Evening Star Newspaper, January 22, 1921, Page 2

28 SENATOR CURTIS 70 AID R LODEE Kansas Member Elected Vice Chairman of Caucus and Assistant Leader. T ot SENATOR CHARLES CURTIS. Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas has been elected vice chairman of the repyblican conference of the Senate. The republican conference ‘yesterday created this new office. particularly for Senator Curtis, who has been republi- can whip of the Senate during the last 1wo years. n " the future, of the republican senators is desired on important legislation or other mat- ters that may be pending and Senator Lodge, the republican leader, is absent, Senator Curtis will be in a position to call the conference together and act as assistant to Mr. Lodge. Handled Important Bills. The Kansas Senator is recognized as one of the most indefatigable workers in the Senmate. It has peen his task to handle many important bills and he has a record for putting through legislation expeditiously. As chair- man of the committee on Indian af- fairs, Senator Curtis handles the In- dian appropriation bill, and as chair- ‘when a conference man of the subcommittee of the ap- propriations committee on District af- fairs. he handles the District appro- priation bill also on the floor of the Senate. Senator Curtis has been in Congress for many years. He served in the House eight terms before coming to the Senate. ‘Was President Pro Tem. In January, 1907, he was elected to the Senate to fill the unexpired term of Senator Burton, who resigned. He was president pro tem. of the Senate December 4 to December 12, 1911. He received the popular vote for nomina- tion as candidate for the Senate in 1912, but lost the nomination under the district plan. At the primary in 1914, however, Mr. Curtis received the nemination over Senator Briscoe and was elected in November, 1914. He was re-elected to the Senate last No- vember. —_— UNIONS PROTEST AGAINST pISCHARGE OF FOUR MEN ‘Workers in D. C. Engineer Depart- ment Gain Support of Newton A. James and Thomas Jones, Tepresenting the local unions of fire- men and engineers, respectively, went to:the District building today to pro- test ‘against the discharge of four employes of the engineer's depart- ment at the District pumping station. Col. W. C. Kutz was not in his of- fice when the men arrived and an engagement was set for early next Wweek. According ,toythe labor offi- cfals, the four men W8re on the per diem roll and their places, it is stat- ed, will be filled through using men on the statutory roll seven days a week im lieu of the six in custom. The working week for mechanics employed at the pumping station also was cut to five days a week instead of six.- and the per diem scale basis on hich these men are payed will mean a.cut in salary on account of the re- duced time for working, Mr. James stated. He also said that the statu- tory employes will not receive any extra compensation for the added day’'s work per week. BRITISH INDIA REVO-LTERS LOOT COUNTRY MARKETS Forces of Military and Police Be- ing Sent to Muzufferpur, in Bengal Division. LONDON, January 22.—A serlous outbreak, 'Involving the looting of country markets. has occurred in the Muzufferpur district, British India, it was officially announced today. Sym- pathizers with the non-co-operation movement are believed to have been the principals or instigators. Forces of military and police are be- ing sent to the scene. Muzufferpur is in the Patna division of Bengal. having the Ganges river for its southern boundary. SPEAKS TO M. I. T. ALUMNL. | Leonard Metcalf Tells Them of Col- | lege’'s Difficulties. Speaking at a meeting of the Wash- ington” Alumni oclation of the Massachusetts Institute of Techmology held yesterday evening in the audi- torium of the Red Cross building, Leonard Metcalf, sanitary engincer of | Roston, nat Al president 10T “Alumni. tolg of the ?'m:-':fmlg‘.' the college was having in c the overcrowded conditions a, indications of a continually in ing enroliment. The of students, he 1 the eal present number 500, with the thero being 3,800 ap- ar. Mr. Metcalf also spoke on the “tech- nology pla vement to carry on research work in the laboratorics of the colleze for industries and large corporations. Dr. F. Walker, son of the late Gen. Amasa F. Walker, the second presi- dent of the institute, also addressed the meeting. The alumni el sted the following officers for the coming r: George | A. Ricker. president James A. Tobey vice presidi H. N. Calver, secre. tary; A. H. Hanson, treasurer, and H. . Morris committee. —_— AWARD AFTER DEATH. A distinguished service cross has he warded posthumously to First Lieut. wis M. arp, 140th Infan- ty. of Wintield, Kan., for extraordi- nary heroism in action at Charpentry, France. Lieut. Col. Orval P. Townshend, in- santry, has been awarded a distin- guished service medal for service in Connection with the organigation and sraining of Porto Rico's quota .of iroops in the world war. member of the executive n & With | BACK IN PRISON ON WIFE'S PLEA TO CLEANSLATE CHICAGO, January 22—James McElevey, who escaped from pris- on at Joliet, IlL, last May, is back in his cell today because his seven- teen-year-old bride asked him ‘“to give himself up, serve his time and start with a clean slate.” McElevey, who was sentenced for robbery, and who surrendered to the same detective who arrested him for the crime for which he was convicted, returned to the prison from Chieago with his wrist in the grasp of his wife instead of handcuffs. “I've got the squarest little girl in the world,” McElevey said. “She'll be waiting for me when I Eet out and we'll live straight.” JAPAN FEARFUL, DECLARES MORRIS Questions Wisdom of Classi- fication on Basis of Citi- zen Eligibility. