Indianapolis Times, Volume 42, Number 126, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 October 1930 — Page 4

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Sumner Running True to Form A “just judge" has emerged in Magistrate Gottlieb. Ha dismissed the ridiculous charges against Simon and Schuster brought by John S. Sumner. The latter had accused these publishers of selling an obscene book, when they offered for sale anew edition of Dr. Arthur Schnitzler's “Casanova’s Home-Coming.’’ The magistrate's decision W'as sane and statesmanlike. He admitted that the book might shock some sensitive and naive readers and might be regarded as singularly innocent by others. One’s reaction to it would be a matter of personal taste; cert:. nothing to run into court about. This perhaps is the most sensible statement made by a magistrate in a censorship case in years. Its implication is that we need not feel it necessary to chase a judge every time we read anything we do not like- We can put the book down, even throw it in the waste basket or the fireplace. Judge GottlieD also threw cut another educational hint to Mr. Sumner, when he suggested that the latter stop in his crusading long enough to take cognizance of the fact that he Is living in twentieth century New York City and not in an English hamlet in 1850. But all this went over Mr. Sumner’s head. He ran as true to form as a machine. He held out twentyfive copies of the book from those which he was ordered to return to the publishers and headed for the district attorney’s office to get an indictment before a grand jury—precisely what he did in the case *of "Pay Day" and other books. There must be some way of proceeding against Sumner in such instances of persistent malice. Publishers should not have to be harried from pillar to post in such fashion. Morris Ernst, Simon and Schuster’s attorney, should adjust his spectacles and scan the law books for some appropriate relief. A New Source of Danger It is especially reassuring to learn that Adolf Hitler promises, if he ever comes to power in Germany, that he will do everything he can to evade fulfillment by Germany of international treaties. Since Hitler’s Fascist party made such a spectacular gain in the last election, and since there are so many strong rumors of an impending "putsch," or forcible seizure of power, by this party, the chances of Hitler's coming to power are not quite as remote as one might wish; and if he ever does come to power resolved to carry out the program he has outlined, you may ‘?st assured that Europe will have plenty of trouble. It Is i.uite possible, of course, to argue plausibly that many of the international treaties under which Germany now labors are unjust and should be revised; but sudden, forcible revision such as Hitler advocates could mean only war. This Austrian politician seems to rank now as the leading source of danger in all Europe. A Federal Deficit? News that the federal treasury has finished the first quarter of the fiscal year with a surplus of $52,000,000 does not alter the possibility that congress may find it necessary to abandon the 1 per cent reduction applied to income tax payments this year. ftevenues declined $143,000,000 from the corresponding period last year. Expenses, exclusive of the public debt, increased $28,000,000. Thus the net loss was close to $174,000,000. Custom receipts alone were $50,000,000 less, because of the new tariff and worldwide depression. Also, public debt retirement has been slowed up, •Whereas during the first quarter of last year $237,000,000 was taken from ordinary receipts for the sinking fund, this year but $65,000,000 was devoted to that purpose. Had the same rate of retirement been maintained, a sizeable deficit would have been shown. President Hoover and Secretary Mellon remain hopeful that the lower tax rate can be retained and a deficit avoided. Much will depend on the success of economy efforts, and on business conditions during this calendar year. Income taxes during the first half of the current year are paid on 1929 income. But bills for the last half will be met with payments made in 1931 on 1930 income and no one can tell what the effects of the stock market crash and the business depression will be. It is possible also that interest payments on foreign debts amounting to $180,000,000 will be applied to general expenses. This would mean an abandonment of the wise and sound policy of applying these funds to reduction of the public debt. Federal finances are of course sound, but it is clear that it will be nip and tuck to make the books balance t the end of this fiscal year, and next year as ; well. And If expenditures continue to grow as they * have for the last few years, it is difficult to see how a search for new sources of revenue can be avoided.

