Evening Star Newspaper, January 9, 1921, Page 32

ro M ] THE SUNDAY STAR, JANUARY 9, 1921—PART 2 THE EVENING STAR,|! mbsitized at the expense of the With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY........January 9, 1921 THEODORE W. NOYES. .. .Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: Tribune Building. Chicago Office: First National Bank Building. European Office: 3 Regent St., London, Eagland. end of e Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., §5.40 : Daily only 1., $6.00; 1 mo., 50c Bunday only 1¥r., §2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ All Other States. Daily and Sunday.1 Daily only 1y Sunday onl. 1 ., 37 . $3.00;1 Price Deflation Inequalities. Students of economic conditions are “stumped” by the stage which has been reached in the process of busi- ness readjustment and price deflation. Prices of many commodities have receded to and even below pre-war figures, yvet the general price level in this country remains about 60 per cent above ‘that of the early months of 1914. Manifestly, this results in in- equalities and injustices, and unless there is speedy correction of the evil it will operate to retard that restora- tion to a healthful basis which it has been hoped would follow passing of the disorders of deflation. Manufacturers and merchants have sacrificed prospective profits, and in many instances have endured serious losses, in order to move stocks of goods. If manufacturers were able to create new stocks and merchants to replenish their shelves at the lower levels which their sacrifices have cre- ated, these sacrifices would soon be forgotten and the country would be on its way to a sounder if less hectic prosperity. But, unfortunately, in a discouraging proportion of cases they are not able to do this. They find that in many of the markets where they must buy war-time price levels are being maintained, and, with that dread & child once burned is said to have of the fire, they are holding back from buying. For the situation as it now exists the economic doctors are not as eager to prescribe as they were a few months ago. Their “don’t buy” rem- edy has thrown the patient into the expected fit, but apparently fits are mot so easily cured as they had thought. As a matter of fact, Amer- ica, in common with the rest of the ‘world, is afflicted with an unprecedent- ed malady, and about the most that ‘can be expected of the doctors is that they will provide palliatives for symp- toms as they become aggravated. No cure-all remedy has been or is likely to be found. The healing will be slow as the disease runs its course; but in America, at least, the business body is organically sound, and however great the present distress there is no rea- son to fear that recovery will not be complete. —_—————————— Fear Not a Deter;:nt. The example of the balloonists whose narrow escape from death has been accompanied by unforgettable hardships will not discourage others from similar attempts. Man is normal- 1y a courageous animal, whether the enterprise on which his impulse hap- pens to be set be praiseworthy or reprehensible. Lawmakers have been -brought many times face to face with the fact that physical penalties do not restrain human inclination inde- pendently of appeal to moral and ethical considerations instinctive to every conscience. If fear were a uni- versal restraint, there would be none ready day after day to risk life in the air voyages, around which science thus far has been able to throw such scanty safeguards. On the contrary, every day will witness an increasing number _of men eager to make the venture ‘whose hazard in reality provides its Breatest fascination. g ——————— Japan’s mathematicians are now at ‘work on figures to show whether their country is the only one on the map entitled to feel that it can afford a big naval program. —————— e Evening Star, with the Sunday morning ition, is delivered by carriers within the city The Danger to the Parks. The Smith bill granting easements “for irrigation plants, dams. reser- voirs, canals, ditches, pipes and pive lines” in Yellowstone National Park has passed the Senate and is now pend- ing before the House with a favor. able committee report. Convinced that action in the Senate was taken ‘without a full knowledge of the sig- nificance of the measure, those inter- ested in the preservation of the na- tional parks for the purposes for which they were originally set aside are uniting in a final effort to make sure at 60 cents per month: daily only. 45 cents per that no similar condition of affairs That Congress should, under these conditions, delegate to the Secretary of the Interior authority to make the easements sought for immediately ef- fective and irrevocable cannot but seem incredible. Yet, unsound though the arguments in favor of this spe- cific project are, their unsoundness is but a secondary reason why the bill should be killed. The main feature for Congress and the nation at large to bear in mind is the matter of dan- gerous precedent in permitting the in- cursion of any commercial interests into the park at any time—however plausible the arguments in favor of such concessions. Ninety-nine and three-quarters per cent of the area of the United States is today primarily devoted to economic use. The na- tional parks and monuments, dedi- cated to the purpose of forever pre- serving, for our children and our chil- dren's children, examples of primi- tive natural and unspoiled America, occupy but onequarter of one per cent of that area. Should the time come when America shall have so fully developed its other productive resources that it truly can no longer afford to maintain the parks intact, then and not till then, should the parks be abandoned as such and open- ed to commercial exploitation. That period is happily still far removed, and until it arrives the policy of Congress must be to take no chances—to ad- here firmly to the principle of “Hands off the national parks.” Safeguarding the Crowds. Warning is being given, through