Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 36, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 June 1932 — Page 4

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The Transformation of Roosevelt How a man stands In his own home town always la important. It is there that one goes for the final word on a reputation and a performance. No man ever stood higher among his home people than did Franklin D. Roosevelt when he became Governor of New York. Os fine presence, personality, and name, with a commendable record as a member of the state legislature, as assistant secretary of the navy under Wilson. and as a conspicuous figure in three national campaigns, he went into office with as nearly everybody for him as possible in politics. The name meant much, and although Franklin was only a distant cousin of Teddy, the public instinctively associated him with those qualities of rugged directness and courage that had made T. R. outstanding in national history. In the hope and the belief of his fellow citizens at home, here was another statesman of extraordinary caliber. His first action as Governor tended to sustain the belief. His approach to the power question especially, n question so vital to the future of the Empire state, seemed a good omen. Talk of Roosevelt for President began early. As that presidential ambition grew\ and came to he taken more and more seriously by Roosevelt him- ’ self, there appeared upon the scene a figure that always appears when matters of the presidency are at stake. That figure was Tammany, and, as frequently is the case, Tammany under fire. A problem quickly was created. It was the old, old proposition of the New York delegation, as that delegation relates to what happens when nominating time rolls around. Would presidential ambition go counter to Tammany, and risk the consequences, or would it bend before the power of Tammany? Roosevelt yielded. And, as he yielded, he dropped the role that had been cast for him by his admiring home folks. Long before Chicago was -selected Joi the big show, he had ceased to be the symbol of Rooseveltian dash and directness. The story of what happened is being told in detail in this newspaper by William O. Trapp, our Albany correspondent, who has been close to the picture during all the time in which the change has taken place. Not the least significant, phase of the story is the one which deals with the attitude of the New York newspapers. Those newspapers had joined in the beginning in the high hope for Roosevelt. Then, as events unfolded, they finally, regardless of their political leanings, arrived at precisely the same conclusion. Pages would be required to reproduce from the various newspapers the comment that resulted from the transformation of Roosevelt. A few very short excerpts, however, will show the unanimous nature of the verdict. Quotations from the New York WorldTelegram are omitted, since the attitude of the Scripps-Howard newspapers already is well known to our readers. New York Herald-Tribune—The tragedy that is happening to Governor Roosevelt is the worst thing that can happen to a man of his inheritance and upbringing. Politics indeed has done a sad thing to Governor Roosevelt. That a Roosevelt should pussyloot and palaver in elepr sight of a vast betrayal of pub#c rights is a matter for profound grief. New York American—The people of New York are concerned deeply over recent disclosures of dishonesty in the courts. They know that the Constitution gives to their Governor the power to take up the challenge in their behalf. Time is the essence of this challenge. The longer the Governor delays, the harder it is going to be for him or his successor to clean up the courts and restore public confidence. New York World—The Governor's troubles are due to the fact that he has trusted his own moral convictions too little and the advice of political and legal strategists too much. New York Evening Post —Keep smiling and evade nil issues, is Roosevelt's motto. A poor outlook for all of us if he gets into the White House. New York Evening World —We are loath to believe this is Governor Roosevelt's last word on the corruption issue. If so it proves, then the saddest thing in American public life is the thing politics has done to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The New York Times—ln the present effort to lay bare and punish the political criminals who seek to hide in the shadow of .Tammany hall, no zealous help may be expected from the Governor of New York. Thus has the man fallen in the estimation of his own community. And thus is made clear the reason why those closest to him see in Franklin D. Roosevelt hot another Teddy, but another trimmer, A Courageous Platform The platform < adopted by the Democratic convention has the merit, of being a courageous and frank declaration, with very definite pledges for the relief of the people. The party stands again for old-age pensions, now n law in many states and admittedly a humane method of caring for the aged who have reached years of unproductivity. Indiana will soon stand with the more enlightened communities. No veto will kill the will of the people in the next cession. The utility plank frankly states that the public service commission must serve the people Instead of the utilities. There is a pledge to free cities which own their utilities from the domination by the commission, a power which has been used to harass the cities for the benefit of the private companies. There is a pledge to place the holding companies under control. These holding companies have acted ns fences for plunder. They have made decreases of rates impossible in times of depression. There is a pledge to make the road to public ownership easy instead of difficult. These two pledges, if there were no ethers, should command the thoughtful attention of all citizens who believe in anew order and anew day. A Challenge to Urban Democracy Cities, like individuals today, are facing bankruptcy in ever greater numbers. Lothrop Stoddard considers causes and remedies in an article on “Why Cities Go Broke,” in the Forum. We have heard much about the plight of Chicago In the public prints, but Chicago does not stand alone. Many American cities and towns have gone into formal baknruptcy. Philadelphia can not meet current expenses. New York has to pay high interest to float its bonds. What are the reasons for this sad state of affairs? Stoddard contends that it is not primarily the depression. Our municipalities were on the high road to disaster before the crash in October, 1929. The depression only has served to make the cities face the results of their folly somewhat sooner. Nor does Stoddard find the main cause in current political graft. He holds that “New York's present

