SEEN and HEARD around the NATIONAL CAPITAL py Carter Field ^ Washington.—Since his arrival in Washington, Georges Bonnet, the new French ambassador, has been the target at nearly every social function he has attended for ques tions about the sit-down strikes and what has happened about them. The questioners started off with the popular delusion that the sit-down strike originate^ in France. M. Bonnet hastens to set them right about this. He is not sure just where they did originate, but he knows they were in vogue in Poland before they were ever employed in France. But the big surprise is what has happened since they started in France. The French government, questioners are told, simply said it would not stand for them! It so notified strikers and labor leaders. When sit-down strikers were ap proached b; the French police, they abandoned their "posts” with only vocal objections. No one was hurt. There was no disorder. All of which is rather startling to Washington’s diners-out, especially aa they had assumed that the pres ent French government is almost Communist—certainly more liberal than most, and presumably much more pro-labor than the present ad ministration in this country. Meanwhile there is plenty of dis cussion in senate and house cloak rooms, and elsewhere, as to what ought to be done about sit-down strikers, and who ought to do it. There are plenty of suggestions that Grover Cleveland would know how to handle it. In fact, his name was mentioned to a recent visitor on Capitol hill by two very distin guished senators. Where Power Lies There is a very wide difference of opinion as to where the constitution al power lies. Some lawyers among the national legislators insist that the federal and state governments have joint power. The theory here is that the sit-down strikes in the automobile plants affect interstate commerce, hence thrusting respon sibility on the federal government for the movement of goods across state lines. This is a minority view, as most lawyers agree that automobile pro duction, to take the most popular instance, is strictly intrastate, de spite the very obvious effects such a strike would have on interstate commerce, both in the flow of sup plies to the plant and the flow of automobiles from the plant. However, the Supreme court Is expected to settie that point, very definitely, In it* forthcoming deci sion on the Wagner labor relations act. The two cases are almost on all fours. The government contends it has the right to compel plants engaged in similar production to submit to labor regulations of the federal government. The compa nies insist they are intrastate. The decision of the court will almost certainly decide that point of con tention. Most lawyers who have studied the case believe that the court will hold the Wagner act unconstitution al, some of them even predicting that the decision will be unanimous. If that should prove true, it will become almost certain that respon sibility for handling sit-down strikes —if they are to be handled by any governmental power at all, which in itself is highly dubious—will rest with state governments. Perhaps even local governments. A Real Menace Despite all reports to the con trary, the administration does not propose tc attempt compulsory ar bitration of labor disputes. In the first place, the administration has no desire to get in a knockdown and drag out tight with organized labor, and if there is one subject cn which John L. Lewis and William Green see eye to eye it is that they want no compulsory arbitration least of all from the government. The administration recognizes the seriousness of the present labor de velopment. President Roosevelt has told members of the house that he is much concerned about the possi bilities of the sit-down strikes; that he regards them not only as illegal but as a real menace to the country. He made this admission despite the knowledge of every man in the group to whom he was speaking that he himself had virtually forced General Moto/s to negotiate while sit-down strikers were occupying its plants, which action resulted not only in the success of C. I. O. in that battle, but made its victory in steel easy, and started a wave of strikes and other labor disturbances in other industries. What the administration is figur ing on is something in the nature of the mediation board which has ex isted for many years for the han dling of disputes between railway managements and workers. This board has never had any authority. It merely sits in with the conflict ing elements and seeks to bridge over the differences by moral sua sion, very much as Edward F. Me Grady, assistant secretary of la bor, and other Irbor officials have been doint, in the various strike situations outside the railroad field. Await Court Fight The most the government hopes for, as a matter of fact, is some sort of agreement that there must be 30 days’ notice before a strike is actuallj made effective—a sort of breathing spell treaty, so to speak. But few believe that even this would work, thinking that the modern idea of nations making war before they formally declare it is just as effec tive—a bit of tactics—even if un fair—in labor warfare as in inter national conflicts. Meanwhile, of course, all this la- j bor legislation, including also the much desired—on the part of the ad min'stration—federal regulation of wages and hours, is waiting