Farm Aid Without Fear or Fancy Can our agricultural problem be solved by equalization fees, farm credits, attempts to stabilize prices or fine phrases full of warm sympathy for the embattled farmer? Not if we may believe Professor William E. Dodd, one of our foremost historians and our most profound student of American agricultural problems today. His article on "The Long Trail of Farm Relief” in the New York Times is one of the best examples ever published of historical perspective in current issues. Professor Dodd shows clearly enough that the farm problem is nothing new in American life. It began with Clay and his "American System.” A tariff was laid to help American manufacturers, on the assumption that the growth of American industry would build a big home market for American agriculture. Through domestic competition, it also would keep down the prices of the manufactured products which the farmer had to buy. In the end the manufacturers proved the chief gainers. The farm market never skyrocketed. After the Civil war manufacturers and merchants fused their interests with bankers and railroad promoters and produced the great merger—which is American business today. Labor gradually forced higher wages through organization, but such gains werq in large part whittled away by increased living costs. The farmer got it in the neck all around. His group shrank in numbers and income. By 1912 the little grievance which produced the nullification conflict of 1830 was now grown into a nation-wide economic order which made many thousands wealthy and depressed millions of farmers to the levels of the eighteenth century English peasants, s Woodrow Wilson made an heroic efTort to curb the growth of feudalism in American business and to injure some degree of industrial and social justice. But his pro-English proclivities led him to the World war and he soon was associating with and dominated by the very barons whom he had been fighting in peacetime. Dodd contends that Wilson's domestic program collapsed, and under Harding we went back to a system

The Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-HOW AKI) NEWSPAPER) Owned and published daily (except Monday) by The Indianapolis Times Poblisbing Cos., 214-220 West Maryland Street. Indianapolis. Ind. Pri-e in Marlon County. 2 cents a copy: elsewhere, 3 rents— delivered by carrier. 12 cents s week, BOTD GURLEY. ROY W. HOWARD. FRANK O MORRISON. Editor President Business Manager PHONE—Riley B6M % SATURDAY. OCT. 4. IMP, Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Association Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bnrean of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

more frankly sold out to industrial feudalism than that of Mark Hanna and william McKinley. Coolidge continued the caressing. Hoover and Smith promised to make everybody happy, in defiance of all economic laws and principles. But it fell to the Sage of Palo Alto to assume responsibility, for lifting himself and his nation by the boot straps. The practical results have been the usual ones in such cases. k Neither the tariff nor farm board activity has icndered any substantial aid to the farmers. The tariff is only more of the same medicine which has brought them into their present desperate economic indisposition. According to Dodd, none of the proposals now on the horizon even scratches the surface of the real problem. Only three possibilities are really on a par with the knotty issues to be solved. The farmers may organize on a national scale, carefully limiting production and destroying excess products. Or they may adopt price-fixing arrangements to make farming actually pay. History, according to Professor Dodd, offers little promise that either of these will work. The alternative is capitalistic farming on a vast scale by great farm corporations. These will limit cultivation and hire agricultural workers. The small independent farmer will gradually fade away and we shall have a permanent agricultural proletariat like unto that of the medieval manor. The capitalistic fanner will not fight the capitalists in manufacturing, commerce, banking and transportation. He will come to terms with them against Lie workers of all classes. Standards of living for both city and farm workers will be depressed unless birth control comes to their rescue, Dodd declares. This is not too pleasant a picture, but it seems to accord well with the actualities of history and contemporary American economics. We may agree with Professor Dodd’s conclusion that “widespread, wholesale and drastic changes must be made. Thu time has come for statecraft, and statecraft is the most difficult of all arts and philosophies." A Move Against Stunting Fifty of the nation’s leading airplane makers, convening at Washington, have passed a resolution aiming to outlaw the stunting of airplanes except for necessary test work. The movement is a step in the right direction. In routine army and navy work stunting is essential. It is also essential, as the airplane manufacturers point out, in certain test flights. It is entirely out of place, however, at public exhibitions. Lives of innocent bystanders can too easily be endangered. , Furthermore, it is bad business —which probably is what hits the makers of airplanes. It does little good to tell the public that flying is safe when a squadron of stunters can go out and, by doing a dizzy series of flip-flops, persuade the average man that aviation is after all a game for daredevils. To be “Johnny on the spot” is a virtue; but in Chicago it is suicide. Heywood firoun, columnist candidate for congress, is to sell his oil paintings to defray campaign expenses. That is what he probably regards as canvasing for funds. First thing you know, the efficiency experts will be after street cleaners for making waste motions. The man in Pennsylvania who failed to shout ‘ fore" and knocked out four teeth of another player and was fined SI,OOO, probably considers that his most expensive foursome. A school superintendent in New Jersey thinks that every classroom should be equipped with radio receiving sets. For sittin-up exercises, undoubtedly. A witty fellow who died happy was the one who had the presence, when drowning in a Swiss lake, to cry “Alp!. Alp!’’ Since it is reported Russians are cutting off their whiskers, some grain consumers probably will view with grave apprehension what they have been getting for wheat. Detroit once was called the City of Straits, but now that its gang killings are said to be surpassing those of Chicago, a better name for it might be the City of Dire Straits. A New York store is selling women's stockings at SSOO a pair. But they don’t guarantee to give the customer a run for her money.

