Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 169, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 November 1934 — Page 7

NOV. 21, 1034*

It Seems to Me hmwilil BROUN N r EW lON D. BAKER : r>n* of the la‘.< t rr.oum•r> • His rieplor- ■ | ITtiClt tiW At* M ntl whi .1 . illed "The Decay of Sell* Rfi mce Lilu n ox ii of the Jeremiah far’ion Mr. Baker turns his eyes bark to the pioneer days. He says that the concept of the state •• as that it shr ild protect the individual and so by kch to develop his highest capacity, multlp.- -..met.'. of tr>n. and capture for the common good the a. hievements of the most

imaginative and valiant persons." I wa.sn t around when the pioneers v re doing their pioneering but for that matter neither was Newton Baker. I believe the story of the rampant self-reliance of our for- • ?.r- by more than a shade exag.c■rated. Certainly there was regimentation of an onerous and pun- . rung sort in the days when the w st was w on. Surely the men who . •.'1 *he tracks across the plains e not functioning without dis'iof a rigorous sort. The mdivid . ti. t were ail in Wall Street reaping the profits.

s

Hry wood Broun

If on* w. i. r to go even farther back into Amer- . an hi t ry it I well to remember that the Pilgrims hi> :■:: 1 on the Mayflower signed a compact for communal co- ,* ration and it was decidedly sociali t.r in .• de*,.ils. If Mr. Hoover had been in the neighborhood i.* : doubt would have looked askance at this radical invasion. nan Kuril One for Himself INDEED, the • :< from which the ex-Prcsident sprang also v nt in quite heavily for what is now know n . re .m nta'.on. Am I not correct in rent* ni. *;. it • Q-. ker meetings the women and th< m n are divided arbitrarily? I? : .<■ of c ;r-e that the Quakers managed to go a : t .r v Pin ut regularly ordained ministers. Each man w privti* icd to speak when he felt that the spirit n him. Indeed ihe whole Protestant revolt. w. .:. Mdualistic in Its theory of the sinner’s going dirt ctly to God with his petitions and without benrflt an intermediary. But it would be farin' • • o .stv that the Protestant movement was in all v r -of life a force for individualism as against co-operative effort. I niiL.it cite a few of the ventures which the Prot< ’ nt groups have made into regimentation. and prohibition and we still for Sunday < nforceraent, not to mention an i-i; art t leagues and the denunciation of dancing bv the more hard-shelled. N ■. I do not think that Protestantism ever argued the la. ez fa ire theory to the extent of permitting r i bla k sheep to go to damnation in whatever w.t.- li<* pleased. The pioneers of America carried v.’h them the morality and the economics of their favorite book, the Bible. The history of Israel is throughout the storv of famine and defeat at all ..*.• e where the tribal spirit waned. The triumphs mvi organizati >n. And there is no break in the Nt w Tc lament, either. It has been pointed our. by -ores of reli ious teachers that Christ preached the doctrine of an economic brotherhood of man and there can be no brotherhood without regimentation. a a a American Tradition Differs BIT one does not need to go back as far as the jrVnptures to find an American tradition wholly at variant with rugecd individualism. Os course, helter-skelter-ism has cropped out from time to ils of our nation. A little more regimet.'i Uon among the Yankees at Bull Run would have shortened ihe Civil war. Valley Force was the nt*- • :r; :ic period of the American revolution since it marked the bitter months when every man was on lv, . ii, self-reliant, if you please, and therefore i.- ii'.-less in the business of beating back Great Britain. j iv came at Yorktown when the American army no; an:.- had achieved a welded machine but also had c nr to the length of international co-operation w.th the French. Nall the lemons of the futility of (he laissez faire doctrine need be drawn from the history of Even before the great depression one needid m* rely to drive through New England and note the abandoned farmhouses. Each one stood as the tr; :ic monument to some rugged individual who had tried to solve the pr biems of a complicated industrial world wholly on iiis own initiative. The ! >-ons of Israel are the lessons of America and of all the world. Without organization man will p. rush oil the lace of the earth. But it is his right and bounden duty to say when regimentation is mentioned, "cood enough but not until I know by whom and for what purpose.” Copv: -Ut 1334. bv The Times!