on the outcome of the President’s fight to enlarge the Supreme court. It would be bad tactics, most New Dealers believe, to put any legisla tion through before the high court has its new blood transfusion. To get any part of the program accom plished in advance of action on the court enlargement law would, it is thought, take just that much steam out from the pressure for the court | fight. This battle is tough enough, the New Dealers realize, without surrendering an ounce of advantage. All of which spells infinite delay. There is no thought in the senate of expediting that debate. Senator Henry F. Ashurst, chairman of the senate judiciary committee, despite a complete flop to the President's side, announces he will fight any move to invoke cloture. Which means that the talkers in the senate will not be restrained. Best estimates are that the final vote will not come before June, even if then, which means that all the new labor legislation, and the farm legislation as well, must wait until after that. Heavier Spending Much heavier federal spending with higher taxes on 1937 incomes, both corporate and individual—de spite the heavily increased returns of March 15—are definitely on the administration's agenda. The vig orous disclaimers on Capitol hill that followed the insistence of M. S. Eccles, reserve board chairman, that the budget must be balanced by new levies are just so much eye wash. Congress is in a spending mood and the administration is headed toward what tories will call a spending orgy. Bitter protests of senators and representatives will be calmed by administration insistence that new taxes to finance spending, without too great additions to the federal debt, are necessary to head of» inflation—which would hit the consumer. Those in congress who oppose the tax boost will be put in the position of protecting the rich and the corporations—of grinding the faces of the poor. Capitol hill leaders have not yet been consulted, just as they were not on the Supreme court enlarge ment proposal. Chairman Eccles’ statement was not prompted solely by the slight decline in price of federal bonds. The administration is interested in that too, but far from frightened— actually the day Eccles made his statement government 4 per cent bonds sold at 112, and some 2V« per cent bonds sold at a fraction over par, so the decline could hardly be called a debacle. The government is concerned about this slight decline in prices because the whole move is a straw in the wind which, if it continued, would result in higher interest rates. The government does not want high er interest rates, for two reasons. It wants to keep its own interest pay ments down, and it wants to en able business to borrow as cheaply as possible so as to encourage new industries and greater employment. Trial Balloon So Eccles’ statement was not Just a trial balloon. It was a warning set up to make the impact less dreadful when it comes, later this year. The administration is gravely concerned over the political and economic effects of the continued advance in the cost of living, al ready set in motion by business re vival, advances in wages and short ening of hours. It fears something approaching a buyers’ strike a lit tle later when a great mass of con s Tiers, with no pay raises, find their incomes simply won’t stretch. Hence the importance of budget balancing, or at least a step in that direction, so as to head off the fear of actual currency inflation accel erating price rises already resulting from other causes. But the really Important point is that the administration is de termined on much greater spend- , ing on relief to meet the situation described by President Roosevelt in recent speeches—for instance, that so huge a percentage of the population is still wretchedly housed, ill-clad, undernourished and generally below the level of a de cent standard of living. Roosevelt does not contemplate ever eliminating federal relief. He regards it as a certainty for all time, regardless of whether there be prosperity or depression. He agrees with Harry L. Hopkins that even in boom times there will be something like 5,000,000 families whose incomes must be supplement ed by the government. He also agrees with Hopkins that the gov ernment has /lot scratched the sur face in providing better housing. C Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service. An Open-Air Cafe in Peiping. Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. ALL the roads in farther Asia lead to Peking, and its name throughout the East is rich as Troy’s. You may ap proach it along the imperial high way, from the southwest, over flag stones rutted by the cart wheels of a thousand years. The other end of that road is in Istanbul; it was the route Marco Polo followed, visit ing the Grand Khan in the courts of the sunrise. You may come down to the city, now called Peiping, from the north, through Kalgan gate in the Wall and Nankow pass, as the Tatar coun querors came, trotting on shaggy ponies behind their yak-tail stand ards. Or you may enter by the rail road, from tfie sea, 38 travelers ar rive these latter days. In any case, nothing warns you of this city; nothing that you have heard prepares you. You proceed over a flat country, khaki-colored in winter, variegated green in sum mer, which looks the same in ev ery direction. It is not that the view is without incident; every