police channels, to crooks of all grades and styles of work to keep away from ‘Washington during the next few weeks, and especially during the in- auguration period. The District police force will be on the watch for all those ‘who are known to be engaged in any shifty kind of business and will nab them on arrival. They will be held as “suspicious characters,” even if they commit no breach of the peace, as a general precaution. It is be- lieved that the warning that has been given will suffice to discourage most of these gentry from coming here. A big crowd always attracts the pickpockets, ‘the swindlers, the con- fidence men and the gamesters of all sorts, who prey upon the public. For- tunately many of these people are identified by means of police photo- graphs, obtained in the course of round-ups and individual arrests. The ‘Washington. headquarters, in close touch with the police bureaus of all the cities, will have a fairly complete collection of these identifying mate- rials, so that there is small chance of a. suspect getting through the lines, even in the great crush that is likely to occur a few weeks hence. The public rarely learns of these arrests ‘“‘on suspicion” when a crowd gathers and the police are on guard to protect the community. The offi- cers, in plain clothes, are stationed at the railroad terminal and at other points of ingress and scrutinize the incoming - passengers. With them often stand representatives of the po- lice bureaus of other cities, more familiar with the active crowd-work- ers. A questionable character appears, is quietly approached and invited to g0 to headquarters. There he is ex- amined, measured and, if identified as one of the known crooks, is held in restraint until the opportunity for active work has passed. Or he may be shunted back to his own town with warning ngt to return. This protective police work is worth much to the people who gather here. It probably saves many thousands of dollars and repays all the expense at- tached to it, many fold. —_——————— The Cabinet. Mr. Harding is discovering that a cabinet-maker’s lot is not a happy one. Especially is this true where material is abundant. And Mr. Harding has abundant material to choose from. The republican party is rich in com- petent men. It is an old organization, with a record, and its ambitious mem- bers have had opportunity to develop as men of affairs. It is not to be assumed that every man mentioned for a cabinet post has had, or has, great force behind him. Some have been mentioned as a mat- ter of personal compliment, and were fully served by the mention. 'Others have been mentioned for the purpose of drawing fire, and have drawn fire. Others still—strong in point of influ- ence, ability and geographical posi- tion—have been mentioned in the sin- cere hope of appointment, and many pleasant things have been said about them. Out of all this Mr. Harding must have been able to extract a good deal of information valuable to him at this time. Both the praise and the dis- praise evoked have conveyed to him things important for him to know. His assessment of men will be the clearer for what he has learned and is still learning about the divisions of opinion in his own party. Mr. Harding’s experience in this month: Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Or- ders may be sent by mail, or telephone Main 5000. "Collection is made by carriers at the ach month. shall obtain when final action is taken in the south wing of the Capitol. In urging the measure its protago- nists have claimed that that portion of the park which it is proposed to flood is the only practical place for ‘water storage in the vicinity: that it is a swamp and of “absolutely no scenic value™; and that the project ‘would in fact serve to beautify the region. It was only by the narrowest of margins that the bill was held up till the close of the session that a comprehensive investigation and re- port might be made. Since that time certain new facts have been estab- lished which change the entire com- Plexion of the matter. The “swamps” are beautiful, firm meadows inte spersed with pleasant woods and bor- dered by one of the most remarkable and lovely serles of waterfulls in any of the national parks. A small amount of inexpensive road building will open the region to thousands of campers who now overcrowd the avaflable sites. Flonded in springtime, the meadows would in the dry season become a dreary expanse of mud flats. And, ; finally, the water storage required can be provided outside the park, although ! prebably at a greater cost to the reser- ! voir company and its subscribers than matter is not exceptional. Some of his predecessors have changed their cabinet slates at the eleventh hour in order to meet some suddenly developed situation. Both Gen. Garfield and Mr. McKinley encountered such a neces- sity. ——— In some more or less conspicuous localities the chief difficulty with a imoratorium lies in the temptation to renew it indefinitely. —_—— France proposes to conduct an in- vestigation in the Ruhr valley on lines that will involve little delay as possible. ————e January {is stfll displaying some postal facilities within a short distance of the department. The occasion can- not be properly passed to note anew the fact that the original purpose of the big building at the corner of Penn- sylvania avenue and 11th street was to provide ample and conveniently located quarters for the main city post office and that the department soon crowded it out of its location. It may be that a better site for the main city post office was chosen and that better service is rendered there than at a downtown location. But the fact re- mains that for a long time the central business section of Washington had practically no immediate postal facil- ities and that the 11th street branch was established only after a consider- able delay and upon the insistence of the business interests. The present quarters of that branch are inade- quate and the service, at crowded