charged. But when the price reached
twenty-seven cents, or even before, the
people began to curtail their consump
tion of supir nnd large stocks wen left
Jn the hands of the dealers. It u?ins.
to look as if this curtailment had been
treat enough to reduce the demand
below the supply.
When there are more sellers thuu
buyers the price comes down, WLen
(' 'there are more buyers than seller the
.;pt;if;fl w iiPs We seem to have
V;,reachfkl tKj point where the sellers are
bidding against one another in order
to get the buyers.
This is iood news to sweeten the
day's rending.
FINANCIAL QUACKERY IS
BACK AT THE OLD STAND
i
Ponil's Preposterous Qamo and tho!,ald wlth the funds delivered by pro
Public Appetite Which It Whetted
Are Painfully Traditional
T)ONZI will soon be forgotten.
r
Memory to be worth cultivating
must be accompanied with the gift of
interpretation. Individuals possess it,
and sometimes they hove employed their
talent in transmuting Llstory from a
sterile record of dates and names Into
a pregnant comment on humnn motives,
liut the great volumes grow dusty. In
the mass, mankind is Impatient of the
retrospective preacher. In the green
garden of gullibility imagination bodies
forth the form of things 'unknown, eager
hands rise to clutch the impalpable,
the inextinguishable cheerfulness of hu
manity gilds the scene with Irresistible
allurement.
The past Is a solemn bore. Dance on
to the contemporary tunc of easy
money! A shortage of revelers is al
most inconceivable. Is there not "one
born every minute"?
And that is why, In the real signifi
cance of the word, "50 Per Cent
Ponzl" will be unremembcred, and why
also the blame attaching to him has
something of the nature of a particu
larly unpleasant boomernng. The
heavy end swings around into the pub
lic that gleefully made him and bitterly
bewails his financial demise.
As with most unaltcrablo truths,
triteness dulls the edge of preachment
in the Ponzl case. It is rather the
magnitude of the promises and the ex
tent of the downfall which distin
guish this reckless adventure from
hundreds of others in which public
participation is dishcartcningly con
stant. Blue-sky laws have been framed to
check the ancient and abiding popular
faith in countless schemes in which risk
is discounted In the dazzling glamour of
prodigal reward. Something, of course,
has been accomplished by such legisla
tion forbidding the sale of stock In en
terprises not subjected to an examina
tion of its backing and a state rqport
on the property nssets.
But paternalism of this sort is lim
ited in scope. The J. Bufus Wnlllng
ford mind is ingenious, nnd no statute
has ever been devised equal to combat
ing the fertile invention of financial
wizards or the credence of their ir
repressible adherents.
- Not the least seductive feature, it
must be confessed, of the Ponzi ex
ploit was the profitable possibilities of
the present chaotic state of interna
tional exchange. Seven-cent frai.es and
one-cent marks, to say nothing of the
cheap money of the Balkan states nnd
of Italy, have glorified the American
dollar. Visitors abroad have of late
been amazed and delighted to learn how
far thplr native currency would go.
Investments entirely legitimate ha,ve
been made in foreign mediums of ex
change. As these rose profit was ex
tracted in precisely the same way as
money is made in the stock j irket.
Bankers throughout the country have
been quick to realize the situation. The
foreign exchange system nns been ex
amined with the closest scrutiny.
The rigidity of the postal-order
rulings fixed by the International Postal
Union has made it possible to purchase
coupons on the basis of the now ficti
tious par value of, say, French or
Italian money. But whnt could be
done honpstly in this way had probably
been developed to the fullbcfore Charles
Ponzi began to operate.
American financiers nre reckoned as
shrewd us any, nnd common sense is
certainly strained by the supposition
that the secret of multiplying millions
by so comparatively simple an opera
tion was unknown to any one except a
miraculous Italian-American and his
agents.
The fundamental weakness In the
Ponzl program was that which has
characterized every get - rich - quick
scheme vcr launched. The simple
question, Why was it necessary for the
inventor to ask the public to share his
trcllIlurP? could be raised. It is this
pertinent query which subscribers to
stork promisiug speedy fortunes so in-
variably tail to hounci.