yard of land is cultivated, and people in blue coolie cloth, with their small industrious beasts, move like ants across it. Roads and footpaths con nect group after group of huddled mud buildings, each unit behind its wall. Punctuating the fields are mounds ranging in size from very small humps to impressive hillocks framed in striking architectural conceptions. These are graves, for the dead are not segregated in China. Trees stand in thinnish clumps and straggling lines, trimmed thriftily of all superfluous branches, and there are dark clus terings of evergreens, planted in formal groves, to shield important ghosts from the rude north winds. Among the grave mounds and the villages you see tablets of remem brance, upright plinths of carved marble set upon immemorial tor toises, facing south; and shrines to gods and princes, long forgotten, standing starkly in the furrows. But each incident of landscape repeats itself to monotony, and there is a confusion, rather than a dearth, of landmarks. South and east the great sky borders the hol low land, and north and west the hills circle, their contours lifting sharp and brittle through the clear air, remote and inconsequent as painted scenery on a screen. Many Smells and Many Walls. Ahead, the horizon takes on reg ularity. A long gray wall, spaced by unusual towers, rises suddenly as thunder. Your road enters a malodorous suburb, and crosses a canal of yellow, viscous water, bor dered by willow trees and washer women and populous with squad rons of cla'mant snow-white ducks. Complicated and violent smells as sail the nostrils. Before you opens the dark cavern of a gate, where bored soldiers in gray uniforms, and police in dingy black, armed with rifles watch a press of man traffic and animal traffic that flows with out ceasing, to the accompaniment of unimaginable noise. You en ter Peiping, and at the end of every vista stands a wall. There has been a city hereabouts for three thousand years. Histori ans locate a town of the Yin dynas ty, called Chi, cn a site near the northwest corner of the present Ta tar city in the Twelfth century B. C. The Manchu emperor, Chien Lung, marked the place where one of its gates stood with a tablet, which you may see to this day, on the ram part called the Mongol Walk a short distance north of Peiping, beside the road to the Bell Temple. However, the mutations of Peip ing’s history have been many times told; volumes have been taken in the telling. The Ming, which is to say, the Bright, dynasty, built Peiping on a grand scale. Yung Lo. third em peror of the line, moved his court up from Nanking in the early four teen-hundreds. and created a cap ital worthy of his greatness. The Bell Tower, which was in the center of Khanbaligh, visited by Marco Polo in the reign of Kublai Khan, stands now in the upper third of Peiping; and the Observatory is north of the present southeast angle. You “can ride the line of Kublai’s walls to the north, and they are formidable earthen ram parts; but goats graze upon weed grown mounds that were the guard towers on the gates. Big Wall of Yung Lo. Yung Lo’s wall, called the Tatar Wall for no good reason, is im mense. Its circuit is some 14 miles, and its outline is almost square, rounded slightly at the northwrest angle, where a stream enters the city. It has a core of earth and j rubble, faced with heavy masonry. Its width at the base is 60 feet, narrowing to about 50 feet at the top, or the width of three war chariots driven abreast, and it is more than 40 feet high. Bastions thrust out at regular in tervals, and the top is crenelated, once affording shelter to bowmen. Wide ramps lead up to the nine gates: three on the south, and two for each of the other faces. Above every gate stands a guard tower, ! with quarters for the garrison, and formerly these were covered by curtain walls enclosing a space where travelers were; examined and duty assessed and collected on goods coming in. Peiping is no longer the capital. From 1912 to 1928 the republic sat in the dismantled pavilions that had housed the emperors. Then the gov ernment moved to Nanking. By edict the name of the ancient city was abandoned; Peking, “North ern Capital,” became officially Pciping, “City of the Northern Plains,” or “Northern Peace.” So said the People’s party, the postal authorities, and the office-holders. But to the residents and to the for eigners who love it, the city re mains Peking. From the heights within the walls one may survey the city. Climb Coal hill. It is an artificial j eminence, rising 210 feet above the j town, lying east and west, its con- j tours following the conventional art i form of the breaking wave. A cen- i tral pavilion crowns it, flanked by i four smaller pavilions to left and right as the slopes descend. Cedars J and white pines and sparse grass clothe it sketchily. There is a legend that some thrifty emperor created it by piling up a reserve supply of coal against a seige, covering the fuel with dirt by way of camouflage—but there is no coal here and never was. His businesslike people would have sold it at a reasonable profit long cen turies ago. More likely it was made of the dirt excavated from the line of artificial lakes which the poetic inhabitants call the “Three Seas,” lying in the old Imperial City. View of City From Coal HiU. The pavilion on the crest houses a tall Buddha, once richly gilded, now