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, January 22.—Discuss- ing what he termed “the California issue” in an address today before the University Club, Roland S. Morris, American _ambassador to Japan, declared that the Japanese were fearful that Califotnia, having devised the plan of classifying aliens on the basis of their eligibility to citizenship, might use this method not only in property rights, but also in personal rights. Ambassador Morris, who has been conducting the negotiations With Baron Shidehara, the Japanese am- bassador, with a view to laying the basis of a treaty between the United States and Japan, further deciared that the Japanese protest against the California anti-alien land law pre- sented to the American people the definite question of whether, in the larger view of America's relations with the orient, it is wise to classify aliens on the basis of their eligibil- ity to citizenship. U. S. Right Unquestioned. Presenting the issue involved in the present negotiations, Mr. Morris asked that it be borne in mind that the Japanese were mnot complaining be- cause its nationals resident in the United States are ineligible to citizen- ship; not asking any greater rights for its nationals than those conceded to other aliens; not questioning the right of the United States government to pass, subject to treaty obligations. legislation covering admission or residence of foreigners, nor seeking removal of present restrictions on Japanese immigration. The Japanese Bovernment, he added does “contend that it is unjust and unfair to pick out a particular group of aliens who are under certain political disabilities and deprive them of rights which all other aliens are permitted to enjoy.” “Japanese aliens resident in_the United States,” said Ambassador Mor- ris, after asserting that he was not discussing the merits of the issue, but its definitions, “are not eligible to citizenship, our naturalization laws having been interpreted as applying only to white persons or persons of African descent. This is, in a sense, a discrimination or, perhaps better, a selection of those whom for one rea- son or another we are willing to ad- mit to the privilege of American citi- zenship. But it is clearly not a dis- crimination of a character which could properly be the subject of com- plaint by a government whose na- tionals might be excluded. On Sovereign Rights. “No government would consider it proper or expedient to protest becaurq its citizens were not permitted to ex- patrjate themselves. A friendly state might regret and depiore such a pol- icy and even hope that some day it would be changed, but it: would un- doubtedly claim for fitself and con- cede to other states the inherent right of a sovereign state to determine the conditions and limits of naturaliza- jon. “May I ask you, therefore, to note carefully this point: The Japanese government is not complaining be- cause Japanese aliens resident in the United States are ineligible to Amer- ican eStizenship. “Nor is the government of Japan asking for its citizens resident among us any greater rights than those con- ceded to other aliens. It accepts and in its own domestic lemislation has often acted upon the principle* that any state has the right to impose rea- sonable restrictions-upon the property rights of foreigners who chose to live or pursue their occupations within its borders. “May I ask you, therefore, to note in the second place that the government of Japan is not in any way question- ing the right of our government to pass, subject only to its treaty ob- ligations, any legislation it may see fit covering the admission or resi- | dence of foreigners among us. It is tgue that by the treaty of 1911 panese were granted fuil rights of admission to and residence in our country. But this right was granted only upon the express understanding that the Japanese government would continue voluntarily to limit immigra- tion as provided in the go-called ‘gen- tlemen’s agreement’ of 1908. Willing to Correct Defeets. “In the third place, therefore, may I ask you to mote that the Japanese government and people are not clam- oring for the removal of any of the present restrictions on Japanese im- migration. On the contrary, the gov- ernment has shown a willingness to examine and correct any of the de- fects