The Indianapolis Times (A SCKirrS-HOWARI) VEWSPAMCR) Owned and published daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Time* Publishing Cos„ 214-220 Wot Maryland Street. !ndianap..lia, fnd. Price in Marlon t'ountr 2 cent* a copy; elsewhere. 3 rent*— delivered by rarrier. 12 pent* a week. Mail aubttcription ratea In Indiana. $3 a year; outaide of Indiana, sis centa a month. BOYD GURLEY. BOY TV. HOWARD. KARL D. BAKER Editor ____ _ President Business Manager PHONE—Riley 5551 WEDNESDAY. JUNE 2<y>. Member of United Preas, Hcrlppa-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newspaper Information Service and Audit of Circulation*. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

shortcomings are not a patch on the brazen grafting the old town endured under Croker and Tweed.” The basic cause for urban insolvency Stoddard believes to reside in “thoughtless, planless extravagance.” A main reason for this has been the booster spirit—the ideal of “keeping up with the Joneses,” transferred to urban enterprise. This was not so deadly when it looked as though boom times would continue forever. But the depression punctured this pink balloon. Today many citizens can rot even pay taxes which are inadequate to current needs of cities. Yet we have two cities which prove that it is not inherently impossible to take care of all existing urban necessities and remain remarkably solvent. These cities are Milwaukee and Cincinnati: “The first named is geographically not far from Chicago, but civically it is poles asunder. We’ve already noted Chicago's unhappy plight. Now let's glance at Milwaukee's record. “To begin, Milwaukee is almost 100 per cent efficient. Its courts deal out even-handed justice, and do it with record speed. Every branch of the public service is run honestly, economically, and well. “But, in addition to all this, Milwaukee is 100 per cent solvent. Last year tof all years!) it paid every bill and salary, spent almost lavishly for unemployment relief, and closed its books at the end of last December with a bank balance of nearly $4,000,000. Some record!” Many will say this is simply curious information about Utopia, since Milwaukee has a Socialist mayor. But Cincinnati, under city manager scheme, gets much the same results: “Last year, Cincinnati paid every bill and salary promptly. So efficiently was each branch of the city government conducted that extra demands on the treasury for poor relief were almost entirely met out of the departmental savings from the previous year, aggregating nearly $700,000. Furthermore, economies in the water department permitted a lowered schedule of water rates, which will save consumers $300,000 annually. “On top of all this, Cincinnati paid off about $1,200,000 of its bpnded debt and simultaneously cut its tax rate to $9.10 a thousand—the lowest tax rate of any American city of its size. - Again—some record, especially in the year 1931!” It will prove even harder to laugh off such records than to sweep aside Seabury investigations. One criticism might be made of Stoddard's generalizations with reference to the volume of graft in city governments today. Back in the times of Tweed and Croker, the grafters were more brazen and more vulgar and more direct. But there is no proof that there is less civic dishonesty today than in 1875 or 1895. Rather, the presumption is all to the contrary. Human nature has not changed and there is so much more to steal now. Today graft is more sophisticated, more pervasive, and better -covered up. Further, it is necessary to remember that graft is not limited to open civic theft. Powerful interests that control the determination of assessments and tax rates, evading their just burdens, often contribute more to urban bankruptcy than the petty thieves around city hall and contractors’ offices. ' iflim '■ ' . r j Easy for Voters Independent voters will have no difficulty this fall in making a choice for Governor and senator, if they pin their hopes on one of the two major parties. In Frederick Van Nuys is presented a candidate who will end the Watson tradition and the Watson political morality. .His unquestioned ability is bulwarked by a lifetime reputation for integrity and sincerity. He will not be found trading “worthless notes” for future sugar stock whose value would be determined upon his tariff vote. No guessing contest will be needed to discover his position on public questions. Paul McNutt has a background and equipment that will restore the governorship to public confidence. His nomination came from popular demand, not from secret bargains between a Watson and a Goodrich. His leadership of the American legion has already made him a national figure. The office will again be respected and not suspected. From the prominent men quoted, it would seem that the G. O. P. prohibition platform pleased everybody but the drys and the wets. The kaiser must be human, after all. After nearly fourteen years of rest, he has gone away for a vacation. At last Mr. Roosevelt’s forgotten man positively has been identified. It’s Charlie Curtis! Another thing that both parties may be expected to take a firm stand favoring is employment.