... ... 1
To reason why no such deterrent is
invoked is to solve the whole riddle of
human lccklessness. When we know
why frail canoes arc overloaded, why
round of successors.
The brevity of the human memory is
perhaps a partial explanation, but that
really i .opounds another enigma. How
can the brain capable of registering and
retaining profusions of impressions of
all sorts b.come so panlyzed when an
alleged sui'den road to wealth is re
eaU'd? Public cupidity will not solve the
mystery, for human beings in the mass
possess innumerable counterbalancing
antidotes to selfishness. Morp likely it
s the ungovernable power of the imagi
nation which, when the nrosnects of
fortune nre entertained, soars to dizzy
heights. A childish delight in fairy
-
tales and a naive taste for the improb
able have been among the prime allies
of the unscrupulous promoter.
Such traits of the human family will
account in some degree for the feats
attempted 200 years ago by the no
torious Scotchman, John Law. This
able but unprincipled gambler was the
hypnotic blower of the unprecedented
end still unexampled Mississippi Bubble,
a baseless scheme which plunged the
whole of France into a frenzy of spec
ulation, made millionaires of valets
and dragged the regent of the kingdom
into the mire of tho most preposterous
"finances," Ponzi was a parochial
amateur beside Law. His methods, too,
were relatively petty compared with
tho impossibly grandiose endeavors of
the movinMsplrita of the. South Sea,'
EVENING' PUBLIC
company in 1711, which actually prom
ised to extinguish the cntlro national
debt of Great Britain t
There are, it may be noted, no racial
llt.tbln,a In II.A mnt. nf UnflHulnl
'quackery. Inseparable from Its con-
stltution Is the primary principle that
i aspirants for high-speed gains sha I be
vlous customers.
This was the method by which 'Wil
liam P. Miller, otherwise known as
"520 Per Cent Miller," worked. The
latest comers were Inevitably ruined.
There were no, funds. Miller, who
served a term In Sing Sing, now mod
estly conducts a grocery store in a Long
Island village.
Stripped of confusing nnd Inconse
quential details, pyramiding seems also
to have been the Ponzl program. With
assets said to amount to about $4,000,
000 and liabilities of $7,000,000, no
other outcome save collapse was pos
sible. Thousands of credulous investors in
his flimsy schemo are perhaps ruined.
The mnjority are said to be In mod
erate circumstances, including numbers
of the promoters' compatriots. Their
plight is sufficiently piteous without
further moralizing.
It is the next Ponzl which excites
less tender interest.
Will he play the same old threadbare
game In the same old threadbare way?
Is there indeed no limit to the public
appetite for financial myths?
HARDING'S CONSCIENCE
SENATOB HARDING shines bril
liantly by contrast with Governor
BIckctt in his attitude on the duty of
legislators in handling the equal suf
frage question.
Governor Bickctt's special message
to the Legislature of North Carolina
urges the ratification of the amendment.
He says in effect that the amendment
will bo ratified anyway within six
months and that the North Carolina
Democrats cannot prevent it. So he
urges them to ignore their objections
and accept the amendment as the part
"of wisdom and grace."
This doctrine that you must support
n thing to which you are opposed be
cause you cannot make your opposition
effective will not appeal to any one
with high ideals. It is the doctrine of
shifty expediency.
Senator Harding, on the other hand,
In a letter to the Republicans of the
Tennessee Legislature, says he would
like to see the amendment ratified and
that it would be fortunate for the Re
publicans "to play their full part in
bringing about ratification," but he docs
not want any legislator to vote con
trary to his conscientious convictions.
If the Republicans think they have no
right to vote on the amendment because
of the prohibition in their state consti
tution ngainst action by a Legislature
elected when the amendment was not
an issue, then tbey must obey their con
sciences. The most ardent equal suffragists
must admire the senator for this high
standard of loyalty to conscience which
he holds up to view. If men will be
tray their consciences for one thing they
will for another. It will be much better
that equal suffrage be delayed six
months than that it be se'cured now
through the surrender of their belief by
men who nre either opposed to it or
opposed to the method by which it is
sought to get it.