and abuses of the existing ar- rangement. “What, then, is this much-talked-of “California issue’? Of what does Japan lcomn!lln? Let me try to answer these fquestions. As I have already stated, Japanese aliens are ineligible to citi- !zenship under the administrative in- terpretation of our naturalization !laws. But personal and property rights they have shared equally with other aliens. “In 1913. however, California devised the plan of classifying aliens on the {basis of their eligibility to citizen- {&hip and then proceeded to deprive {those who were ineligible of certain property rights previously enjoyed by all aliens. In 1920 this legislation was amplified by an initiative and! referendum act. Other states are now | seriously considering similar legisla- jon and the people of Japan are fear- ful lest this method may be used not nly in_property rights, but also in | personal rights. H “It is against this method that the | government and people of Japan are most vigorously and earnestly pro- testing. They contend that it is un- {just and unfair to pick out a par- ticular group of allens who are under | certain political disabilities and de- iprive them of rights which all other {aliens are permitted to enjoy. And {the Japanese protest presents to all {our people this very definite ques- {tion: In the larger View of our rela- | tions with the orfent is it wise thus | | to classify aliens on the basis of their | ibility to citizenship? t is not for me to answer this question. The answer must be made ,v the American people speaking through the recognized organs of their government. But it is fmportant that we should keep clearly before jus just what the issue is. so that ! we may more Intelligently determine it in the light of the facts and argu- ments which are being submitted to us.” REGIONAL DIRECTOR TO SAIL. C. W. Calking of Seattle will sail next Wednesday for Lima, Peru, to | linto law. THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1921—PART I SCENE OF STREET CAR COLLISION THIS MORNING AT FLORIDA AND CONNE | CHILD LABOR BILL GOES OVER A WEEK Senator Jones Defends Measure in Report—Sena- tor King Attacks It. After considering the Curtis-Gard child labor bill for more than an hour today, the Senate District committee postponed action on the measure until Monday, January 31, so that some of; the senators could give further study to the measure. Not a little opposition to some of the features of the bill, as reported by Senator Jones of Washington, chair- man of a subcommittee, developed at the meeting. Senators Pomerene of Ohlo, King of Utah and Dillingham of Vermont all questioned the advisability of some of the sections of the bill. Senator Jomew’ Report. Senator Jones defended the measure. In his report to the committee he said “We do not need to urge.upon th Congress_the importance of our chil dren In the nation’s life. They are fts richest and most precious assets. Th nation’s strength and virility depends upon them and they should receive our ! greatest solicitude. The proper care, i development, education and training of the child are matters of vital concern to every one having at heart the wel- fare of the republic and the perpetiity of its institutions, and money and’ ef- fort spent in this direction will bring the greatest return. 3 “The purpose of this bill is’to give the best care, provide the best train- ing and insure the best health to the boys and girls of the District. of Co- lumbia, and give to them advantages equal to those given the childrefi of the states of the Union. It is not in- tended as a model for the states, but is rather a compilation or mosaic of the best in the laws of our most pro- gressive states. The main changes that it makes in the present law are the following: A Changes Proposed. “1. The minimum age for children to.go to work is raised from fourteen to fifteen years. “2. No child Is permitted to go to work unless it is found to be of nor- mal development for a child of its age and physically fit for the work it proposes to do. o poverty permits are to be i 1 “4, Work permits under certain con- ditions may be issued to children be- tween fifteen and sixteen vears of age, and vacation permits may be fssued to children between fourteen and sixteen years of age, permitting employment durigg the regular summer vacation pe- riod of the public schools. “3, Females under twenty-one years of age are prohibited from doing ‘mes- senger service and more stringent pro- visions are enacted with reference to males acting as messengers. . Compulsory school attendance is provided for all children between the ages of seven and sixteen years, with certain exceptions, and ample provision is made for the effective enforcement rovision. o s BT ool census of all children be- tween six and eighteen years of age is to be taken every year. «3. A bureau of attendance and work permits is created under the board of education to carry out and enforce the provisions of this act.” Poverty Permits Discussed. Discussing the matter of poverty