times, is not what the city requires. If it is impossible to establish a fully equipped branch for downtown Wash- ington in the main postal building a branch should be specially constructed for the purpose. Rented quarters are not appropriate or convenient. The government should own its branch sta- tions, which should be designed for public.convenience and the facilitation of the postal business. The capital should have a model postal system. It has a commodious, attractively design- ed and, for the purpose of distribu- tion and mail handling, conveniently situated central office. It does not, however, boast of a single branch that is not subject to dislocation upon the expiration of rental or lease. At least half a dozen permanent branches should be built, particularly one in the heart of the city, where the bulk of the business mail is handled. What- ever happens at the main department building, whether the space originally devoted to this use is restored or not, this development should be pressed upon Congress as an urgent need. ———tee————— The Canal Traffio. Nearly eight ships a day passed through the Panama canal during the year 1920. The total number in transit was 2,814, aggregating 10,378,000 net tons, and carrying a total cargo of 11,236,000 tons. This traffic establish- ed a new high record, exceeding that of the previous year by about 50 per cent. During the month of December the tolls amounted to $1,007,875, the greatest sum taken in any month ex- cept last September, and the total for the year was $10,295,000. ‘These figures show what a big work has been done at the isthmus since it was plerced. They fully justify the immense expenditure of the enter- prise. They refute all the gloomy forecasts of failure that were advanced when this country seriously under- took the job. And the canal traffic is just in its early development. The chances are that the year 1921 will show a new high record in tonnage and in tolls, and that the number of ships passing through daily will rise to ten or higher. ' Think of the time saved by those eight ships daily passing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a few hours sailing! In the aggregate the steaming time of the 2,814 ships around the Horn would amount to many years, the fuel consumption to millions of tons, the cost of transpor- tation to an incalculable sum of money. The Panama canal stands as one of the best investments ever made by any nation. —_—mee————— A certain amoufit of tact must be employéd in persuading the newly ar- rived immigrants to became as much interested in the practical work of farming as they are in the electric illuminations of a large city. e The socialists who demand the re- lease of Eugene Debs do not take into consideration the fact that he is possibly more picturesque and in- fluential in his present situation. —————————— ‘The fact that the old-fashioned 5-cent cigar is practically obsolete does not prevent tobacco growers from threatening to reduce crops because prices are too small. ————ee———— Announcements of their prices by the Chicago beef packers would seem fair enough if the average consumer could arrange to purchase his meat supply by the “cwt.” ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Criticism. I know a man with smile so prim ‘Who gives the closest heed To everything you say to him, And murmurs, “Yes, indeed!" 1 know another who will shout In contradiction strong, No matter what you talk about, And say, “Here's where you're © wrong! I like the “yessing” man; and yet In candor I admit It's from the other that I get The greater benefit. Jud Tunkins says the fact that doc- tor's prescriptions are written in it is no decent reason for calling Latin a dead language. Retirement. “Bootleggers ought to be put out of business.” “You won't have to put ’em out of business,” commented Uncle Bill Bot: tletop. #‘They’ll be able to retire on their wealth.’ Relative Terms. “Any blue laws in Crimson Gulch?" “Yep,” replied Cactus Joe. “The sheriff has made a rule that no poker game can run after midnight without weather that would be ideal for the 4th of March. ————e—————— Branch Postal Pacilities. In correction of an article printed in The Star relative to the possibility of the establishment of a branch post- al station in the Post Office Depart- ment building, the chief clerk of that department has written a letter, which has been published, setting forth that the building is crowded, that there is no waste or improperly used space in it and that there are already branch seein’ him about the rake off.” For a Starter. Although I hope for human bliss From next Inauguration day to flow, I limit now my hope to this: I hope it doesn’t freeze or snow. Good Reading. “I have just read about another cut in prices.” “Yes,” replied Miss Cayenne. “‘Pres- ently the cut in prices will figure as prominently in commerce as it does in literature” 4 POLITICS AT HOMB/Plan to Combine Study With|HBARD AND SEEN|FIFTY YEARS AGO IN Work in Shops and Stores New York This Year. A mayor is to be elected in Greater New York next fall. The enrollment favors the republicans. This is sur- prising, but it is so. Still, the situa- tion is such that if they are to suc- ceed at the polls the republicans must nominate a candidate of exceptional strength. Should he be a republican, appealing for straight party support? or an independent, capable of polling a large independent vote? There is a division of opinion. As some of the republicans ask, why not a straight appeal with a strict party man? As sentiment has shifted to the republicans, why not recogmize the change frankly? What would be gained by putting up an independent? Give the independents the right sort of republican to vote for, and they ‘will accept him. On the other hand, there are repub- licans who advise a play for inde- pendent support by going to the ranks of the independents for the candidate. The plague of the big town, they point out, has been party government. Tam- many control has always signified ruthless