A MODERN MARVEL
SENATOR PENROSE is said to be
gratified because the number of his
new automobile license tag is TiOO.OOO.
Other Pennsylvnnlans, familiar with
the fact that seven yenrs ago there were
only nbout 1,000,000 automobiles in
the whole country, will be impressed
by the marvelous and astounding in
crease in the use of motor vehicles.
What has happened is revealed by
the figures compiled by Automobile. In
dustries, figures which nre too low
rather than too high. They show that
in 1913 there were only 59,000 enrs in
Pennsylvania. The number rose to
70,000 in 1014 and to 107.000 in 1915.
The next year they jumped to 150,000,
an increase of nearly 50 per cent. In
1017, 230,000 cars were owned In this
state, n gain of more than 50 per cent.
In 1918 we had 325,000 nnd in 1010
370,000.
Already this year the number is
500,000, as Senator Penrose's license
tag Indicates. Henry Ford make3 more
cars in a single year now than were
made by all the manufacturers in the
country in 1011.
There were more than 0,000,000 cars
In operation in tho country last year.
The number this year is probably in
excess of 7,000,000. As only about
1,000,000 cars were made In 1010, it is
evident that the cars made within re
cent years nre btanding the wear and
arc still in use. It isnot necessary to
buy a new car every year in order to
get good service. And styles have been
so standardized that a car two or three
years old docs not look out of date, ns
It used to do when a new kind of body
was put on the market every .year.
There has been no radical change In
body design for several years, and the
present style is so satisfactory that it is
iikely to prevail for a long time.
Pennsylvania, with half n million
cars, has not reached the limit of con
sumption. In order to equal the record
of some of the rich western states wo
shall have to own 1,000,000 cars. No
one need be surprised If we reach that
number within five years. Then the
man whose tag bears a figure one and
six ciphers will swell with tfie same
kind of pride that ix expanding Senator
Penrose's ample bosom today.
WHERE THE TROUBLE LIES
WHY will a contractor take a job
which hp knows cannot be done
without violating the city ordinances?
This question is suggested by the
complaint of Thief Dunlap, of the
BuTeau of Highways, because con
tractors arc depressing the sldewnlks
in order to permit access to basement
garages in private residences and be
cause they are extending porches be1
yond the building line.
The man who wishes his porch en
larged may or may not know the re
strictions placed by prdlnance upon
such work, but the contractor is sup
posed to know.
Ifut does not part of the responsi
bility rest on the public officials who
grant permits for repairs to buildings
and for relaying the sldewnlks? It
seems as if the remedy for 'the evil of
which Mr, Dunlap complains, lies, in
tho City Hall. , ,
0
, r t
-LEDEKApHILADteLPHlAV SATURDAY, 'AUGUST M4, 1020
WHEN QUAY QUAKED
It Was When Durham and Elkln
Were on His Trail But He Out
generaled Them and Shelved
Elkln In the Supreme
Court Bench
By GEORGE NOX McCAIN
DnOTHONOTARY HENRY F.
WALTON is authority for the state
ment that the shortest nnd, Incident
ally, one of the most important Repub;
llcan state conventions ever held In
Pennsylvania lasted Just seventy-two
minutes.
It was'the convention of April, 100-1,
which marked the withdrawal of Gov
ernor Samuel W. Pennypacker' as a
candidate for the Supreme bench and
the selection of John P. Elkln for the
place by the unanimous votes of all the
delegates present.
It marked the Inst trrent turning nolnt
in the spectacular and politically tri
umphant career of Matthew Stanley
Quay.
By a movement that was character
ized by all of the far-sighted shrewdness
nnd apumsn for which he was noted,
Quay wiped Out the last vestige of op
position to his bossshtp and established
himself firmly In tho control of his party
until the day of his death.
There are scores of men living in
. .. . -r .... .1 " . .
Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania
wno rocan viviuiy tne episoues oi mm
memorable gathering. Quay directed its
destinies from Atlantic uity, just ns
Penrose from his nrmchalr on Spruce
street helped to manipulate the pawns
in tho presidential game at the recent
Chicago convention.