Today s Science BY DAVID DIETZ OH DAYTON C. MILLER'S ether-drift experiments are back in the center of the scientific spotlight a the result of a paper on the velocity of lmht :< >d this week at the opening session of the Clc\ : and meeting of the National Academy of Sciences by Dr. F. G. Pease. p nomer Crom the Mt. Wilson . h- rvarorv. r -per -‘d a three-year investigation v h Iv.s .ippa. us designed by Dr. A. A. Michelson. the "high p • ? of li-iht.” to measure the velocity of a beam of light :n a vacuum. The apparatus consisted of a mile-long pipe line from whuh the air was extracted. The speed of licht I of apparatus of the inches- curacv* as it flashed back and forth across a system of mirrors in the pipe line. The men urentents made hundreds of times from liVii to 1033. gave fur.ires for the velocity of licht r.;urine from 156.157 miles a second to 186.163 nules a second. The first reaction of the average layman would probably be that a difference of six miles in 186.000 wasn't very much. But from the scientific standpoint it is considerably too much. Accordinelv. the M: W.’. -on astronomers becan a check to find out what the cause might have been. s a a THE Ein'Tin theory of relativity and other related modem theories of the universe are based light is connu md that no experiment can show any differenee m the velocities of two beams of light. T 1 - imption was first drawn from the lOchel-ui-Y. experiment performed in Cleveland with . :v;r;>'"e of the experiment was to detect the earths motion through the ether cf space by comparing the velocity of light in various directions. Dr Dai •*. C Miller, who su ceded Dr Michelson pi *fess rof physics t Cast haa always retlr.it the experiment cave a zero result. Between 1071 and If3l. Dr Miller made a long sene of exhaustive tests with the interferometer. a a a \S a result of these experiments in which he . made hundreds of thousands of readings upon the iruerferom ter. Dr. Miller has mamatined that the experiment gives a small but systematic effect win a v > also present when Michelson and Morley performed the experiment. Thi> could be explained, if it is assumed that the earth dr...s the ether with it to a certain extent, as the result of a motion of the entire solar system through space at a velocity of about two hundred miles a second. This figure, incidentally, agrees W w;• h r- • u.t calculati -ns of the .-peed of the rotation of the galaxy. The :: v. and . n made seme repetitions of Dr. Miller s experiment but failed to get results which agreed with his. Questions and Answers Q— Has a Negro ever neld the office of United States secretary of the treasury. A—Ho.

THE NEW DEAL AND THE JONESES

650,000 Homes Saved by Federal Loans; Typical Family Amazed

Ih* have turnrd to fijorin* out the New Deal in their own wav, deipalrinj nf ever undrrxtandinc it a< prevented in the complicated explanation* of the expert*. Talking it oxer at the *upper table and in their livin* room in the evening they're rapidly gettinc a clear idea of what if* all about, a* thi* artirle, nxth in the erie*. how*. BY WILLIS THORNTON CHAPTER SIX J PICKED up Frank Wilson tonight and drove him home with me," said Pa Jones. ‘ He'd just come from the Home Loan office and his application for a loan on his place had been O. K. and. You know the httle whTe house over on Jefferson street that he built five years ago? -He’d fallen behind on his payments during the six months he was laid 0* Was afraid the insurance company was going to foreclose. But now he’s all set. and he's got anew government mortgage at a lower rate and longer time. , , , „ , t _ _ • If he gets back in the mill this fall, as he expects to, he 11 pay off in good shape. He certainly seemed relieved about it.” • Yes, I know Mrs. Wilson through the Home and School League, Mrs Jones contributed. “She was just about sick this last couple of months about their losing their home. I can just imagine how relieved she'll be, too. ’ ‘ , • Gee! That's still another fi<ffd where the government is stepping in and doing the banking, eh?” John Jr., commented.