permits for child labor under the ex- Isting law —such permits are done away with by the bill—Senator Jones said that the committee had found few Sach permits justificd on the ground of poverty, and that the children had been put to work to make additional money above that needed by the fam- for its living. B e htor Dillingham wanted to know it many of the parents of the children had urged the enactment of the bill He said that a number of rents had discussed the matter witl Dim and termed the bill a “farce,” and that the parents have not been much terested. O Ih reply to this Miss Clara M. Byers of the minimum wage board of the District said that the Parent-Teachers ‘Association of the District had in- dorsed the bill, in which many parents ‘are members, and also other organiza- ons. | o nator Pomerene criticised particu- Jarly those sections of the bill which leave to the determination of a board established under the bill the character of employment to which children may undertake in certain instances, and Which prevent a voung man under twenty-one years of age from carrying night messages. He insisted that Con- gress alone should pass upon the ques- fion of what business or employment could be undertaken by a child here. In Doubt Over Legislation. The Ohio senator expressed doubt that such “drastic legislation” as car- ried in the pending bill is needed in the District, which is not a manufacturing center. Senator Jones, discussing the compul- sory education features of the bill de- Clared that under existing law com- pulsory education was not really en- forced at all in the District. He pointed out that there is no school census taken. Sengtor King attacked the measure as sobialistic and said that appar- ently the theory of much proposed | lable to buy during the “Red” Limits Bring Chaos On freedom of meeting, freedom of speech and a general paternalistic policy placing all organizations under gov- ernmental control has resulted in workmen being recompensed at the rate of one-twentieth of the wages in vogue in 1917, according to a secret report received direct from investi- gators in Russia by the International Asociation of Machinists. The report was released today by E. C. Davison, :{:cre!ary-lrcasurur of the associa- on. A typical instance is furnished In the wage rate for a metal worker. He gets about 27,000 roubles a month. At one time this would mean $13,500 in United States gold, Today it means the equivalent of $135. costs today in Petrograd 4,000 rubles per Russian pound, whereas 1 ruble would buy almost six and a half ounds of sugar in 1916. In other !words, the cost of sugar today is $20 er pound, whereas in 1916 it was bout 4 cents per pound. The scale from top to bottom, ac- cording to the report, ranges in pro- portion. As a result, workers in the metal trades are eating nothing but rye bread as a staple. ‘Workers’ Statements. Here are statements fur workers in various sections A _man from the Oboukhoff works in Petrograd says: “Whilst in consequence of inade- quate payment the workmen were un- last year cither meat or fats and were com- pelled to exist on rye bread alone; meanwhile the commissars were Tre- plete and lived in comfortable circum- stances.” A worker from the Kolpinsky works near Petrograd sent this message: “It is sad and shameful to think that the Russian workman is condemned to extinction owing to the foolish economic policy of the bolsheviki. Half of the Russian proletariat have already perished. Outside the towns there i8 food in plenty; it is, however, sale are prohibited; prices are high beyond reason.” And the report of the Petrograd measure by the investigators. It was made in August last, and reads as follows: the number of calories consumed by a Petrograd worker per day is about 700 to 800, which is one-half of the nourishment contained in the food he the extinction of the proletariat The state, he said, is held to be all- wise and the individual to have no sense at all. Senator Jones pointed out that many of theé states have child labor laws similar to that now proposed for the District, including New York and Pennsylvania, and Senator Capper of Kansas said that such a law was now working well in his state. —_— VIRGINIA DRYING UP. Sale of whisky over the bar has practically stopped in Virginia, and the prohibition laws are being en- forced there -better than in many other parts of the country, according to Prohibition Commissioner John F. Kramer, who is back in Washington after an extensive trip through Con- necticut, Pennsylvania and Virginia. “Moonshiners” are still giving the officials much concern, and in some parts of Virginia the jug trade is still active, but soft drink establishments and near-beer saloons seldom try te handle intoxicants. The commissioner would not com- ment on the situation in and around iScranton, Pa., where it has been al- leged that breweries have boen mak- ing large amounts of anti-prohibition beer. He said that he was now sit- ting in the capacity of a judge on the question of whether the permits of a Fumber of the breweries should be revoked, and was not ready to give his decision. RAILWAY OWES $40 TO TROTSKY FOR HIS WORK NEW YORK, January 22.