Tho difference was that the climax
of tho convention of 1904 was reached
with a smoothness nnd precision that
were totally lacking in Chicago.
The one performed like a company of
trained ecala ; the other carried on llko
the Inmates of a bear-pit after a five
days' fast.
JOHN P. ELKIN nnd Israel W. Dur
ham came nearer wrecking Matthew
Stanley Quay's political future than
any other men or set of men ever did.
Not even when his entranco to the
United States Senate was barred by
deadlock, and John Wanamnker and his
followers were hurling javelins of defi
ance nnd derision at the man from
Beaver, did he stand in such peril as
when Elkln and Durham, with the nld
of Larry Eyre, Frank McClain, Harry
Walton and a battalion of the younger
crowd of aspiring leaders, menaced his
strangchold on the party and sought
to adminlstcmhe dose that would nave
bade "good-night" to all his future.
TYURnAM never forgave Quay for
L refusing to indorse Elkln for the
governorship, thus compelling mm, on
the score of regularity and In consid
eration of past favors, to turn against
his bosom friend and salute the rising
banner of Judge Pennypacker for Gov
ernor. I met Durham In Washington, In the
midst of the crisis and It was a crisis
in his life ns he was hurrying from
Florida to hear the worst from Quay's
own lips.
He was haggard, with the look of a
man who had lost three nights sleep
in succession. Never voluble, he wns
more reticent than ever. His only com
ment as we stood in the lobby of the
Willard was:
"I was afraid Romcthlns might hap
pen, but I didn't think he'd dare do it."
liut yuny darea anrtning.
JOHN P. ELKIN, by virtue of party
J loyalty and'ns a faithful servitor of
Quav. was entitled to tne nomination
for Governor In 1002. But he was
popular with the younger element In
the party, particularly in the country,
and Quay feared him.
Self-preservation demanded that
Elkln be sacriticeu.
The convention in 1902 that nomi
nated Governor Pennypacker left scars
that would require years1 to heal. Quay
was aware of this, and there is little
doubt that he, from the moment of
Pennypnckcr's inauguration, began lay
ing the foundations of the coup which
he developed nt the convention of 1004.
EARLY In that year the rumor was
industriously circulated that, hav
ing gratified his ambition to, nominate
nnd elect a Governor of his own selec
tion. Quay proposed to put up Governor
Pennypacker for the vacancy on the
Supreme bench which was due.
The origin of the runjor could never
be traced to Quay's door. As for Gov
ernor Pennypacker, he refused to dis
cuss the question in any shape or form.
But tho gossip persisted and finally
crystallized into an accepted belief that
Pennypacker was Quay's slated can
didate. But It was not until the day before
the state convention convened that
Quay's plans were disclosed.
Tho Philadelphia delegation had
adopted n resolution offering its support
to the Governor. With this indorse
ment in hand a committee hended by
David H. Lane waited upon him. He
wns ready for them. His reply was
brief nnd in writing. It wns that he
had decided not to permit his name to
be presented to the convention.
Then the committee mnrched down
Capitol Hill ngaln nnd over to Pen
rose's hendquarters. From there they
visited Mr. Elkin and tendered him
their support for the supremo Judge
ship. The Intimate details of that transac
tion, which seemingly wns conceived and
culminated in mo oner space oi iwo
hours, is known to fewer than half a
dozen'men now living.
Elkln wns not a party to it. The
offer of the place to him wns n sur
prise. He asked for time to consult his
friends, but in the end decided to ac
cept the nomination.
THAT nighthe cnucus was a camou
flage. Instructed delegates voted for
their candldnte and then rushed pell
mell in the grand finale to the Elkln
standard.
Next morning s convention was a
mere ratification meeting. Tho ways
had been greased. There wns no oppo
sition and the perfunctory work of the
body was, as I have stated, completed
In the shortest time ever consumed by
n Republican state convention. Henry
F. Walton nominated Elkln Und Frank
B. McClain seconded it.
It wns n master stroke of a master
political inlnd.
K.kln could not well decline an honor
that was thrust upon him, ns Quay well
knew. It removed him from active par
ticipation in further political contest.