“I don’t know just how sound this home loan business is from a banking point of view, but it s certainly a great thing for people, isn’t it? After all, we want this to be a country of home owners—you and I know, dad, that they’re better customers. “And I guess you and ma’d feel pretty strange if somebody came along and made you move out of here tomorrow, wouldn't you?” a a a PA and Ma Jones exchanged glances that told much more about the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation than a volume of statistics. Nevertheless, only figures can show the vast extent to which the government has gone into tne home real estate business. The homes of 650,000 families have been saved from foreclosure by the HOLC, which has advanced nearly two billion dollars to do this. Its bonds, for which the government has made itself responsible, have been issued for about that amount. The bonds are held by the insurance companies and private mortgage holders whose mortgages have been taken over by the government. It is expected that by the time the HOLC stops loaning this winter a million home owners will owe their security (and their mort-

-The DAILY WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND By Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24—A plan to put the New' Deal on the spot with a sensational publicity coup is being hatched secretly by master minds of the Liberty League. The plan is to hold a national “nonpartisan” rally in Chicago about Dec. 15—just before congress convenes. Alfred E. Smith and Senator William E. Borah arc the proposed rhetorical Bi£ Berthas of the occasion.

DANVILLE CHURCH TO MARK ANNIVERSARY Special Services Arranged for Sunday. The Danville Christian church will celebrate its ninetieth anniversary tomorrow with a special program arranged by the Rev. R. Powell Mead, pastor. The Rev. Clarence Mitchell, a former pastor of the church, will give the home-coming address at 10:30 tomorrow morning. His subject will be. "A Living Church for Today." Otis E. Gulley, Danville, will give an historical review of the church I and its progress at the morning service. An informal service will be held at 2:30 following a basket dinner at noon, and several former pastors of the church will give brief talks. The main address of the afternoon will be given by the Rev. E. E. Mooreman, pastor of the Linwood Christian church here. At the night meeting, a pageant entitled. “Pageant of Youth.” will be presented by a cast of one hundred children and adults. CALIFORNIAN KILLED IN NEWCASTLE CRASH Victim En Route to Indianapolis When Mishap Occurs. Btt I pit’ ll Prc** NEWCASTLE, Ind., Nov, 24 Bertram Hippier. 43. Santa Rosa. Cal., was injured fatally near here last night when the automobile in which he was riding collided with the rear of a farm wagon loaded with corn. Mr. Hippier, an automobile parts dearel, was en route to Indianapolis to take a train home when the accident occured. Carl Essman, Newcastle. driver of the automobile, escaped injury. THOUSANDS SEE TRIO RESCUED BY FIREMEN Child Saved From Burning Building Rushed to Hospital. B;> l nit• it Fr> * CHICAGO. Nov. 24 —Watched by thousands, firemen rescued two women and a child from the fourth floor of a burning building last night. while a hose stream played I ever them and flames licked at their clothing. D mis Godman, 13. was taken to a hospital after the experience. Her mother. Mrs. Ann Godman, 32. and Mrs. Dorothy McClelland. 35, were uninjured. REPUBLICANS SPEND 526.701 IN ELECTION Lilly Executive Contributes Most. Li'l Arthur Gives SSOO. The Marion county Republican central committee today filed its election campaign expenses of $26.701.62 at the election bureau, county clerk's office. In making the report. Samuel L. Montgomery, treasurer of the committee revealed that receipts had totalled $27,336 of which Charles J. Flynn of Eli Lilly A* Cos. had been the largest contributor, with a $2,000 j donation. Senator Arthur R. Rob--1 inson contributed SSOO.

gage interest and principal) to the government. And when the HOLC stops loaning, there is further help for mortgaged homes in the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Under the housing act, this federal fund is to insure and guarantee home mortgages up to 80 per cent of a valuation based on 1926 value of the property. a a a THIS should tend to relieve the $21.000.000.000 of existing home mortgage debt, and thus draw still further private funds into home construction. As mast HOLC mortgages I ~n fifteen years, we can be sure that for the next fifteen years the government is going to have a hand in a gigantic real estate business, collecting interest and principal, seeing that insurance is paid and repairs kept up, on something like a million homes. About one of every seven mortgaged homes will be dealing with this gigantic government corporation as mortgagor. And right now the government Is the biggest owner of real estate in the whole country, with some five million dollars’ worth. Here again, the government faces the possibility (some say the probability) that many will not pay, and that the government may be either forced to conduct whole-