scoured to drabness by the sun and wind, which broods eternally over the city. Standing between his knees, ypu are on the medial line of Peiping, and a little north of its exact center. In general, the view is of a one story town, with geometrical pat terns of low roofs and walled court yards defined in blocks by the in tersections of the great streets. From this level rise the temples and pavilions, and the gate towers, the bright tiles of their roofs in dicating official status. Yellow tile was wholly imperial; green tile an<^ blue, the latter rare, meant the in terest of the government or the Im perial family. There are, among the varicolored roofs, surprisingly numerous lines and clumps of trees. In the spring and summer Peiping gives the im pression of being extensively wood ed; and in the winter, when the leaves are off, you see that every temple inclosure and pleasure gar den is set with noble evergreens, white pines and cedars, so that the prospect is never barren. You see the three cities, one with in another, like a Cantonese puzzle box, and the fourth, the Chinese City, away to the south, beyond Chien Men and Hata Men. The foursquare line of the Tatar Wall lays out the Tatar City, which was, under the Manchus, divided among the Eight Banners, each having its own district in the several quad rants. Then your eye picks up the pink ish-red wall of the Imperial City, pierced now by the great streets that run east and west. It was orig inally a long, narrow rectangle, lying from north to south on the axis of Peiping. It enclosed the “Three Seas,” the lakes shining sil ver in the sun down its western half; and in it were located the pal aces of the court officials and im perial princes. It stretches from the Tung Chang an Chieh to the Ti An Men Ta Chieh, north of Coal hill, which are the two east and west boulevards. The republic smeared black paint and democratic blue over its im perial red; but it is pleasant to ob serve that the black and btue have flaked away, and the ancient ruddy water pigment persists to delight the eye. It is no longer a distinc tive quarter; the houses of the dukes and princes are nearly all for rent. Tortoise Leg Hones Valued On the west African coast the bones from the legs of tortoises are much valued as anklets, in order to give their wearers endurance. HOJ3F&RE 'Uouj&m f DR. JAMES W. BARTON T»lk» About ® Inherited Overweight. WHEN a patient consults a phy sician regarding a reduction in his or her weight one of the first questions the physician will ask is j about the parents, grandparents, ■ uncles, aunts and cousins. If there j is a "tendency” to overweight on the side of either of the parents, j the physician knows that the weight reduction is apt to take some time. Dr. Barton Dr. R. Gurney, Buffalo, in Archives of Internal Medi cine, Chicago, stud- j died seventy - five stout women in the j outpatient depart ment of the Buffalo General hospital, with three points in mind: (1) the fac tors associated with the onset of over weight as com pared to the same factors or circumstances occurring in a non-stout group of women; (2) the indicence or occurrence of over weight in the parents of the stout group as opposed to that in the par ents of a non-stout group; (3) the body build of the progeny or chil dren of different matings with es pecial reference to inheritance of build. Fifty-five women who were defin itely not stout were chosen at ran dom as "controls” (that is for com parison because they were of nor mal weight and build). These “con trols” were of the same age group as the stout women and had prac tically the same number of opera tions and the same number of chil dren — operations and childbirth were named by both groups of wom en as the time at which they noticed the great increase in weight. Others reported that the great increase in weight came on at puberty (14 to 16 years of age) and others that it came on at the change of life (45 to 50 years of age). When the “build” of the parents of the stout group and of the con trol group is investigated a differ ence in the occurence of over weight is noticed. Many Had Stout Parents. Of sixty-one stout women whose family history was easily investi gated, twenty-six had a stout moth er, nine had a stout father, and fif teen had both a stout mother and a stout father. In contrast to all this stoutness in the family history, of the forty-seven not stout patients whose family history was also easily investigated, fourteen had a stout mother, one had a stout father, and three had both a stout mother and a stout father. Thus in the non-stout group there was a total of 38 per cent with either one or both parents stout as opposed to 82 per cent in the stout group. A study of the progeny or children of different matings is of interest. There were 89 children from mat ings of stout persons, 65 of whom were stout; of the 170 children of mat ings of a stout and a not stout per son, 70 were stout; of the 176 chil dren of matings of persons who were not stout only 16 were stout. This would show that while in stout individuals there are cell ele ments which tend to leanness, in thin or non-stout individuals there are apparently no cell elements that tend to stoutness. It is in the cases with an "in herited” tendency to overweight that a physician is justified in using gland extracts. Where the excess weight is distributed all over the