Just Every Day Sense BY MRS. WALTER FERGUSON

THERE are those who say that any attempted departure from our national traditions is treason. Those who believe this is a fine theory for orators, but a bad one for sensible folk, are encouraged, therefore. to hear that Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, famous radio preacher, has expressed an opinion on this point. Dr. Cadmnn says that unless we speedily make some drastic changes in our economic system, we may expect revolt. Old methods must be scrapped for new experiments. Persons who call themselves true patriots, and prate of their loyalty to America should be the first to heed this warning. But alas, this is not to be expected. Our 100 per centers, almost to a man, have blocked every move toward change that might have made the readjustments necessary to economic recovery. They have defied the heavens above and, as has happened too many times in human history, it looks as if it may take a lightning stroke of revolution to do so. For we can’t make economic changes without readjusting our ideas. And the standpatter hates to do this. He always has been a deterrent to progress and never a greater menace to his country than he is today. a a a WE all know that new things do not bring Utopias in their path. But we also are finding out that a good many of our old things are failing us. The middle-class citizen is asking .himself some pertinent questions. He has suffered from pressure of the rich above and the ne’er do well below' him. And.now he wonders why he alone should face old age without security, after giving the best years of his life to labor for others? Why, after a record for decency and honesty and Industry, after having obeyed the laws of his country, should he be the individual who is given no consideration by those who rule America? He is beginning to see that the United States government looks out principally for the capitalist and the good -fdr-nothing. The middle man, who has been working too hard to agitate much, has been abandoned to his fate, apd is waking up to the fact. If we ever do have a. revolt in the land, you may be sure it will be a middle man’*

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy Says:

Is the Hoover Administration Willing to Pay Eleven Billion Dollars for Promises to Limit Armaments? New YORK, June 22.—Limitation of armaments is highly desirable. No-.hing would do more to lessen possibility of war. The Hoover administration deserves great credit for the work it has done to interest other nations in this obvious truth. But is t he Hoover administration prepared to buy promises to limit armaments at the price of eleven billion dollars? If not, why did Abmassador Gibson tell Herriot that the United States would not consider debt cancellation as long as European governments spent so much on their armies and navies? The implication is too plain to be misunderstood. Either there was a catch in what Ambassador Gibson said to the premier of France, or he opened the way for Europe to bargain with us—to trade a certain degree of disarmament for a certain degree of debt revision. tt tt a Why Pick On Us? AS a humanitarian proposition, any material reduction of armaments might be worth $11,000.000,000, but why should we pay all the bill? What have we done as votaries of the war god that we should be singled out to make the grand sacrifice? Not pausing to get excited over that point, the whole thing sounds illogical. First, we maintain that a nation’s ability to pay la an allimportant factor in determining or how much, it should pay. Then we insinuate that if it were to spend less for military purposes, we might be indulgent and write off some, if not all, of what it owes us. But if a nation were to spend less for military purposes, its ability to pay what it owes automatically would be increased. tt tt Attitude Is Puzzling SOMETIMES one finds it hard to understand the operation of great minds. At this precise moment, the Hoover administration appears determined to hold measures for the relief of its own people down to a minimum. In its opinion, the federal government should not come directly to the assistance of thosein distress. At the same time, it intimates willingness to dicker for disarmament at the price of billions. We never needed the money owed us by European nations as badly as we do now. Nothing would do more than disarmament to make it easy for them to pay. Yet our representative, presumably speaking with the administration’s approval, has stated the case in such way as to leave the impression that if they disarm, they can get out of paying. What Good Is Pledge? SUPPOSE we were able to swap debts for pledges to disarm, what would we be getting out of it? When you cancel, or revise, 1 a debt, that ends it, but when you promise to disarm, you still are at liberty to change your mind, especially in a world which has no agency for enforcing promises. Suppose European nations were to agree to disarm tomorrow, and suppose that in exchange for that agreement we wrote off half, or all their debts. Then suppose that three, five or ten years hence, they decided it was all a mistake. What could we do? Why. nothing, of course. We might appeal to the League of Nations, which we won’t join, or the world court, in which we have refused to participate without reservations. We might storm and bluster, as is our habit, and pass resolutions to keep the record straight. But, in the end, we would have only a great big zero to show for our trouble, while Europe would have its canceled notes. Disarmament is a humanitarian proposition, while war debts represent business transactions between governments. The two should not be mixed.