REASON bv

A DOLPH HITLER, head of the German Fascists, who is going to change things, has a head like a hickory nut and wears one of those sweet little shoe brush mustaches. When he tells the world he will upset the German republic and form an empire and scrap all the treaties Germany has made, he sounds like a highpowered automobile salesman. a a a We are not surprised that Henry Ford denies that he is going to finance the German Fascists. If Henry has any more money to contribute to politics, he should bring it home, for both the Republicans and the Democrats are broke. a * * LEGS DIAMOND, New York gangster, thrown out of several European countries, may file a protest with our state department. Let us hope it can be adjusted without involving us in another foreign war. * • a a Jim Reed's friends will start a presidential boom for him, if he will give his consent. Reed wouldn't run for President any more than a hungry tramp would eat roast turkey. K * M Senator Walsh of Massachusetts, returning from Cuba, states that there will be a revolution in the Pearl of the Antilles,” unless we go down there and keep the peace. We've done almost enough for the Cubans and if they can't run that island, we shouldn't police it- forever: we should just take it over. * n 9 IT'S surprising to read that Adfetralia joined the other dominions in asking the right to secede from the British empire, if she desired to do so. for Austria's nightmare is Japan and all by herself, she would stand out against Japan for about five minutes. a a a In these days when his far-flung possessions are insisting on the right of secession, we wonder if John Full ever thinks of the time when he did all he could, short of armed intervention, to help the southern states secede from this government. mm a ' Instead of passing the hat to get enough money to buy a trophy for Sir Thomas Lipton. Bobby Jones ought to come across and give the old boy one of his many golf cups.

. THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

New Book of Biology Presents Subject So That Its Esentials Can Be Grasped Easily. ■pROFESSOR THEODORE KOPPANYI has exercised unusual skill in picking the chapters for his book, "The Conquest of Life." In 256 pages he has managed to deal with the biological topics most lilply to interest the layman at the present moment. The book just has been published by D. Appleton & Cos. in their excellent “New World of Science Series." The first chapter titled “The Science of Life," is a general introduction to the subject, dealing with cell structure and the physical attributes of living things. The next two chapters tell the fascinating story of the slow development of the science of biology from the days of the early Greeks, through the Middle Ages, to the present. The work of such historic figures as Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, Leonardo da Vinci, Vesalius, Malpighi, Harvey, Baer and others, is discussed. Chapter four is titled ‘“The Case for Evolution." This chapter gives both the historical development of the idea of evolution, the work of Lamarck, Darwin and others, and the evidence upon which modern biologists base their belief in the process of evolution. tt u Popular Interest SUBSEQUENT chapters in the book are headed “The Embryo in the Making,” “Repairing Animal and Human Bodies,’ “The Endocrine Glands at Work,” “Masculine and Feminine,” “The Souls of Animals" and “The Conquest of Disease.” It will be noticed at once that Professor Koppanyi departs from the more conservative method of presenting biology and puts an emphasis on certain phases which the maker of a textbook would consider not worthy of so much attention. It seems, however, that Professor Koppanyi has judged popular interest correctly and he is justified entirely in dealing at length with subjects which the public wishes to have dealt with at length. Professor Koppanyi, in his chapter on the endocrine glands, lists these various glands, such as the thyroid and the adrenal glands, and explains how they pour chemical substances into the blood stream. “The blood seeps through every organ of the body," he writes. “When it leaves certain organs, such as the pancreas and thyroid gland, it has picked up chemical substances manufactured in these glands to be carried to all parts of the body. “These chemical messengers, called hormones, can stimulate distant organs to increased activity. “The presence of these hormones in the blood can be demonstrated very simply. If, for instance, we inject the blood which comes from the pancreas into the blood stream of another animal, the amount of sugar in the blood stream of that animal will diminish, showing that the sugar-burning capacity has been stimulated.” n tt n Flood of Light IN the final chapter of the book. titled “The Conquest of Disease,” Professor Koppanyi writes: “Science is like a flood of light, giving us the sight of things as they are, without doubt or deception, showing us the truth. “We may use our knowledge of the broad bases of reality that science discloses us in many ways, for good or for evil. “The practical aplications of the sciences are too numerous to detail. Out of chemistry and physics came the machinery which changed the very character of civilization on the earth, on the waters, in the air. “Out of biology came modem agriculture, with its more abundant and better harvests in the orchards and dairies, feeding millions as they’ve never been fed before. “What is more, out of it came the means of preventing, helping, curing the sufferings of millions—modern medicine.” Professor Koppanyi traces the development of medicine, pointing out that the art of medicine is as old as that of agriculture. “It- flourished under the unwashed hands of prehistoric medicine men and witch-doctors,’ he writes. He tells the story from the early days when “the more fantastic the belief, the more fervidly was it believed in,” down to the modern ways of scientific medicine.

-nqOAVj® TMC-

BIRTH OF HAYES October 4 ON Oct. 4, 1822, Rutherford B. Hayes, nineteenth President of the United States, was born in Delaware, O. At the age of 20 he was graduated at the head of his class from Kenyon college. He then spent two years at Harvard law school, being graduated in 1845. In the same year he passed the bar and soon afterward entered into practice at Fremont. At the outbreak of the Civil war, Hayes enlisted for the whole war. Asa litutenant-colonel, he led the Twenty-third Ohio regiment at South Mountain, a battle in which he gained considerable fame. He was wounded severely in this engagement and on his recovery was promoted to the rank of colonel. After this he led several important expeditions, the most important of which was the one against Morgan, who finally was forced to surrender. With the popularity gained by his war achievements, Hayes became the outstanding candidate for congress in his district and was easily elected. While Governor of the state, he was chosen Rep- blican candidate for the presidency in 1876. After a close contest with Samuel J. Tilden, he was inaugurated in 1877. He had von by one electoral vote. His administration was honest and he showed his lndeperdence of character by refusing to ptnder to partisan politics.