—The Canadian Pacific raflway owes Leon Trotsky $40. This was ad- mitted with a smile by Lord Shaughnessy of Montreal, chair- man of the board of the railroad eystem, at the dinner of the Cana- dian Club here last night. Mr. Rowell, Canadian delegate to the assembly of the+league of na- tions, was speaking of E. W. Beat- ty, the new president of the rall- road, who also was present. “Mr. Beatty is not the only young man of prominence Lord Shaugh- legislation was based on the ground that a parent has no right to control become one of three regional directors of public education under Harry I Bard, ulso an American, who was en- gaged several months ago by the Peruvian minister of education to re- organize the countrs’s school system. his children or business any more, and that government officials must tell the people what they shall do, what they shall eat, what they shall wear and what recreation they shall have. nessy has produced. Our guest may not be so proud of it, but when Trotsky lived in New York he also worked for the Canadian Pacific railway here.” ““True,” interrupted Lord Shaugh- nessy, “and we still owe him $40. Industries Chaos in industrial Russia resulting from bolshevist limitations placed on | But sugar | shed byl fmpossible to get at it. Purchase and Medical Society is thrown in for good | “Workers' food is quite Inadequate; | obtained formerly. This i5 leading to | in Russia Restrictions Placed on Freedom of Speech With Paternal Policy and Great Cut in Current Pay. The irony of bolshevist rule, set up as the reign of “the people,” is de- scribed by the report in the following words: “The whole policy of,the commu- nist soviet government toward the Russian working classes and their organizations can be summed up as. follows: “The freedom of the unions is abol- ished. The unions are established and work under the control of the soviet authorities, and can only act in ; the way prescribed by the soviet au- [ thorities; freedom of meetings is abolished. A decree has been issueds }in accordance with which meetings i can only be arranged by permission of the soviet authorities; freedom of speech is abolished. It is a crime to utter a word against the communists. “Strikes are declared counter-revo- {lutionary aets. Workmen who go on istrike are punished with brutality lunheard of in western countries. i Strikers are not only imprisoned, but deprived of their rations. ¢ “Almost all branches of industry are under martial law. Workers can- not change from one factory or oc- cupation to another. They are forcibly enlisted in so-called ‘labor armies and overtime is compulsory. “Trade unions do not exist as in- dependent bodies; they are subor- dinated to a central organization and thus converted into a compulsory government apparatus. “As a_result of this policy the Rus- sian industrial workers, being put into a desperate position. and unable to obtain help from their own organiza- tions, desert the cities and go to the village: Metal Working in Confasfon. Metal working, the backbone of in- dustrial Russia, is declared to be in |such a state of confusion that only 69 per cent of the concerns are work- ing, others having closed down. ow- ing to shortage of fuel, raw mate- rials and workmen. From the total of 1,300 concerns a special So-called “shock-group” is formed. including twenty-one trans- port workshops and 148 other enter- prises. The workshops belonging to the “shock group” are in a privileged position as to their being supplied with _raw materials, fuel, labor and the like. This group is meant to form the stabilizing basis of the metal in- dustry. A tariff laying down a definite form for wages, has been established since last August. A premium for produc- tion also has been set. If a workman produces more than is required on the average he gets for this extra pro- duction an additional remuneration. As a basis for the premium, 60 per cent of the product of the average workman in 1916 is taken. [ | —_- FORMER QUARTERMASTER HELD IN ARSON AT POST Indictment Is Returned at Fort Wayne in Case Involving Alleged Shortages. DETROIT, Mich,, January 22— Charged with setting four fires at Fort Wayne, the Army post here, to cover up alleged shortages in his ac- counts, Franklin Lamb, until Novem- ber 30 last quartermaster at the fort, today was arrested on an arson charge by federal authorities, following in- digtment by the federdl grand jury. The former Army officer, ‘whose home is in Detroit, is charged with kaving set fire, December 31, in the quartermaster’s warehouse, causing a loss of about $300. He is charged with setting fire to the motor transport garage on January 5, the fire causing a loss of about $12,600. Another fire that occurred in the garage on the fol- lowing morning and resulted in $5,000 loss, fs charged against Lamb. The fourth fire was discovered in the quaf- termaster’s