Crowned with high honors, he was gen
tly but firmly eliminated from the path
way of Quay's future.
British Laborltes, who are toying
with bolshcvism, might also read with
interest the Associated Press wireless
message from Constantinople to the
effect that the Turks are showing in
difference to the treaty signed at Sevres,
France, as it will be canceled when the
Bolshevists cross Rumania and Bul
garia and expel the Greeks' from Thrace
and Smyrna. Turks and Bolshevists
ns well as Germans aro lu the scrap
paper business.
While eminent operatprs nre dls.
cussing the, best way Jto cut Its claws,
the Bear continues tovje them.
' . "
SHORT CUTS
The Ponzl front had no back after
all.
Sooner or later, happily, wo'll 6ce
an end to The Crank.
Ponzl's favorite song is probably
"I'm forever blowing bubbles."
Inquirer There's no crabbing at
Mt. Gretna. Try Beach Haven.
A separate peace must inevitably
be a preliminary to separate pieces.
Today provides tho Rneeze signal
lor thousands of unfortunate Americans,
The Ponzi bubble, having been
pricked, all his victims may go to work
again.
The big corn crop isn't going to
make things any easier for prohibition
agents. ,
Tennessee apparently is unwilling
to pnrt with the limelight by disposing
of suffrage.
Lenlno nnd Trotzkv now have ad
ditional evidence that Uncle Sam doesn't
like them.
Erwin will have to thlnk,up some
thing better than a pot of gold to win
his freedom. ,
As we understand it, golf Is an
clghtcen-holo discussion followed by n
post-mortem.
It must be admitted that the Erwin
Bcrgdoll verdict was reached without
unseemly delay.
The modern definition of govern
mental "regulation" appears to be
"making good a deficit."
Pultusk simply shows that pro
nouncing Polish proper names is like
an operation in dentistry.
We notice a lot of hat store are
advertising straw Kcllys at $1 off, but
they don't say how much on.
Ever notice, queried The Pest, how
people are much readier' to tell you
where to go than how to get there?
She (scornfully) What pretensions
have VOU to culture? Ha CHefenslvelr
Well, I have never worn a silk shirt.
The fact thnt the hlcrole ncnln,
coming into favor may be due to the
niga price oi gnsollno and shoe leather.
The thing thnt differentiates bol
shcvism from all other governments is
its avowed intention to ignore its debts.
The drug vendem who asked n po
liceman if he wanted "a -shot in the
arm" evidently didn't hnve the right
dope.
Doctor Furbush says he hasn't
time to take n vacation. True to tvpc;
ns cnrcless of his health as a cobbler is
of his shoes.
The four cloth thieves who lost
their $30,000 loot because their horses
couldn't pull it nre probably now nego
tiating for a motortruck.
Popular interest will begin to cen
ter on Snntingo. Chile, now thnt it is
known that six Inches of snow fell there
the day before yesterday.
A woman 1r running for United
Stntes senator In Nevada. Perhnnn
Miss Jeanette Rankin might be able
to uissunac ncr.
Vare followers on the city com
mittee nre perhaps wondering how they
nre going to make a race now that Tom
Cunningham hns taken the wind out of
their sails.
A man was arreste'd yesterday for
selling eggs at thirty-five cents a dozen.
The officers of the law knew nt once
that no American hen could afford to
lay them at that price.
Erwin Bergdoll says he would
rather crack rock at Fort Leavenworth
for n couple of years than be chased nil
over the country. The conviction that
Uncle Sam hns a long arjn may also
eventually strike Grovcr. f
The law of Pennsylvania prohibits
municipalities from going into business
for gain ; but the scarcity of houses may
yet drive them into the renl estate busi-,
ness on the grounds of "public neces
sity." Because some of its members helped
load n shin with shells for nnn -Bolshevist
Russia, the chartpr of Philadelphia
Local o. 8 Is to be revoked by the
New York I. W. W. The local men nre
playing in luck.
Ships pass In nnd out of the port
of Philadelphia faster than in nnv other
port on the Atlantic coast. Sef.'grntii
latlon is tempered, however, by the
knowledge thnt they don't "turn
nround" nearly so fnst ns they do In
European ports. We're doing fine
but we can do better. '
What Do You Knoiv?