Pewee Golf May Solve Our Furnace Problem

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Smoke Cheats City Folk of Sunshine

BY DR, MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. INVESTIGATIONS made in several large cities since development of the realization that little sunlight actually comes through the smoke clouds have revealed the fact that city dwellings can not depend on the sun for ultraviolet rays. Studies made by the department of physics of the University of Chicago and the health department of the city of Chicago some years ago indicated that sufficient sunlight to be of value comes through the smoke of Chicago only for two hours a day during three months of the year. Contamination of the atmosphere by smoke from, the chimneys of private houses, office buildings, industrial plants and boats is a serious matter in several of the large cities of the United States. The presence of particles of soot and ash ahd of the vapors of vari-

IT SEEMS TO ME

THE papers mentioned, a day or so ago, the birthday of an old lady of 100. Centenarians seem to grow more common. It may be that longevity increases, or possibly newspaper enterprise ferrets out a greater number of veterans. And, of course, there always is the factor that after a certain time of life people tend to forget dates and maybe exaggerate a little. But the old lady of whom I speak interested me because her span hardly could be ascribed to modern medicine or anything of the sort. It was reported that in her entire century of existence she had never ridden in an automobile and had seen a railroad train but once. The farmhouse in which the years flowed gently by was equipped with neither electric lights nor radio. a a Without Inventions AND so the hew age contributed little of moment to the birthday child. In her life 1930 would differ by hardly the breadth of a fingernail from 1830. I wonder whether she had a good time. Nobody thought to ask her that. Instead, she was faced with the familiar query as to the younger generation. I forgot what she said. It could not have been important. I’ve always wondered why every person of more than 90 was supposed to have about him or her some sage remarks concerning the flapper. ,' Perhaps it isn’t quite fair to assume that the rush of decades made no difference whatsoever in the life of the little old lady in New Jersey. Although she had no personal share in telephone or motor or radio, they must have colored life about her. Perhaps she sometimes saw a picture show. The story didn’t say. One development of civilization as we know it must have touched her. Nobody can live so far away from the trends of the day or be sufficiently aloof not to have encuntered the tin can. Indeed, it has always seemed to me that the can opener plays an even wider part in daily life than the automobile, the radio, the telephone, or any of the other improvements of the last half century. a ai r For My Birthday I DON’T think I would like to be an old gentleman of 100 upon a remote Jersey farm. I’ve cursed the radio, the telephone and the taxicab a score of times. It never has been proved beyond debate that invention has made men more happy. I don’t know’. But I will admit that after an individual has become accustomed to the gadgets progress he always will find it hard to get along without them. I don’t think I would like to be an old gentleman of 100 years in either the country or the city. But if the issue ever comes up I could wish for a metropolitan decline. A club window is a more pleasant place in which to grow old than a back porch. There, at least, one can keep the illusion of being one of the boys. It is not the aches and pains and the various infirmities of advancing years which terrify me. My dread accumulates against the day when those about me may say, “What can

ous acids produces injury to trees and plants and Is a definite detriment to health. In sections of New York, Pittsburgh and other large cities it is impossible to cause an evergreen tree to grow. A part of the injury to health is due to the loss of daylight or ultraviolet rays. Some of the injury to health must be due to inhalation of the particles that have been mentioned. Representatives of the United States public health service recently have made available the result of a simultaneous record of daylight made in New York on the roof of the United States quarantine hospital on Hoffman island, nine rftiles south of Manhattan island, where the air was comparatively clear. Results of the study of the loss of daylight measured by photoelectric cell indicate that the average daily loss at the lower end of Manhattan