With these two stellar performers commanding the headlines, the league would be able to get over a flood of covertly antiadministration propaganda—demands for the end of further New Deal experiments, inflation, big government spending. Preparations for the proposed event are being pushed under the closest guarded secrecy. This is done for two reasons. First, to obtain all the advantages that may be derived from springing it as a surprise. Second, to keep the date of the meeting open until the last possible moment so that it can be held after the President makes his already announced “fireside” radio talk. Guarded overtures already have been made to Borah and Smith proposing their participation. u a MEANHILE, the administration, without any knowledge of the Liberty League's maneuvers, is planning a forum of its own. Its purpose, however, is entirely different. Behind the plan is the aim of the President and of John W. Studebaker, new commissioner of education, to promote adult education. To this end they expect to establish a series of “Town Halls" or open forums throughout the country. The first of these probably will be in Washington, and one of the New Deal's chief critics and a rival candidate against Franklin Roosevelt Norman Thomas—will be invited to speak. The President personally is most enthusiastic over the idea. a a a NOT many people know it, but Mrs. Adolf Berle, wife of a prominent member of the brain trust, also is the niece of Henry P. Fletcher, chairman of the Republican national committee. Mrs. Berle, formerly Miss Beatrice Bend Bishop, virtually was ostracized by her family when she married Berle. Her father and mother, members of a prominent Boston family, objected strenuously when she shunned Back Bay society and insisted upon going in for high brow studies of Adolf Berle, then a Harvard prodigy. And when they were married, no member of Miss Bishop's family was present to give her away. a a a F-'RANK N. BELOteANO. new national commander of the American Legion, hotly denies reports that he was personally not in agreement with the Miami convention vote for immediate payment of the bonus. Most significant, however, was his first public address after election. in it he declared that "Americanism” was the first objective of the Legion and carefully skirted the bonus issue. iCocvr:zht 19T4 bv Catted Feature Syndicate. Ir.c.i ART HEAD TO LECTURE Wilbur D. Peat to Speak at Institute Tomorrow. Wilbur D. Peat, John Herron art institute director, will give a gallery talk at the institute on “National Character in Polish Art,” at 4 tomorrow. The talk is to be given in connection with the Polish exhibit now in the institute galleries.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

i':-' IjSb fL \ .y. ••: I"

“He’s got anew government mortgage at a lower rate and longer time ... I can just imagine how relieved Mrs. Wilson will be.”

sale foreclosures or take big losses. Chairman John H. Fahey has promised that while there will be leniency in cases of need, every means will be used to make people pay who can. Applications for HOLC loans have now been stopped, as it is felt that private credit has been loosened up enough to carry the load. nan THE Federal Home Loan bank system administering these loans now* has nearly 3.000 members with assets of three billions. They get their money from twelve regional banks of the system, and loan it to home ow’ners. All regional banks are on a

BARBERS FAVOR CODE OF ETHICS

Beauticians Asked to Join Move to Improve Wage Status. 'Charging that some Indianapolis beauticians are getting as little as $2.50 a week and some Indianapolis barbers as little as $4, Local 242 of the Journeymen Barbers’ International Union of America has called a meeting of all barber and beauty shop employes and owmers for 8:30 Monday night in Tomlinson hall. The meeting will consider a code of ethical practice, state and city legislation looking toward regulation of .the trades and the licensing of beauty shops, as barber shops now are licensed, and co-operation for all in the trades. Three vice-presidents of the international organization have signified their intention of attending the meeting. They are John Lloyd, Norfolk, Va.; George McKenna, Springfield, 0., and P. H. Regan, Rochester, N. Y. Mr. McKenna is credited by national officials of the union with the recent adoption of a barbers and beauticians code under the Ohio recovery act. The startling charges as to the wages received by some workers in the two trades here were made by Ray Higdon, secretary-treasurer of Local 242 and the man responsible for the calling of Monday night’s meeting. Mr. Higdon and others prominent in the barber and beauty trades here, both as workers and as operators, also will address the meeting. According to Mr. Higdon, shop owners, discussing the present competition in their business, have said that some of the practices are so disastrous as to make shop operation unprofitable while, at the same time, it leads to deplorably lowwages.