party advantage. The demo- crats have divided the spoils among themselves for personal and party advantage, leaving the public welfare to go hang. Among the republicans suggested for the nomination is Senator Calder, who has a strong hold on the town as well as on the state. He is straight goods of the best kind. In his races for the House, @s well as in his race for the Senate, he showed running qualities of a high order. ‘Would the senator surrender his present office for the mayoralty? In New York great value attaches to the mayoralty of the big town and to the governorship of the state, and the man holding either is assured of a national reputation. George B. McClellan gave up a seat in the House for the mayor- alty, and. William Sulzer a seat in the House for the governorship. ———————— Jackson Day, 1820. A year ago last night in this good town Mr. Bryan, at a Jackson day dinner, warned his party against mak- ing the league of nations as negotiat- ed by the President the issue in the approaching campaign. In the circum- stances, it was a bold thing to do. The President had a firm grip on the democracy, and the league was upper- most in his thoughts and purposes. Mr. Bryan’s warning went unheeded. The President called for “a solemn ref- erendum” on the league, got it, and for him it proved to be very solemn. ‘The largest plurality ever recorded in this country was recorded against the league. Mr. Bryan emerged from the wreck a prophet. His stoutest opponent could not deny him the credit of hav- ing sensed the situation correctly. The people would not have the league, and among those rejecting it were hundreds of thousands of democrats. ‘What will it profit the prophet being thus confessed a prophet in his own country? Mr. Bryan is not carrying weight for age. He will still in 1924 be young enough for leadership. He retains a good deal of his popularity. As an entertainer he still draws crowds on the Chautauqua circuit. As a politician he is still consulted about public policies. He has visited Marion at Mr. Harding’s invitation, and given his views how peace in the world may best be promoted. At present the democratic party ma- chinery is in anti-Bryan hands—that is, in the hands of the man for whom Mr. Bryan refused to speak in the campaign. But the Cox control is likely to pass; and something about Mr. Bryan's future may be gathered from the character of the control that succeeds the Cox control. “Al” Smith. “Never again!” exclaims Gov. Smith of New York. He is speaking of pol- itics and office. He has just retired from political life after an experfence of twenty-odd years, and has a com. fortable and remunerative job in business. ‘Well, maybe. And then maybe not. The exclamation 18 doubtless sincere. The governor had a strenuous time while conducting the people’s affairs as their servant, and now he can move a little leisurely in conducting his own affairs as his own servant. Busy as he may be in his new walk, it will afford him by comparison a sort of rest. But afttr he Is rested; after he turns as a looker-on to observe how others are playing the political game, and particularly after some of his old comrades tell him that he ought to get back into it—then what? We must wait for the answer. While he played the game the gov- ernor played well in all the places he filled. He was very much praised {while filling the governorship. He did not have the chance that David B. Hill did in tke office, but he probably did better in it than any democrat who has filled it since Hill's day. He is comparatively a young man— in the early forties. Democratic leaders are scarce in New York today. At one time they were numerous. Cleveland, Hill, Whitney, Manning, Lamont, Flower and several others Wwere men of national consequence. But “all are gone, the old familiar faces.” The new faces have not proved 80 attractive. Gov. Smith stands out from the others; and as the democracy of the leading state of the Union should play a national part, why should he not shy his castor into the ring again and direct the playing of it? Maybe he will. —————— President-elect Harding continues to study over the matter, despite the numerous people who are sure they could select a perfectly good cabinet for him in ten minutes. — et It is the evident determination of Mr. Penrose to make it clear at the outset that the United States Senate will riot be overlooked for a minute by the next administration. —————— ‘The liquor permits now add counter- feiting and forgery to the offenses lald to the doot of John Barleycarme ROPOSED introduction into Wash- ington public schools of a plan through which pupils will be given an opportunity to combine their studies with work of a practical nature in mercantile and industrial concerns is to be given serlous con- sideration by officials within the next month. Dr.-Frank W. Ballou, super- intendent of schools, is famillar with the successful work of the co-opera- tive schools of Boston, and is in hearty aocord with the plan to institute them here. Dr. Abram Simon, president of the board of education, also has declared himself in favor of the in- troduction of the co-operative achools in the District. Co-operative schools are needed in ‘Washington, in the opinion of school authorities, although the city does not have the large manufacturing .plants of other cities. Retail mer- cantile establishments are employing several thousand persons who left the city's schools without any special preparation for their work, it is pointed out. As a result pupils now leaving the schools to work in the mercantile establishments are lack- ing in the training that fits them for a particular line of work in such places. School officials declare that indus- trial concerns engaged in mechanical work would benefit materially, if they entered into co-operative arrange- ment between their workshops amd the manual training department of the school system. Through such a plan, it is said, the commercial course offered by any one of the high schools would