People’s Voice

Editor Times—Hurrah for Indiana and Governor Leslie! We certainly showed our colors when state transportation was denied the bonus army of forty-one penniless men with an invalid in their midst. I am for them, every one of them. They left everything that was dear to them to fight for the good old U. S- A. Indiana built them a fine war memorial right here in Indianapolis, but it wasn't made of bread or potatoes or the necessities of life. It is made of stone and the price ran into the millions mark, but the state is without funds to furnish a few trucks to haul forty-one of the men that this beautiful memorial represents, a hundred miles or so. Os course, I realize that the whole country is in a very bad situation, as far as money is concerned. Who put it in this condition? Not the boys who faced the German bullets or lay in muddy trenches, and were lucky to come back with their lives, even though they were without an arm or leg, or were gassed or shell shocked. If the public hasn't got its eyes open, it would better start looking before another election rolls around. I am just an every day reader of The Times and I suppose you will think I am a man. but I am a woman and I have seven children, five of them are boys. When you have five boys and the oldest one is getting around to the age where he could be taken to fight for his country, if we should have another war. you would study a lot about what it would mean to you and your boy. Some day he might be one of a hungry, penniless bonus army. JUST AN EVERY DAY READER OF THE TIMES, THE BEST PAPER IN INDIANA- •

Daily Thought

Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created ns? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?—Malachi 2:10. We shall one day learn to supersede politics by education.—Emerson.

r-xmrtirnr- n a . i^

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Digitalis Aids in Heart Treatment

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association, and of Ilvgeia, the Health Magazine. THE person with heart disease is able to live a fairly normal existence provided the weakened heart is compensated. This term signifies that changes have taken place in the tissues, in response to development of the weakness, which makes the heart able to do the work that it should. Recently Dr. L. T. Hyman and N. M. Fenichel have reviewed the records of 100 patients with chronic heart disease who had not been able to develop compensation. 1 Forty-three of these patients had decompensated hearts as a result of rheumatic fever. Fifty-four represented the elderly group with hardening of the arteries. Some of these patients had very

IT SEEMS TO ME

THE only thing more muddled than the Republican prohibition plank is Senator Borah’s speech on that portion of the platform. The latest blast from Idaho’s stationary progressive has been hailed by some as a notice that the senator intends to bolt. Any one who has followed his career must realize that even in his fiercest moves Mr. Borah would not bolt so much as an anchovy. In other years there have been havens to which he could run, and he has not run. Now that he has nowhere to go, it is inconceivable that he is going to proceed at full speed in that direction. In almost every pfesidential year up till now, followers of Mr. Borah's clearly enunciated principles have gathered beneath his window shouting, “Bill, come on and jump: we've got a net.” And in every instance the senator from Idaho has wet one finger to test the velocity of the wind and then remembered that a falling body travels sixteen feet in the first second. Remembering that, he promptly has closed the window and gone back to bed again, leaving his followers to sing “Our Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.” tt n tt He Won't Leap ACCORDINGLY, I do not believe that in the year 1932 Wil- { liam E. Borah is going to leap to the j bare sidewalk without so much as the benefit of a blanket. If it had J been possible for him to attend the , convention, he conceivably might have stirred*up a dry revolt against the platform. In all logic, there should have been two minority planks instead of one. The concoction which the majority presented, for all its vagueness, contained at least hint that maybe everything was not well with the eighteenth amendment. The leaders were unwilling to admit that it was sick unto death, but they did not deny that it seemed to have a! very nasty cough. But by now the drys are mollified, j The plank adopted is at least strategic. You can put a crease after the first few sentences and. by folding down the rest, convince Mrs. I Boole that she got what she wanted. And the drys are not going to kick j over the traces at Borah’s instiga- j tion, because they have heard sweet music. To them - the loud complaints of the repealers have been as welcome as anthems. They have decided, “if these fellows dislike the plank so much it ought to be satisfactory to us.” n tt * Weakens Democrats IT is unfair to attack the motives and the sincerity of any man without convincing testimony, and it may be that Senator Borah is making a genuine effort to induce the President to be drier than his platform. Newspapers have noted the fact, that Democrats are rejoicing in the attack made by the gentleman from | Idaho. But. as a matter of prac- ! tical politics, the speech has weakj ened the Democratic position. Borah is one of those men in politics who can blister a cause by the simple act of supporting it, and he has done a great deal to bring the wets back into the Republican camp. After his address, some of the party members along the Atlantic