SIDE GLANCES

| fjli* ili | || :j i 9 ||i i: _ ! SH “6* Hi Qtm

“Os course I was embarrassed. \ou. and papa just sat and stared at him as though you had never met a millionaire’s jwi beforei” •

profit basis, and seven have declared dividends. “What I can’t see,” John Jr., puzzled, “is this: What good does it do for the government just to take over all this mortgage debt? There's just as much debt, isn't there? “How are the home owners, and the farm owners any better off for all this shuffling around?” “Well, take Frank Wilson’s case as an example,” said Pa Jones. “He had a balance of $6,500 due on a 6 per cent mortgage. But the company owning the mortgage was willing to take $5,000 in 4 per cent HOLC bonds for the mortgage, because, of course, wdth the government guarantee, they’re

I COVER THE WORLD nan nan By William Philip Simms

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24.—A revamped League of Nations w-ith America as a member will be urged upon President Roosevelt and the new senate, probably w'ithin sixty days. Some of the most powerful individuals and groups in the United States hold that unless the world’s peace machinery can be patched up, one or more of the existing powder magazines will catch fire and again plunge the nations into conflict.

Political appeasement, it is urged, is essential before such problems as naval limitation, disarmament, international arms control and the present race for bigger and better armies, navies and air forces can be solved. This movement/ now well under way, is headed by the League of Nations’ Association. Chambers of commerce, patriotic organizations, churches, clubs, societies and influential leaders throughout the country are participating or are being invited to participate. nan SHORTLY after congress convenes in January, the senate will be asked to state the terms upon w : hich the United States would be willing to associate itself W'ith the league, and to suggest to the President that he make know'n such terms to Geneva. Great Britain and some other leading members are known to be dissatisfied with the way the league functions in matters pertaining to international peace. They are ready to support changes in the covenant. Chiefly they cite Articles X. XVI and XVII. These have to do with mutual guarantees of the territorial status quo of members, and the use of force to prevent or stop aggression. In practice these have broken down completely. Why, then, it is asked, retain them in the covenant unaltered? It was a dispute over this issue —especially that raised by Article X—that kept the United States out of the league at the beginning.

By George Clark

safer even if less productive. That means that $1,500 of that debt is wiped out forever, and furthermore Fraiik'll pay much less interest and over a longer time. “Inasmuch as the place isn't worth near what it was when he made his original SB,OOO mortgage, why it’s a fair loan under present circumstances. “Everybody's better off. and when you multiply that kind of debt reduction by a million, or several millions, you're really accomplishing something toward getting out from under the load of debt.” nan “T TOW about the building and Xx loan associations?” asked John Jr. “Are they doing anything to keep new' construction going?” “And how they are!” Pa Jones answered. “You know how badly people's faith in building and loan associations was shaken a couple of years ago when they began folding up even before the banks did. Well, the government's just starting in on a program something like the guarantee of bank deposits. “It's going to insure depositors in about 11,000 building and loan institutions, if that many can come up to requirements. Maybe only half of them can make the grade right away, but if all 11.000 can be included, that'll mean another eight billions in stock and deposits which the government's back of. “The Federal Savings and Loan Association already has chartered 489 new associations, and its insurance corporation will have the savings and loan deposits of something like 8.000.000 depositors safeguarded by the end of September.” “It gets me a little dizzy,” admitted John Jr. “Huh! It gets everybody dizzy,” grunted Pa Jones. “We used to talk of government ownership in this country, but nobody ever thought it'd come about by the government foreclosing the first mortgage!” (Copyright, 1934. by NEA Service, Inc.) Next—The NRA—The Joneses feel in their daily life the results of a big effort to get industry to work together for the good of all.