QUIZ
1. Where Is the Bug river?
2. Who Is the present chief Justice of
ths United States? J C or
3. What Is the meaning of the girl's
nnmo Esmeralda?
i, Who was Dagon?
6. How many beatitudes are there?
G. Why nre they so called?
7. Who said "Man Is but a reed tho
weakest In nature, but he 'lq n
thinking reed"? '3 n
8. What wns the fnmlly name of the
Duke of AVelllngton7 ,ne
9. What animal has a head like n
camel, wool llko a sheep and lees
like a deer? "
10. What Is a bourdon in music?
Answers to Yesterday's Quiz
1. The word e'er Is a contraction of
ever. Ere means before In the
sense of time. Its use Is now
chiefly confined to poetry.
2. Tom Paine said, "The sublime nnd
the ridiculous are often so nenrlv
related that It Is difficult to class
them separately."
3. The peninsula of Iower California Is
rearly surrounded bv the Pacific
ocean, thn Oulf of California and
the Colorado river.
4. Goethe wrote "Tho Borrows cf
Werther "
5. Pennsylvania was the second state
to ratify the constitution of the.
United Statta. xno
0. The Louisiana territory was ne.
quired by the United States from
. France In 1803 during the admin
istration of Jefferson
7. Oustave Charpentler Is n well. known
contemporary French composer
particularly noted as the author of
both the libretto and the bcore of
the opera "Louise." c
t. A margay Is a South American
tbjer-cat.
9. Charlemagne lived during parts of
the eighth and-nlnth centuries A
-'P- .V? wnB born ,n 74s and died
la
10. deorffo White lo chairman of the
Democratic national committee.
. . . ..
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CRAZE FOR PLEASURE
BARS BABIES IN HOME
E. J. Cattell Blames Recent Tendencies for LoTSer Birthrate,
but Sees Future
A RELAXING of moral standards, a
mad lust for pleasure and a loss of
a sense of personal responsibility arc
among the reasons ascribed by E. J.
Cattell, city statistician, for the great
decrease in the city birth rate and the
increase in the divorce rate.
In analyzing tho situation, Mr. Cat
tell pointed out nt the same time a dis
tinctly encouraging sign that these con
ditions nre being overcome nnd thnt the
near future will see this country with n
higher moral standard than at any time
in its history.
"The crnze for pleasure which has
swept through the populatira of this
country during the last firCeen years,
nnd that has recently spread like a
prairie fire, has been a heavily con
tributing cause to both the decreasing
birth rate and the increasing divorce
rate.
"The responsibility which marriage
thrusts upon young people doesn't seem
to hnve weighed very heavily with many
of them in recent yenrs. Simple pleas
ures are always at hand for any one nt
almost any time, but the desire hns
grown more nnd more for smart pleas
ures. Children very often are a
iiindrnnre to the enjoyment of smart
pleasures.
"So it resolves Itself often .into a
question of pnrcntoge or those pleasures
nnd the pleasures are often chosen.
Pleasures Have Changed
"In former days) parents took their
children to tho parks, or to merry-go-rounds
or other simple forms of pleasure
which the children could enjoy ns well
as their parents.
"But cafes nnd cabarets and dancing,
automobile trips nnd the like are not
to be fully enjoyed with children pres
ent. And as the craze for these pleas
ures, ns well as tho theatre nnd even
the movies, has gotten into the blood
of mnny to tho point that they have
almost become necessities, nnd children
to a large extent require time and at
tention, the answer in many cases is
obvious, t
"Side by side with this phaso of the
situation runs the divorce evil. The
same conditions that affect children af
fect home life nnd also affect domestic
felicity,
"Of course this crnze for pleasure is
a heritage that has been handed down
through mauy generations. People in
poor circumstances hnve seen those
more fortunate enjoying life, while they
WORKERS TO STAY HERE
Shipping Board Employes Remain
Until April 1, 1921, at Least
Shipping board employes now work
ing in the division of construction and
repnirs in this city will not be sent
back to Washington before April 1,
1921. Tho announcement was made by
the United States shipping board in
Washington.