HEYWOOD Ba BROUN

you expect from an old reactionary like Heywood Broun?” nun Victorians Never Knew MANY of the Victorians lived and died quite unaware that a day would come when it would be practically a reproach even to have existed in that period. They had no notion of thundering down the ages as synonyms for primness and prudery. I hope there never will be a time when I shall run shrieking out of theaters crying, “This is terrible; call the police!” I hate to contemplate a year which literature of the land will seem to be too frank and free to be so much as touched by any man of decency. Against the fate of finding yourself a member of the fogeys, two remedies are possible. You may, if you choose, died young. I’ve thought of that and rejected the plan for something which seems to me much better. It is possible for every one of us in youth or middle age to build within himself a fine, rousing fire of radicalism. And if the blaze is built of coal and other solid substance, there may remain embers to w-arm you during the last chimney corner days. None have ever known who did not find themselves edging toward the right in the years past 60. Or if they did not edge toward conformity they were pushed. U 9 tt Bright Exception ONE bright exception should be noted, Clarence Darorw is still what the world calls a “dangerous man.” Certain respectables shudder as he passes by. Yet, even Mr. Darrow, now that his hair begins to whiten, may be found at times in not altogether unfriendly debate with prohibition advocates and parsons. The radicalism of veterans to be acepted by the world at large as an eccentricity rather than a conviction. If it were not for the newspapers, growing old w’ould be far more tragic than it is. As things stand, the hospitality of the front page, or thereabouts, is a refuge for those who linger on beyond their time. The simple matter of touching 100 years is enough to assure any dogged life sitter of the privilege of an interview’. The centenarian will be asked to answer a few simple questions, and the answers duly will be noted. But this will be small comfort to me. If on the morning of my 100th birthday the nurse knocks upon the door to say, “the gentlemen of the press are waiting and would like to ask you a few questions,” I shall reply, with voice both shrill and tart, “send them home!” or I will knowin my heart that neither they nor the readers of their journals really care whether I made the trip on water or mixed spirits. Men who outline the regime which brought them along so far are deceived. Not a soul really is interested to know whether it was cold

Daily Thought

Have mercy on me, O Lord; for I am weak.—Psalm 6:2. A God of mercy is a God unjust. —Young. N

Island was at least 50 per cent on some days. The average percentage loss of the whole year was 16.6 for clear days, 34.6 for cloudy days, and 21.5 for all days. The loss of light depends, among other things, on the altitude of the sun and on the nature of the daylight available, that is to say whether from clear or cloudy sky, and whether in the presence or absence of strong wind. The percentage loss of light was found to decrease as the velocity of the wind increased. Apparently strong wind is able to move the smoke particles in the atmospheric contamination out of the range of Interference. Since sunlight has been shown to be of definite importance in the maintenance of human health, engineers of state and city health departments have given greater consideration to the elimination from the atmosphere of the interfering particles.

Ideals and opinions expressed In this column are those of one of America’s most Interesting writers and are presented without regard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this naper.—The Editor.

baths or spinach. I’ll take my secrets with me to the grave. Indeed, I won’t even discuss with anybody the days of long ago when New York was a village of seven million people and Jimmy Walker was away uptown. (Copyright. 1930. by The Times)

Questions and Answers

How should a widow sign her name? It is customary for a widow to use her husband's name, that is, Mrs. John Deer. A divorcee uses her own name, as Mrs. Hazel Deer. Is Nick Lucas an American or an Italian? He was born in Newark, N. J., and is American of Italian parentage. Where did the expression, “by the skin of your teeth” originate? It is in the Book of Job, 19:20: “I am escaped by the skin of my teeth.” What is the largest island in the world? Australia, if that land is considered as an island and not a continent. W’hat is the meaning of the family name Guenther? It is a German family name and means a “battle army.” Which President of the United States resigned his seat in the senate to become the Governor of New York? Martin Van Buren. What six cities in the Urdted States have the largest population? They rank in order as follows: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Los Angeles and Cleveland. How many passengers does the largest airplane in the world carry? The German Dornier D-X successfully carried 169 persons on test flights from Lake Constance.