Even Senator Lodge, who led the senate fight against membership, w : ould have voted to join had his reservations been accepted. The Democratic and Republican parties were separated, not so much on the question of joining or not joining as they were on joining with or without reservations. nan TODAY leading Democrats, as well as Republicans, virtually are unanimous on the question of reservations or covenant modifications should the United States eventually decide to become a member. Rightly or wrongly, many feel the league w'ould have been a different organization had the United States participated fully at the start. But America did not participate, and experience has shown that the covenant does not now entirely respond to practical, present-day requirements. Leaders like Newton D. Baker, war-time secretary of war and close associate of President Wilson, today support revision of the covenant and American adherence. Three years ago Mr. Baker publicly stated that, in his opinion, league membership w r as not then “a matter for practical discussion.” He now believes “the time has come to modify the covenant so that it will work to the best interests of everybody.” He urges that the United States immediately state the terms upon which membership in the league will be acceptable. SCIENTISTS TO STUDY SERPENT’S SKELETON Further Efforts to Classify Discovery to Be Made. By L nit> >1 Prcns PRINCE RUPERT, B. G’„ Nov. 24. —The skeleton of a thirty-five-foot creature found on an uninhabited island twenty-five miles from here was ready to be shipped to Naniamo, B. C., where further efforts wall be made to classify it. Scientists thus far have been unable to identify it. Dr. Neal Carter, suptenntendent of the dominion fisheries institute station, could say only that the creature had been a mammal, was warm-blooded, had red flesh, unlike that of a fish or whale, and had no important bones except the vertebrae. Persons who had “seen sea serpents'’ rn the waters hereabouts claimed disovery of the skeleton vindicated their statements. DISTRICT GOVERNOR TO BE GUEST OF ROTARY Raymond E. Willis, Angola, to Attend Luncheon Tuesday. Raymond E. Willis, Angola, Ina., Twentieth Rotary district governor, the only International Rotary officer residing in the Indiana area, will De the official guest of the Indianapolis Rotary Ciuo at us luncheon Tuesday m the Ciaypooi. Mr. Willis w.a oe accompanied by Tuiiy C. Crabbs, Crabhs-Reynoids Taylor Company, Inc., Crawfordsviile, who will speak briefly on the group outing to be held at Turkey Run, n)ec. 6. Mr. Willis is Group V representative. The district governor’s visit to the local unit is an annual one for the purpose of examining its operation and administra „on and to advise the membership of Rotary Interna- j tioual's state. j

Fair Enough WESTBROOK PEfiLfR N r EW YORK. Nov. 24 Invited to sip a few drams of lunch with an author's agent and a buyer from a magazine, your correspondent began to realize that there are points of similarity between the writing industry and the prizefight profession. An authors agent generally is either an old preliminary' boy of the writing industry, such as pulp ftctioner, who soon made up his mind that he couldn't break into the slick-paper publications, or someone who learned the practical details of the

business as office boy in a publishing house. Or maybe he was a theatrical tailor with a habit of hanging around a restaurant frequented by agents and writers, who took on a couple of promising writers as a side line . r.d presently developed a stable. The big magazines receive a constant flow of contributions from free-lance or unattached authors but most of this material is pretty bad. So they have to keep buyers on their pay rolls to circulate around the hangouts of writers and agents and buy pieces with which to dress up the table of contents and the