be supplemented by giving a pupll practical experience in a mer- cantile conoern or business office. The pupil would be paid for the work and at the same time continue, his studies in school. The manual training now offered in the school would be carried on in co-operation with the workshop, giving the student the advantage of training in a particular trade while continuing his studies in school. Several school officials already have discussed the project with managers of department stores whdo are in favor of it. Industrial employers also have indicated thelr willingness, it is said, to back up the idea. Mercantile and industrial employers now must maintain their own schools and apprentice shops for employes. who come to them unqualified to enter on their work at once. Consequently, school officials believe that if a plan can be worked out whereby co-opera- tion of all mercantile and industrial establishments in the city would be brought about with the manual train- ing department of the schogl sys- tem, it would not only mean benefit to the employer by sending him workers whose training has alreadv begun, but the value of the Instruc- tion in the high schogls would be in- cerased by the addition of practical experience in the store or workshop. The intention of school officials, they say, is to obtain the suggestions of as many merchants and industrial employers as possible and to set to work framing definite plans to be put into execution as soon as condi- tions warrant. | TO GATHER FOREIGN TRADE DATA Within the government service a first attempt is being made to co- ordinate agencies Consolidation for economy and ef- ficiency pf service Is Proposed. o, proposed under the Smoot-Reavis bill for reorganiza- [tion of the government establish- ments. This is with respect to com- piling foreign trade statistics, for which a supplemental appropriation of $400,000 was asked by the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce. As this contemplates considerable new legislation, which would be sub- Ject to a point of order in any appro- priation bill, Secretary Alexander has been advised to seek such authorizing legislation from the committee on in- terstate and foreign commerce. Chair- man Esch says he hopes to arrange for a hearing on this proposition next week. It is proposed to transfer the control, and with it the expense of operation of the bureau of customs service in the New York customhouse from the Treasury to the Department of Com- merce and to consolidate it with the division of statistics of the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce. The plan is to provide means for revising and extending the statistical classifi- cation of exports and imports, intro- ducing more efficient methods of com- piling the monthly and annual re- ports and providing for their earlier publication, introducing methods of ocollecting statistics of exports by states of origin and by parcel post, and instituting other improvemen in the statistical service for the use of Congress, the government depart- ments, commercial and trade organi- zations and firms in promoting and extending the foreign trade of the United States. * * = The Treasury Department is in ac- cord with the Department of Com- merce in urging this Treasury Is consolidation of agen- in Accord. cies and extension and improvement of the service. Secretary Alexander of the Commerce Department has pointed out to Congress that the cost of op- erating the bureau of customs sta- tistics at New York is paid from the Treasury Department appropriation for collecting the revenues from cus- toms. Inasmuch as this bureau, he says, 1s almost entirely engaged in tabulating statistics for the Depart- ment of Commerce, the question has | been considered whether the control and expenses of this work should not be transferred to the Commerce De- partment. It has had the indorsement of the Treasury improvement commit. tee since 1916. It has been further suggested that it would be to the advantage of the government as a whole if the control of the customs statistical bureau at New York were transferred to the Department of Commerce. Many ad- vantages are apparent, Secretary Alexander has told the House com- mittees on appropriations and on com- merce, if the service of collection, i compiling and publishing foreign trade statistics could be consolidated in one office. It would be easier to make improvements in the meth- ods, in compliance with the insistent demands from commercial interests ror|pmrnpter and more detailed sta- tistics. *'I The exteided use of the statistics by the War Trade, War Industries and Shipping boards, A Wider Use the Food Administra- . tion and other govern- of Figures. 1 nt agencies in con- nection with war restrictions gave a |tremendous tmpetus to a wider use of these figures, and, since the war |the demand from importers, exporters and commercial orzanizations and firms for more detailed statistics have increased many fold. The bureau of foreign and domestic commerce has completed a revision of the statistical classification of imports and exports, with the active co-operation of the Shipping_ Board, Tarifft Commission census_bureau, geological survey, Agriculture, Treasury and other gov- A Catechism of enment departments, as well as com- mercial and trade organizations, technical experts and individual ex- porters and importers. Besides a systematic arrangement of the individual commodities, ac- dording to a commercially logical scheme of classification in the new classification instead of the formgr alphabetical 1isting the number SE Separate items has been increased from 700 to 984 or 40 per cent, in the monthly import, and from 700 to 1,234 classes, or 76 per cent, in the export schedule. A decimal system of classification has been followed, permitting of expansion or contrac- tion of detail without destroying comparability with figures for pre- vious periods. Quantity units as well as values are required for all items, making camparisons from year to year more accurate and definite than is possible under the old schedules, which show values only, besides in- creasing the value of the statistics to transportation and shipping inter- ests, who are primarily interested in quantities. "t Commercial interests are in urgent need of more detailed statistics re- garding markets for ex- Statistics ports than is afforded by the present restricted Needed. (jqsinication. 