When tho operations of thn shipping
board were at their height in August,
1918. the construction nnd repairs di
vision wns transferred from Washing
ton to Philadelphia, carrying with It
between 100 nnd 150 employes. These
were scheduled to return to Washing
ton In September, under plans for co
ordinating, all of tho work of the divi
sion uuder one office and having the
permanent headquarters here. It was
made known yesterday, however, that
a great mass of work remained to be
dope here, and it was accordingly con
cluded not to make the change until
next April.
Wills Probated Today
Tho will of Ralph Hlrsch, of Phila
delphia, who died recently n Atlantic
City, wan probated today. The will
disposes of' an estate valued nt $30 000
The will of Charles EbcrhardJ, 5717
Chester avenue, disposing of an estate
of $4000, was admitted to probate. In
ventories of the following personal eS.
rsonaj tt
Catfbllj
tuita were uieu; x-uward J, UaMblln.
THEY ALWAYS COME
"Remember the last time, Hiram.''
"Shucks! This one is an Honest Feller!"
Full of Promise
round out the dny in bitter toil, with
little recreation, nnd hnve envied them.
"When conditions came about that
enabled them to hove a little more money
mnn was required, for the bare neces
sities, the first things that they spent
ineir money tor were these same picas
urea.
"The country prloV to the war was
almost too prosperous and people got so
mat mey lorgot now to live slmplv.
"The war came nlonir nnd whiln It
struck a deeper note in the breasts of
the people, it nlso roused their emo
tions to a higher pitch than ever before
and the consequence has been a reaction
thnt has not been wholesomp.
"Indications from various parts of
me country snow that there is a ten
dency for things to get back toward
normal. The era of high living seems
about to decline.
"People, of course, through the
newspapers, periodicals and books, have
had their ideas of pleasure and a bet
ter standard of living fostered and this
standard will never drop to former
levels.
Future Is Promising
"But there is a saner attitude on the
pnrt nf every one nppnrenf, more of a
return to a feeling of personal respon
sibility on the part of every one. and I
can see a higher plane of morality for
the nation In the near future than at
any time in its history.
"Another fnctor in the decrease of
the birthrate has been the sudden cut
ting off nf the foreign population. Be
foro the war this population numbered
25 per cent of the city's people.
"There has been a yearly Increase in
the nonulntlon herp nf nhnnt sn nnn
Half of this could be accounted for In
the nvernge increase of births over
deaths, which has added about 15.000
yearly to tho population. The other
half represented the immigration, the
jiiiiui u iorcign population into the
city.
'With the ndvent of the war. most
j mi-; inner numDPr was wiped out.
Many In this country went to the other
i,j .,0 ''K1, nn(1 man5' on "e other side
didn t come over.
i 7?"hJn' '00' 'here is a greater increnso
In the foreign birth rate than any other.
Consequently, with the present condl
lions, the birth rate couldn't help do
crease. '
"TllP hicll COSt nf llrln
! mi11"5'.0'1 'iN I)ntt' bllt X' 'hin'k 'he
condition has been more n psychological
one and that a return to earth and a
recovered sense of our obligations to
others will rectify this problem In the
nrnr rut urn "v
$7719.,17. Letters of administration
were granted in the estate of Kctherlna
OUST.510 PPlflr 6trCCt " 3
The Three Loves
T AM enamored of a new
JL Divinity a glorious creature
With matchless beauty shining through
Her every fenturc. "uugn
The very thought of her can thrill
My soul, nnd wipe out all my sorrow
I've never kissed her, but I will '
Her name's Tomorrow.
My new lovo Is divine nnd yet
In spite of all my will's endeavor.
An old love stirs my wild regret
Lost, now, forever!
No other can be quite the same
As that sweet vision passed away
Anis yiiS.1"1 '" ADd h r-
0 ?V unutrled ' ,ove offcast I
Mhapleasantyrr b8enCe raakcs
Te, jjvn my future and my past
What of tho present!
What do I give to dreams my life
Forgetting, in the common way.'