‘Our Man!'

high blood pressure without complications, but about an equal number had high blood pressure with serious complications. The cause of rheumatic fever is not known definitely: It is presumed to be an infection, perhaps associated with certain constitutional conditions. The cases of high blood pressure were the results not only of the wear and tear of modern life, but in two cases, of a complicating overactivity of the thyroid gland; in many cases the condition was associated with excessive smoking. Eight of these people with heart disease were restored to compensation by being put at rest for a considerable period, during which they received a suitable diet. Fifty-six were benefited greatly by the administration of digitalis,

DV lIEYWOOD BROUN

seaboard are going to decide that, after all, there is not much difference between the position of Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler and Herbert Hoover. The Republicans are fortunate in having the drys in their pocket in any event. And so they must conciliate the wets. The very w\>rst the drys can do is to stay away from the polls, and that is going to be a hard thing to do in the face of conditions which confront the country. And in the case of Borah it may be predicted with the utmost confidence that he is not going to bolt. His is not a secession, but a sulk. a a Logic Not So Obvious THE famed logic of the silvertongued senator was less obvious than usual. Indeed, I could not understand his reasoning about the pressure which produced the straddle plank. Clearly enough, he pointed out, that but for the weight of federal patronage and the votes of delegates from the rotten boroughs the Republican party would have been for “naked repeal.” Yet after building up a case against steamroller tactics,

Questions and Answers

Are any skating rinks open in the afternoon in Indianapolis? The skating rinks at Riverside and Broad Ripple parks are open all day at the present time. How much is a milliard? One thousand million. Must a resolution of congress declaring war be signed by the President before it is effective? No. How many female students are there in colleges and universities in the United States? 356,137. Can horses jump as far as 30 feet? A British artillery horse cleared a 32-foot ditch at Arras in 1918. To what Jewish sect did the biblical character Nicodemus belong and what government office did he hold? He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body, and belonged to the Pharisee sect. What is a lei? Hawaiian garland or wreath. What is the origin and meaning of the name Owaissa? It is an Indian name meaning “a bear.” What is “whoopee?” The term applied to all forms of unbridled revelry. What is gambling? Playing a game, especially a game of chance, for stakes; risking money or other possession on an event, chance, or contingency. Were the bobsleds In the recent Olympic winter games steered by wheels or ropes? All were steered by wheels, except the one used by Capadrutt of Switzerland, which was steered with ropes.

which is the sheet anchor in the control of heart disease. It has accomplished more for patients with heart disease than any procedure, except properly controlled rest and hygiene. In some instances in which a considerable amount of fluid had collected in the tissues because of the weakness of the circulation, the physicians were able, through mechanical removal of tjje fluid by tapping, and through the prescribing of drugs which are known to have a special value in eliminating fluid from theT&ody, to give patients a considerable amount of help. In some cases in which the decompensation was cute and serious, the administration of oxygen over a brief period of time enabled the patients to weather the storm, after which proper treatment gave them added years of life.

Ideal* and opinion* expressed in this eolumn 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.

the senator suddenly lashed out with the statement that he was not going to allow any convention to coerce him. He must realize that only the most tyrannical manipulation could have produced a bone dry plank and that such a declaration would have represented the view of a tiny minority. And yet he abuses—the majority, not because they failed to get their whole desire, but because they attained even a part of it. In other words, everybody else in the party should have sacrificed his honest convictions to protect the purity of the soul which belongs to William E. Borah. I think it entirely reasonable that he should dislike the Republican party and its point of view, and I could have wished that he had based his attack upon problems which are even more fundamental than prohibition. But the basic question remains: If the senator is so much out of sympathy with his associates, why does he hang around? Surely he can not still believe that there is any utility in the labors of one who seeks to Borah from within. (Copyright. 1932. bv The Times) M TODAY S7 1 * IS THE- W y WORLD WAR \ ANNIVERSARY

VIENNA BREAD RIOTS ON June 22, 1918. bread riots broke out in Vienna after the Vienna City council had passed a resolution protesting against the reduction of the bread ration. The same day nine strikers were killed and thirty-six wounded in Budapest in a conflict between police and railroad workers. Bulgaria, under directorship of A. Malinoff, formed anew cabinet. Italian warships co-operated with troops and enlarged the Piave bridgehead at Cavazuccherina, making it easier for the ships to get within striking distance of the Austrian lines. Vienna at this time reported a total of 40,000 Austro-Hungarian troops taken.