1t Amer- fcan merchants are to co-operate with other nations on even terms in the markets of the world, it is im- perative that the official sources of forcing trade information be en- larged. The great changes in the foreign trade current caused by the war have created an insistent -demand from commercial organizations and firms | for more detail of imports and ex- ports by countries than is shown in the published monthly reports. To meet this demand a small statistical gervice section was organized after the armistice in the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce which fur- nishes to the trade papers and com- mercial organizations equipped to |give wide publicity to the figures as well as to individual firms special monthly typewritten and _photo- graphed statements showng full de- tails by countries for the articles cov- ered. To enlarge this service to meet persistent and increasing demands is one of the purposes under the legis- lation now being sought. Under present conditions with the work divided between two depart- ments and an inflexible personnel and equipment without means of adjust- ment as the work increases it is dif- ficult to make improvements and im- possible to render the service de- manded by commercial interests, Sec- retary Alexander says. It will not be questioned that American producers and traders are in need of detailed and prompt statistics if they are to compete with other nations in the world market. The plans for placing the statistical service on a high standard have progressed to a stage where they can be put into effect without delay if the necessary funds are provided. x * X The proposed transfer of the bureau of customs statistics at New York from the Treasury to ion]y Partial the Department of Tianct Commerce would TANSIeT. carry with it only the work performed by that office and leave with the collectors of customs such work as they are now perform- ing in connection with statistical doc- uments, including the coding and classifying of shippers’ export declar- ations. The- coding of exports can be done best at the customhouse where the declarations are filed, as any doubtful points can be settled there before the declarations are forwarded to the New York bureau. The detailed monthly statistical reports of im- ports and exports furnished to the collector of each customs district tor purposes of record would be contin- ued. The commercial and industrial or- ganizations interested in foreign trade have been keeping in close touch with the progress of the revision of the Statistical classification and are anx- jous to have the extended schedules made effective at an early date. The Department of Commerce had hoped to put the new classification into ef- fect at the beginning of the calendar year. ‘WILL P. KENNEDY. the Constitution BY HENRY LITCHFIELD WEST. Issued by the National Security League. In Twelve Lessons—No. 1. Q. What is the Constitution? A. The Constitution is a written document providing a form of govern- ment for the United States. Q. Who framed the Constitution? A. Representatives of the people in Philadelphia in 1787. Q. Who was the President of the constitutional convention? 7 A. George Washington. Q. What made the ecessary? A. The Articles of Confederation, which preceded the Constitution, were inadequate to hold the states together. "g ‘Why was the Constitution adopt- Constitution n v A. The preamble of the Constitu- tion declares that “we, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish ju tice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro- vide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Q. How was the Constitution rati- fled? A. By the people of the United States, acting through® special con- ventions, “chosen in each state by the people thereof.” " Earl Godwin had his name at the bottom of this column for many years, 20 he shall head it for once. Since he has joined the telephone company, he may look into this: An employe of the company called one day last week at the home of a well known government official “I have come to fix the te}ephono." he announced. The officlal's family did not know the telephone needed any fixing, it be- ing in very good order, and, had made no complaint, but naturall supposed the man knew what he Was talking about. So they let him go ahead with his work. He tinkered away with the bell and the box and receiver and the transmitter and dragged out this and that and put that and this together again. After about an hour of this the re- pairman announced that the trouble was corrected. “There,” ho said, triumphantly. “She’s all right now.” He drew out a pad and noted down something. “By the way, this is Mr. Smith's home?” he asked. “No,” announced the home folks. Mr. Brown's home. Mr. Smith blocks up.” said the repairman, as he backed out the door, “your phone needed fixing, anyway.” * * * How the efficials at the various em- bassies here wrote a simple phrase in too polished phrases of their own language to be readily understood by their more humble eompatriots was revealed here with the new United States wvostal savings cards put on the market. “The faith of the United States is «olemnly pledged to the payment of deposits, with 2 per cent interest annually,” was the phrase causing all the trouble. “Inquire at any post office” the phrase continues. The mnostal savings division of the Post Office Department thought it would be a nice thing. in getting out the new cards, which are given gratis to applicants, to have the above ohrase appear on the card in the lan- gnage of immigrants to this countrv. So, indeed, it does appear, translated into Ttalian. Greek. Spanish, French. ferman, Polish. Hungarian, Maevar, Swedish, Danish, Norway. Yiddich. Bohemian. Lithuanian, Crotian, Slo- vak. Russian. Bulgarian. Finnish. 