Nature’s Wonders

What makes the "Northern Lights?” What the "Shooting Stars?” What is a meteorite? Why is a comet? What makes the sky blue? What causes the colors of the sunset? Where does a rainbow come from Did you ever see a "Will o’ the Wisp?” What causes a volcano? An earthquake? A geyser? What is meant by a "mirage-” Why is lightning and thunder? What is a cyclone—a hurricane—a tornado—a whirlwind? What causes hail and sleet, fog, clouds and mists, wind? Why does it snow? What makes the leaves change color in the fall? If you can answer all these satisfactorily to yourself, you wont be interested in our Washington Bureau’s comprehensive and interesting bulletin WONDERS OF NATURE—but if you are curious about the explanation of some or all of them, better fill out the coupon below and send for the bulletin. It will add considerably to your stock of knowledge. CLIP COUPON HERE NATURE EDITOR, Washington Bureau, The Indianapolis Times. 1322 New York avenue, Washington, D. C. I want a copy of the bulletin WONDERS OF NATURE, and inclose herewith 5 cents in coin, or loose uncanceled United States postage stamps to cover return postage and handling costs. Name Street and No City. state I am a reader of The Indianapolis Times. (Code No.)

OCT. 4, I§3o

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

'te Can Not Depend on Water Power to Provide for our Requirements Even of the Present. Let Alone the Future. Buffalo, n. y„ oct. 4.—The Niagara Hudson Power Company is increasing the capacity of its steam plant at Buffalo by 50 per cent, which justly may be regarded as a genuine bit of optimism. When it comes to faith in the future, nothing talks as loud as coin of the realm, especially when spent In rather large amounts by financiers who are known for the mistakes they have not made. You simply can't imagine men like J. P. Morgan, Floyd Carlysle, and the Schoellkopfs authorizing the expenditure of $28,000,000 for improvements and expansion if they thought for one moment that times would remain dull very long. a tt m A Power Surprise IT will surprise some folks, ard particularly those who Imagine we have more than enough water power for all our electrical needs, to learn that it has been found necessary to build a great steam plant within twenty miles of Niagara Falls, but such is the sad truth. Sadder still, that steam plant soon will be producing a great deal more electricity than all the water plants put together on the American side, and 75 per cent of what the widely advertised Ontarion system could produce if run at full capacity, which it never has been. As a matter of fact, considerable power is being purchased on this side from the Ontarion system, but even so, it thus far has failed to find a market for its full load. n * Contrast Is Striking THE power situation in and around Niagara Falls epitomizes the entire problem, whether approached from the standpoint of engineering achievement, rate-mak-ing, public policy, or what can be expected from our rivers. Here the student can behold the last w'ord in mechanics, and the first w’ord as to the relative advantages of private and public ownership. Here he can see how the greatest water power on earth has failed to meet even the local demand for electricity. Here he can study the effect of cheaper electricity for homes, as made possible in Canada, compared to that of cheap electricity for big mills and factories, as made possible on the American side. u n tt Time to Awake THE most obvious conclusion to be drawn from what has occurred in and around Niagara is that we can not depend on water pow r er to provide for requirements of the present, much less for those of the future and that public policy which looks to water power for a solution of the problem is doomed to failure. Edison warned us of this some time ago, -warned us that we were overestimating what could be done with water wheels, and that we must think in other terms, not only for the sake of industrial progress, but for the sake of a sane course in our political attitude. n n n Water Power Lacking IT generally is agreed that hydroelectric systems should be developed wherever practical from an economic standpoint, not only be- j cause W the added power they j would produce, but because they < serve the double purpose of conserving the coal, oil and gas supply and controlling rivers. But this should be accepted as incidental tp the power problem, not as the all-important factor. A power policy, whether considered from an industrial, economic or political viewpoint, must include all other methods of generation, to be fair and effective. In the first place, there is not enough water power to go around. In the second, it would not be available to many sections, even if there were. No matter how adequate our rivers might be for certain localities, there are others which could not be reached. u a m Experiment Necessary Avast portion of this country must look to coal, oil or gas for electricity, no matter what is done at Niagara, Muscle Shoals, New England or the northwest. No national policy can ignore that portion and be just. On the whole we probably would be wise to take our time in shaping a national policy, and leave as much as possible to the states, or municipalities. Like most other things, the production of electricity seems to vary a great deal, not only as to method, but as to cost, in different localities. Why not give those localities an opportunity to experiment on their own account, and not be in too much a hurry to drag the federal government into it the way we did into prohibition?