1 owe a duty to my wife, 7
Whose name's Today!
r-CJcveland I'laiu Dealer,
ye
BACK
EXPERTS CONDEMN
SUBMARINE CHASER
Eagle 25 Too Unseaworthy to
Justify Putting Her in Com
mission Again
MAY SCRAP WHOLE FLEEf
The Eaglo 2,. the Fnrit.hnlH .iiSmi.
marine chnsnr thnf tnnL,i -.. i. n.
Delaware river June 11 with the leu
Ot nine lives, will nrobahlr he crnnl.
According to naval officials, she Is sot
sufficiently useful or seaworthy to wit-
"' 'ho expenditure of the $100,000
--. i as necessary to place her
a Jn caKoi"& condition.
A board of naval constructors hi
gone over the vessel at the navy jird
", 'si-cirn ner ; and- while their re-
Hun. wmcii is forwarded to Wsshlef
tpn. has not been made public. It Is eald
mey win recommend the disposal of the
vcS?fl 13 uPfit for further use.
Tho Eagle 2o is one of sixty ships el
tho same type that were built. Pltni
were at first made to construct several
hundred of the ships, but just a the
huge plant on the Great Lakes got Wrly
Under Wnv the nrml.ltM nt cfftti'ta
building activities.
During the war it was said that tin
boats would be produced at the rate of
one a day In the great specially con
structed TI ant nt Detrnlt nnd ther were
calculated to overwhelm enemy eubrnt-
rmes ny sneer lorco of numbers, ineir
estimated cost was about J&W.OOO.
The Vessels Wlrn Rnverelv prltieilM
by marine architects when they first ap
peared and several pronounced them tie
seaworthy. It is said that minor Ac
cidents previous to the capsizing of the
2.) gave good reason for the belief that
tne vessels were dangerous. .
Officials have defended them on the
ground that they were a war meatus
and. as such, were not half as bad U
some of the other makeshifts that were
utilized in the crisis. It is said that
the Navy Department recognlied Mr
cm! faulty features in the doixn of
the Eaglo boats, but as It was at
time when minutes counted vitally and
the enemy submarine activities w'fl
making critical Inroads on Allied snip
ning, the loss of time entailed in chang
ing the design of the vessel wa
counted too heavy a cost and proauc
Hon wns allowc4 to proceed. .
Since the accident to the Twenty-fit,
it is understood that the Nary De
partment has made exhaustive test oa
the stability of the little ships and
suitable measures have been taken "
correct tho faults of the Eagles '"J
are still In commission, Insuring tneir
stability under any stress of emert'W;
Several of the Eagle boats have
crossed tho Atlantic without mishap aw
are now cruising in northern European
wnters. The recommendation to jo"
the Eagle 23 rather than refit her ana
send her to sea again may be tannj
as an adverse decision on the pari
naval engineers and constructors ' '
tho utility of the Ford type o' $";
and it may be only a question of tim
beforo the thrce-score sister W
the 25 will cither be Junked or un
posed of. . a.
The board of inquiry called bT
secretary of the navy to investigate i
capsizing of the 25 has completed "."
work, but the findings have not M
made -public. They are f"nrt,B
the Navy Department at WMblMton
uud will be published by the fcecreuri
after they have been reviewed ana v
proved.
Not the least of the odd ehi
ught about by science is the pr
bro
nece
sslty for a municipal noai - ,f
k. mi nt nil. burning i".,:
out
tt i i. .1 ..jiUn, when a anip
,...,,., h. .tr accumulated on
voyage tho oil it contains becomes wj I
menace by floating on the riT" !
seeping into the cracKS in m i
Without in any way MM"1",1,)!
merits of the plea of the owners or pn
,-.i. .v,in..r. ther the Increase pi J1' ,
of navy shipyard workers will "$,
the very life of the American ww
marine," it may be casuAHy poWfaff J
that the world's shlppln l 8BV J
l. d nnn nnn n. renter than iv ." ;'
hpfnre'.Mrrwhire land tpoWjl
,tlon la Buirerjns everywhere,
j-? i
A itj&jii . .j M&y-tfeife..:?r..j '
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