OUT StSer Colorfui. extremely comfortable unites, of excellent <juality at exactly one-halt their value—while they Ut— | Ul W W three pieces. Settee. Chair and K<*iker, with spring I y J cushioned auto seats llvl 37 SOUTH MERIDIAN STREET

JUNE 22, 1932

SCIENCE BY DAVID DIETZ

Astronomers Veer to View That Life May Exist on Both Mars and Venus . A STRONOMERS. at one time very skeptical of the notion that any planet but our own earth might be inhabited, are inclining more and more to the view that life probably exists on both Mari and Venus, the earth's nearest plajietary neighbors. Russell of Princeton. Jeans and Eddington of England. Campbell ot the Lick observatory, and Coblentz of the United States bureau of standards, are a few of the eminent authorities who agree that there is vegetation upon Mars. Venus, in the opinion of many eminent students, including Nicholson and Pettit of Mt. Wilson, should be even a better abode for life than is Mars. This view was given a tremendous impuetus within the last few weeks by the discovery at Mt. Wilson byAdams and Dunham that the atmosphere of Venus contains carbon dioxide, one of the requirements of life as we know it. It is interesting to trace the change of opinion concerning the planets. Originally, it was assumed, of course, that life existed only upon our earth. Then, as more was known about the plants, opinion became more liberal. In the nineteenth century seme astronomers argued that it was quite possible that life might exist on all the planets. This was followed by a rcacton in the twentieth century, and most astronomers took the view that only our own earth was inhabited. But today that view is changing again. There is good reason, however. for believing that life as we know it, is not possible on the planets other than Venus and Mars. Let us see why. tt tt tt Size of Sun WITH the exception of Venus, the earth and Mars, the | other plants are either too close I to the sun for life as we know it, or too far from it. It is interesting to contemplate : what the sun would look like from various planets. From Venus, which { is closer to the sun than our earth. | the sun would appear about onej fourth larger than it does as seen I from earth. From Mars, which is farther from j the sun than the earth, the diami eter would appear about one-fourth I less. From Mercury, closest of all the planets, the sun would appear three times as large in the sky as it does from earth. From the planets beyond Mars, the sun would appear quite small | in comparison with the way we see ' the sun. From Jupiter, the sun : would appear only one-sixth as j large as it does to us. It would be still smaller from the I other planets. From Neptune or { Pluto, the sun would not be much ; larger than an arc light. The falling off in heat and light received would be much greater j than the changes in angular diameter. Neptune is eighty times as far away from the sun as is Meroury. But Neptune would get only a sixthousandth of the amount of light and heat that Mercury gets. Mercury is so close to the sun that it receives too much heat for life as we know it. In addition, the planet Mercury turns on its axis in exactly the same time it revolves about the sun. Consequently, It always keeps the same face turned toward the sun. This face, so thermocouple measurements indicate, has a temperature of about 300 degrees. Trying to live on it, would be like trying to live on a hot stove lid. The other face of Mercury, always turned toward outer cold and darkness. has a temperature estimated at about 459 degrees below zero. tt tt tt The Martian Seasons AS already indicated, all the planets beyond Mars are too far from the sun to obtain enough heat to support life as we know it. This view is supported by themocouple measurements which indicate temperatures far below zero for Jupiter and Saturn. Venus and Mars, however, compare favorably with the earth. The strongest evidence for life on Mars is not the canals. They still are the basis of considerable controversy. The best evidence is the change in color of large patches of the planet’s surface with the change in season. Great patches, which grow green with the approach of the Martian summer, turn brown and red with the coming of Martian autumn. It seems, therefore, to many astronomers that they must be vegetation. It is also of importance that the polar caps, white in color, grow large during the Martian winter and smaller during the summer. Many astronomers therefore think that they are composed of ice which melts with the coming of warm weather. Thermocouple measurements indicate that the day is reasonably warm on Mars, although the nights are extremely cold. Mars has an atmosphere, although it is not so dense as that of the earth. Spcctoscopic observations bv Adams and St. John indicate that it contains both oxygen and water vapor.