body, the thyroid extract may be of help. Where the excess weight is over abdomen, hips and shoulders, with forearms and lower legs lend er, the use of extract of the anterior pituitary gland (the little gland ly ing on the floor of the skull) should give results. • • • Planning Health and Energy. When the business man plans that his income will take care of ex penses, he is said to budget his fi nancial undertakings. A great many housewives work on or use a bud get, putting aside so much for rent, for food, for fuel, for clothing, for medical and dental attention and a little for the savings bank. It would seem then that it would be only good sense if each and every one of us were to budget our health, our energy, so that we could do all that was possible for our health or energy to do without rob bing ourselves and so causing ill health and lack of energy. Dr. George Crile, in his book "Dis eases Peculiar to Civilized Man" shows how the insane desire for speed of all kinds which afflicts and sometimes seems like to ruin this rather mad generation is the cause of such well recognized ail ments as ulcer of the stomach and intestine, increase in the activity of the thyroid gland in the neck so that all the processes of the body are driven at an increased rate of speed, weakness of the muscular and nervous system, and brought about the knowledge of how to cure these conditions by cutting the trans mission between the brain and the overdriven organs. The treatment is for the physi cian to show the patient that it is overspending of energy in work or play that is causing the symptoms, CoDrrlKht.—WNU Serytc*. AROUND the HOUSE t Items of Interest ^to^t^^o^ewife^ Boiling Cabbage — When you cook cabbage, put a small hand ful of breadcrumbs tied in muslin into the pan. The bread absorbs all the bitter juices and makes the vegetable more digestible. * * * Washing Embroidery — Do not wring embroidery after washing. Press out as much moisture as possible between the folds of a towel, then spread on a towel or blotter to dry, face up. • • * Suede Shoes — Rain spots can be removed from suede shoes by rubbing with fine emery board. * * • Ironing Shirts — Soft collars at tached to shirts should be ironed on the right side first, then on the wrong side. This prevents wrinkling the collar. * * • Sausage and Fried Apples — Pan broil the required number of small sausages or cakes of sau sage meat and as soon as the fat collects, add as many halved, cored and unpeeled apples as re quired, first dipping them in flour Yes, What? “Better be careful.” “What for?” “The worm will turn.” “What can a worm do if he does turn?” Home Talent Jones—Now, there’s Shelley— don’t you think he employs too many metaphors? Binks—Yes, I think he ought to give American workmen a chance.—Hartford Courant. My Word! Lotta Kerves, our luscious sten og, was under discussion soon aft er she was hired. “How’s she do ing?” asked the boss. “Well,” hesitated the office manager, “she spells atrocious ly.” “Sa-well!” excljymed the boss. “Keep her. I canH spell that my self!”—Washington Post. April Foolery The office boy wandered in a bit late t’other day, to be met with this question from the office man ager (a verra, verra tough guy): “Say when were you born?” “April 2,” replied the office boy. “H’m,” snapped the office man ager, “late again!” to which a little sugar has been added. Saute slowly until soft and browned. Place on a serving dish, with two small sausages on each half. ♦ • * Cooking Vegetables — A small piece of butter added to the water in which vegetables are to be cooked will prevent them from boiling over. * • * Making a Footstool — Do you know that you can make unique footstools out of the single spring seats of an old automobile? Cover the old seat with upholstery and attach castors at the four corners. This will give you a comfortable seat or footstool for your summer cottage. * • * Worn Socks — Children very of ten get enormous holes in the heels of their socks. This is often due to the lining of the shoe which has worn rough. If the ragged bits are cut off and the inside of the shoe covered with adhesive tape, many a large “hole” will be pre-' vented. * * * Cocoa Egg Cake Filling — White of one egg; one cup icing sugar; two teaspoons cold water; four tablespoons cocoa; half teaspoon vanilla. Beat white of egg until stiff and dry. Mix cocoa and sugar, add cold water. Add gradually to egg white until thick enough to spread. * « • Baking Potatoes — Before put ting potatoes in the baking-tin, stand them in boiling water for a few minutes, then drain on a clean cloth. They will cook more quickly and taste better. * * * Flavoring Gravy — Half milk and half water makes the best colored and best flavored gravy. WNU Service. INSIST ON GENUINE O-CEDAR Don’t take chances! Use only genuine O-Cedar Polish — favorite of housekeepers tho world over for 30 years. O-Cedar protects and preserves furniture, . prevents spider- A n web checking. Av southern SPECIAL-BLEND in the bright red Jewel carton • Cakes are more delicate, pastry and biscuits flakier and more delicious when you use this finer shortening! For Jewel is a Special-Blend of vegetable fat with other bland cooking fats. Actual tests prove that it creams faster and makes more tender baked foods. LIFE’S LIKE THATBy Fred Neher US MODERNS. | (Copyright 1917, by Frtd Neher) “Well, nosey . . . wh.it is it??I"