8lo- venian. Ruthanian. Serbian. Portu- cese, Rumanian, Chinese and Japan- ase. 3 Rut the various embassv officials didn’t do_the transisting into the re- <pective languages. It developed that thelr phrasings weze% bit too polish- ed for scores of the immigrants. So the mostal anthorities went o the immigration officials at the ports of entfv. men who dailv come in con- tact with the immigrants. and know what they speak and the way they sneak it. Tt was the immigration officials who nut the phrase into the twenty-fonr foreign lanzuages. These same offi- cials distribute the cards to immi- =rants when they are admitted, and thus start them on the road to sav- inz in this countrv. Some embassv officials, it s declared. are now complaining the translations are a bit too “coarse.” * - = Most of the men of the present gen- eration, however much they may cling to their seats in street cars, were brought up with gallantry to women as a leading motif in their ac- tions. But evidently some of the small hove of the nresent ags are heine raised upon other principles, if the actions of three bright-faced young- sters on a car Mount Pleasant bound can be taken as indicative. The average gentleman hiding be- hind his paper or looking studiously out the window is at heart ashamed of himself for not getting up and &iv- ing his seat to some fair lady whom he knows does not deserve it, proba- bly having performed no more ardu- ous work that day than eat an fce cream soda and walk from 14th to 11th on F street. Nevertheless, he feels as if he should arise. He can’t help that feeling, even if he does remain seated. He was brought up that way. If he is enabled ‘o get a seat by the window fully 50 per cent of the moral obligation to ~ive up one's seat to a woman is re- maved. But those three bright-faced kids, very well dressed and evidently from good homes, felt no moral obligation %0 arise and offer thair ceats 0 a wom- an carrying a small child in her arms. She clung to a strap, while the three boys sprawled over the long seat at he end of the car. Not a one of tha boys offered her m seat, or even seemed to think ahout such a thing. Some one should have grabbed all three by the respective scruffs of their necks and yanked them out of their seats. Bot nobody did it, such is the circumspection of city life. ARLES E. TRACEWELL. THE STAR. The Star of January 5, 1871, cone tains the correspondence relative to the establishment by the late W. W. Cor- N coran of the Louise Established. Home. Mr. Coroo- ran’s letter is dated December 10, 1870, and addressed to James M. Car- lisle, George W. Riggs, James C. Hall and Anthony Hyde as trustees of the institution which he propesed 1o found. The trustees had previously accepted their designation as such, and Mr. Corcoran in his letter of De- cember 10 turned over to them the deed to the property, consisting of six lots in square 196, containing 52,73¢ square feet of ground. Mr. Corcoran declared it to be his intention to prp- vide an endowment for the main- tenance of an institution “for the sua- port of a limited number of gentle- women who have been reduced ny misfortune.” He had erected on te property the building which now stands at the corner of 15th street and Massachusetts avenue. A board of di- rectresses was named by the donor as follows: Mrs. Bepjamin Ogle Tayloe, Mrs. George W. Riggs, Miss Sarah Coléman, Mrs. Richard H. Coolidge, Mrs. James M. Carlisle, Mrs. John Mar- bury, sr.; Mrs. Beverly Kennon, Mrs. gl‘tl:lhsrd T. Merrick and Mrs. S. P. Louise Home * % ‘With the improvement of Pennsyl- vania avenue fifty years ago there was some apprehension Fast Driving on lest the speeding proclivities of the the Avenve. ;. oren of Wash- ington should lead to danger to the public on that thoroughfare, which previously had been unfit for high paces. In The Star of January 7, 1871, is the following on the subject: “Now that Pennsylvania avenue has at last been put into a condition, and that fast driving is the rule rather than the exception, owners and driv- ers of horses would do well to remem- ber that on the street, particularly at recognized crossing places, the rights of foot passengers are paramount. ‘This has, we believe, been the law from time immemorial, and its prin- ciples have been recognized and en- forced in every state in the Union where the question has come before the courts. “As to the mere offense of fast driv-- ing, that will doubtless be taken care of by Judge Snell in the Police Court on due presentment; but the point we wish to impress upon horsemen is the important one that as between the foot passenger and the rider or driver of a horse, each going at 2 moderate rate of speed, the latter must always give way to the former. As an injury to persons occurring through a viola- tion or neglect of this rule would be certain to result in heavy damages to the injured, drivers and riders will consult their own interests, and at the same time promote the comfort and safety of the public by bearing it in mind and conforming their action ac- cordingly.” * * * Judging from the prices paid for Center market stalls as noted in the following in The Center Market Star of January 7, 1871, there was no Stalls Rented. real excuse for “H. C. L.” profiteering fifty years ago on the part of the retailers of food sup- plies on the score of excessive rents: “Today at noon there was quite a lively time at the Center market, the cause being the sale of stalls in the $th street wing of the temporary structure. Mr. Frank Cleary officiated as auctioneer, stating that they would sell the stalls at so much per month, with the understanding that no fish or feed was to be sold therein. He further stated that purchasers would be able to remain a year, if not long- er, in possession of the stalls. Stall No. 303 was the first one put up, and when he announced that the minimum set was $20 per month some of the crowd laughed rather derisively when Mr. Cleary said: ‘You needn’t laugh, gentlemen; we can pass it.’ Volces: ‘We'll all pass’” ‘Tl give you $4 and split the difference.” No. 307 was next started and same minimum was announced, but at this point the |1aughing ceased and Mr. James Smai, a dealer in peanuts and oranges, took it at $20. No. 331 sold for $20 to G. S. Rowell; 315, a corner stand, ‘was sold to H. H. Smith at the same price; 319, minimum $12, was started at tha$ amount and knocked down at $17 to William Crawford; 320 was started at the minimum, $11, and knocked down at $15 to H. Oppenheimer.” The other stalls were sold at abeut the same prices, ranging from $13 to $20 a month. DIGEST OF FOREIGN PRESS Germany Under the Treaty. Conditions in Germany, which are largely a matter of partisan conjec- ture in America, have proved of such importance to Great Britain that the Manchester Guardian, a paper highly regarded for its energy and sincerity, is studying them closely. The following article is from G Lowes Dickinson, one of the Guar- dian’s representatives: “When you punish a nation the children will be your first victims; next will come the very poor, then the poor, then the middle class. The well-to-do you are hardly likely to reach. You certainly will not reach those who are really responsible for what you are punishing—the proprie- tors and editors of prosperous news- papers, the war profiteers, the gen- erals, the statesmen, the crowned heads. The kaiser lives comfortably in Holland, and Ludendorf and Hin- denburg flourish at home. But the mass of people of Germany are sunk into a kind of living death. Did they make the war? Did they prolong it? The notion is absurd. They did what t every man believes to be the t‘l:::l}"uol all l{en—they offered to their country in the hour of need the sacri- fice of all they had. They were de- feated, and because they were de- feated they suffer. That is the begin- ning, and that is the end of the mat- r. e the pufterings of the people of Germany date back to the blockade. And what the blockade really meant, Englishmen have always refused to consider. They are aware that it won the war. They are aware that their fleet was used to starve the pepula-|me! tion of Germany. But they do not al- low their imagination to dwell on what that process meant. If they did, tey would see that the cruelty of the submarine war was at least not worse than the long-drawn hor- ror of the blockade. But, indeed, no imagination can picture such things. They must be lived through to be known. My point is that this thing ‘was lived through or died through by the German nation, and that it has left on their minds and on their bodies indelible traces. “Well, from that condition the Germans have not been able to re- cover, for the treaty presses upon 'm and prevents recovery. UI:A gonesll idef of this poverty is n by the caldulation of a careful :‘t::luldln that while prices have risen in Germany to ten times the s have risen only Q. When 1@ it become effective? | Bre T s2*%, 1 “Ealaries from four A.On_the first Wednesday in]times to twice. These figures repre- March, 1783, S O g sent only general & and cover | employment.” very wide variations. There are, of course, very rick' men in Germany. There are individual workingmen and perhaps whole trades that are well off, but the statement shows what all inquiry in detail bears out— a fall in the standard of life of all classes that can only be called ca- tastrophic. The fall is most striking in the middle class, to which we shall return. But it is more serious in the working class because there it is re- flected not only in loss of comfort. leisure and refinement, but in actual destitution. ‘Take a concrete case. ‘In Berlin the cost of the bare necessaries of life for a family of four is.estimated as at least 300 marks a week. But the weekly wage of tramway drivers is somewhere about 200 marks a week. There are trades worse paid and | trades better paid, and wages and costs, of course, vary in different dis- tricts. The miners are among the best paid. and very likely an indig- nant visitor from the upper classes might find a lucky bachelor living in what he would consider shameful luxury. But a miner with a family of seven lives in something like des- titution; and M. Jouheaux, the French | 1abor leader, has recently stated, aft- er a visit to the German mining dis- tricts, .that one cause why production it not further increased is that the miners are underfed. “The housing famine is acute. I visited a_family in Berlin where a man and his wife and twelve children were living in two rooms, the lving room being a shop, with one wall a glass window on the street, no stove and no means of heating, and the !other room containing five beds, in which somehow or other the fourteen persons disposed themselves. This family was earning good wages, but they could find no better place to go to. Further, the shortage of clothes and of houses hampers seri- ously the mobility of the people, and S0 increases the evils of unemploy- nt. “It will be seen from what has been said that even if every one in Ger- many was fully employed a large number of peopie would be underfed, underhoused, and underclothed at the present rates of wages and prices, But, in fact, there 1s a large measure of unemployment, how large, precise. 1y, there are no figures to show. T official statistics for the empire give only the numbers of those both wholly unemployed and receiving the unem- ployment allowance from publia funds. The number of these was about 400,000 on October 1. But this figure does not give a complete ac- count even of those wholly unem- ployed. And in addition to these there is a very large number em- ploved only for part of the day or week. I think I may say that one and &_half million would be likely to be an underestimate, and two mil- lions not likely to be an overstate- ment of the whole number not in ful} .