cover. They buy names, to be sure. But, as a general thing, an author's name stands for a certain degree of quality in the story just as the names of distinguished prizefighters usually signify something to the customers, if any, of Madison Square Garden. ana The Unknowns Drop In THE buyer corresponds, in a sort of way, to the matchmaker of the prizefight club. He will pay more to a writer with a reputation or some notoriety than to an unknown aspirant. Quite often a story drops in. by mail, which is much better than the one which the buyer bought the same day from the wellknown novelist, humorist or heavy-duty thinker. Nevertheless, in such a case, the unknown person is shoved pretty far back in the book, among the tarroofing ads t> and paid about one-third or as little as one-fifth of* the price which is given to the drawingcard. The unknown writer, like the little alley fighter, is glad, however, to get on the same card with the famous brother. He and his family fold away copies of the magazine when it finally comes out, just as proof to themselves and the neighbors that he once had a story m the same book with Booth Tarkington or Katharine Brush or Cobb. Sometimes, writers and fighters, alike, come along to see their names out front. There was a preliminary fighter boxing on the same card with Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier that afternoon in Jersey City who stuck away newspaper clippings showing positively that he performed in the same production. His name made no special impression at the time, but it came to be very well known. It was Gene Tunney. Again noting the resemblance, writers and fighters come from everywhere and nowhere. The agent who invited your correspondent to sip lunch had had three best-sellers in his stable within the last few years. One was a wild animal trapper, another a female Wolf Larsen who could spit twenty yards into the wind and splice a binnacle, or something, and the third a Russian grand duchess. They were not gymnasium writers. They never had a lesson between them. Like Stanley ketchell and Dempsey, they were naturals who just had it in them and did it, all by ear. ana He Makes Ihe Money ’VTEVERTHELESB. the agent was not prejudiced 1 s| against book-taught writers. Nobody can foretell. A boy or girl might read and study and practice the rules and lessons and still turn out all right. Your correspondent mentioned a young newspaper writer in a southern city and the agent took out his notebook and put down the name and address, though warned that the boy had taken a short-story course at Columbia. “If he can write he can write,” the agent said. “Makes no difference if he went to Harvard.” The agent is the lucky one. Given a stable of ten good writers and a 10 per cent commission on their earnings he enjoys the economic safety and the immunity to pain of the prizefight manager who scolds and drives his boys through their training and does their business for them. He is dining and chatting w hile the members of his stable are tapping out one laborious little word after another. And, with ten writers writing he gets more of their aggregate money than they do, on an average. Some writers, it seems, have to be driven. Somi need cheering and coddling. Fancy writ rs. espe-A ciall.v humorists, get serious social “isms” at ri want to spread their feet, low'er their heads and s’ug it out with world conditions. They must be talkcfd out of such nonsense. Deep-thinking philosophers end tragedy types, on the other hand, pine to rise up on their toes and go in for whimsy. The punch-drunk writer is a pathetic case. He suddenly discovers that, for no aparent reason, he simply isn’t any more. In the meanwhile, he may have acquired a boat, a country estate, perhaps a stable and. possibly, a pretentious alimony account. Then jou begin to find him in the testimonials, prattling on the radio and haunting the lunch tables where ihe agents are sipping the afternoons away with the magazine buyers. (Copyright, 1934. by United Feature Svndlcate. Inc.) Your Health BV DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN DISCUSSIONS published relative to gradual increase in number of mental defectives need not alarm us too greatly. In fact, two investigators in Great Britain have carefully considered the possibility actually of increasing the number of defectives. Difficulty of evaluating the figures is great, because present estimates of what constitutes mental deficiency differ from those of even twenty years ago. The great majority of cases that are now called feeble-minded would not have been called feebleminded in 1900. Some authorities point out that the reason there are more defectives now' than there used to be is the fact that we are now saving the lives of many more infants than used to be saved, and that the lives of persons in general are being prolonged far beyond what used to be possible. There is no evidence to indicate that the mentally defective have proportionately more children than do normal people. a a a YOU should realize that our definition of mental defectiveness is not really a definition of mentality, but one of the social capacity of the persor concerned. We judge the of the ir dividual by his ability to get along with other per sons. It is now generally known that many persons are much more intelligent than others. Intelligence below the average is, therefore, like stature below the average. It complicates the life of the individual, but may not necessarily be a sign of disease. Fortunately, the world has jobs for persons of all rates of intelligence. It is just as sad to see a man of great intelligence in a job which could be done by a person below the average as it is to see a person with less than average intelligence trying to fill a place for which he is not fitted. nan IT has been well established that persons who are dull and of low intelligence are likely to have children of low intelligence. Roughly, 75 per cent of persons with lessened intelligence come from stocks which exhibit distinct mental abnormalities. Or. the other hand, there are occasional cases even of idiocy in families in which the parents and grandparents are found to be of high order of intelligence. This means that the normal can carry, even over several generations, a certain amount of defective stock. Os course, the surroundings in which a person is reared and all the factors associated with the general environment are important in determining the extent to which defective intelligence will develop. Given a stock which .s dull or defective, and an environment which precludes it from education and development, the result is -,uite certain to be a very low order of mental capacity.

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Westbrook Fcsler