supply house, January 14. When Lamb retired as_quartermas- ter his books were audited, and it was alleged a $50,000 shortage had been dis- Counted for the aliened shortage® 2° el i WOMAN ELECTOR ON VISIT. Mrs. Ethel R. Farnsworth, the first woman to be elected. to the elec- toral college from Montana, was a visitor at the executive offices of the White House taday. She was intro- duced to Secretary Tumulty by Sen- ator Myers of Montana. Mrs. Farnsworth’s home is in Mis- soula, Mont., and she is the second woman elector to arrive in Washing- ton for the meeting of that body. —_— GOES TO AIR SERVICE HEAD Secretary Daniels this morning said he would make public the report of the naval court of inquiry In the cases of Lieuts. Kloor, Hinton and Farrell as soon as he receives it, prob- ably the latter part of next week. He added that he would refer the report to Capt. Craven, head of the naval alr service, for review sending it to the judge advocate gen- eral of the Navy in the regular rov- tine. instead of | COXTOVISIT HERE; WILL GO TO EUROPE Comes for Passports and to Be Dinner Guest—Poli- tics Remote. Announcement that former Gov. Cox of Ohio is coming to Washington next Wweek to spend several days set the politicians te gossiping today and the question was at once raised Whether his visit would be made the occasion for discussing plans for re- habilitation of democratic party pol- itics. 5 Inquiry in authoritative quarters de. veloped a statement of facts that foiled a fine line of political specula- tion which shows the embarrassment sometimes occasioned political gos- | sipers by the intrusion of facts. According to tke statement of facts, which, of course, is accepted at par, Mr. Cox and Mrs. Cox are coming to Washington to friends prior to their departure for Europe, and while here passports will be obtained. They will be the guests of T. T. Ansberry | while in the city, and Mr. Ansberry | will entertain at dinner at which Mr. Cox will be the guest of honor. Democrats of promfnence insist that | it is yet too early to take up party | rehabilitation, contending that for the present the democrats can be content to rest on the side lines and | enjoy the spectacle of the republicans | going to the mat with their own | troubles—and from the democratic | viewpoint the republicans have a plenty of them. Some democratio leaders think that ! if the party can for a while follow the example set by Mr. Micawber, the opposition party is bound to cause something to “turn up” which will re- dound to the advantage of the demo- crats. 3| —_— e RENT-BOARD GIVES TWO LANDLORDS AN INCREASE One Tenant, However, Wins Cut of From $250 to $100—De- cisions Filed. The District rent commission today declared “unfair and unreasonable” the low rentals being received by two local landlords, and rates substantial- ly higher were fixed in their place. The_decisions were included in a list of determinations on fifteen proper- ties. The rental of $32.50 a month being charged Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Richards | of 428 New Jersey avenue northwest, by Elijah E. Knott, was increased to $40 a month. Mr. Knott was the com- piainant. Randall H. Hagner & Co., defend- ants in a complaint filed by Edward Robinson regarding the rental of $17.50 which he is paying, received the benefit of the commission's deci- sion, the monthly rental being raised to $2! A number of rentals were lowered and several lardlords were denied pos- session of their property. The list of determinations follows: Lucy J. Robinson, 1433 L street! northest; rent reduced from $250 to $100 a month. Notice to vacate, serv- ed by Hartung & Gibbons, adjudged insufficient. | Enrico Di Francisco, 410 Q street ;northwest; rent reduced from $25 to $20 a month. Harmy Yesbeck, the owner, was granted possession of the premises. James A. Anderson, 1924 L street northwest: notice to vacate, served by A. S. Caywood, adjudged insufficient, Mrs. William I. McCauley, 1326 New York avenue northwest: rent reduced from $65 to. $50 a month. Gasch &! Birge, defendants, denied possession. Wiltiam Huffney, 1522% Rosedale street northeast: rent reduced from $14.50 to $10 a month. Mrs. A. Anas- tasi, defendant. William P. Hughes, 55 Pierce street | i northwest; rent increased from $13 to 1$15 a month. H. H. Bergmann & Co., defendants. Robert I. Griffin, 93 Pierce street northwest; rent increased from $14 to {$15 a month. H. H. Bergmann & Co., | defendants. | Sarah Fields, 65 Pierce street north- west; rent increased from $14 to $15 a month. H. H. Bergmann & Co., de- fendants. Mary L. Belt, 828 11th street north- east; rent reduced from $40 to $30 a month. Moore & Hill, Inc., defend- ants. Mrs. W. D. Terry, apartment 3, 926 L street northwest; rent reduced from $60 to $50 a month. Cissel, Tal- bott & Co., Inc., defendants. Margaret Iglehart, 826 11th street northwest; rent reduced from $35 to $30 a month. Moore & Hill, Inc., de- fendants. Charles W. Harris, apartment 42, 1620 12th street morthwest; rent re- duced from $28.50 to $22.50 a month. Stone & Fairfax, Inc., defendants. Gertrude Banks, 2022 10th street northwest; present rental of $25 a month declared fair. Annie Grecn, de- fendant. Mary Moten, 918% 1st street south- west; rent increased from $12.50 to $14 a month. Thomas P. Brown, de- | fendant. Margaret M. Plowden, 24 N street northwest; notice to vacate served by the N. E. Ryon Company, Inc., ad- judged insufficient. Mrs. Thomas L. Stevens, 1219 I street northwest; rent, including ga- rage, reduced from $117 to $100 a month, J. Leo Kolb deniecd posses- sion, CTICUT AVENUES\CONGRESS WAITS FOR HARDING Subjects Since E lection Two and Half Months Ago. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. Less than six weeks remain of the Wilson administration and the pres- ent Congress and there is abundant evidence that the fears expressed by disinterested folks concerning the waste of time between election day and inauguration have been confirm- ed. Congress did a_great deal of talk- ing about helping the farmer get high prices, but the War Fnance Corporation is hardly functioning and the emergency tariff bill is destined to die a slow death. 5 President Wilson has followed lit- erally the mandate of Congress that America keep out of Europe by with- drawing American Ambassador Wal- lace from the council of ambassadors and the whole attitude of the pres- ent administration is one of scrupu- lous regard for the responsibilities of the new administration beginning March 4. It might seem indeed as if the gov- ernment and America were going out of business altogether on that day—so much is the atmosphere every day one of withdrawal and farewell. Of course the people of the United States suffer, but the Constitution which is 50 easily amended nowadays remains an obstacle toward flexibility in gov- ernment. In Europe when a cabinet ministry or parliament is repudiated, the people get the change immediate- ly. _Statisticians _ and _ economists would have no difficulty proving that the protracted period of change in government here has cost the Ameri- can people a great sum of money. Congress Leaders’ Adm! In Congress the leaders will admit that they never had any real inten- tion of accomplishing anything in this ession. They talk a great deal about aving the way” for the work of the next session of Comgress, but if the tarift question is a fair example, the whole thing has hardly been scratched on the surface. Most of the interests affected have not even thought it worth while to send representatives here to argue their case, as the word has been passed along that there will be nothing important done until the next session of Congress. : There have appeared thus far. how- ever, several constructive _tendencies which were not the -deliberate result of republican policy but the direct in- fluence of such strong men as Borah and Johnson. The movement for dis- armament, begun by Senator Borah, has had a psychological effect that cannot be exaggerated, The retrench- ment spirit is usually hard to instill Talk of economy does not always get action, but when 5o vital a thing as the United States Army can be cut down at one fell swoop Wwithin such a short time alier the republicans were blaming the democrats for their failure to prepare for the last war the outsider cqn well make up his mind that the degand of the country for lower taxation and a reduced budget is far more potant here thau political pride or consisteacy. Men are reversing themselves every day in Congress in arder to curry fa- vor with their constMuents. Senator Borah is an unusually capable cit:zen who senses waves of popular sen ment as fast as, if not fasler than, an: body in the Fenate, and whon he gra bed the disarmament question ar boldly took the leadership in 3t many of his colleagues had to admit dat he was striking a popular chord. Of course, Congress is so unwiekly and so clumsy in its methods thad there is always danger of golng to ex- tremes, and it took very little persua- sion to make the United States Senate reverse itself after having cut the Army down to 150,000 men. But what has happened in the case of the Army is not a circumstance to what wiN be proposed when the naval appropria- tions are up for discussion. Mr. Harding Is Worried. It is known that President-elect Harding is worried about the situa- tion. He told members of Congress who called on him recently tha‘ he believed it would be wiser for the United States to maintain her present Navy and make every effort to reach quickly an international agreement on reduction of armaments, So that whe: any cessation of building is actuall agreed upop it will be safe to stop authorizing any more money. The trouble is that a large sum has already been spent on ships whose keels were laid down in past years. So Congress may be in the postion of junking many vessels that are half built, and thus losing all the money previously spent, or eise reducing the Navy without knowing exactly what the other powers intend to do. Some kind of a naval appropriation bill must be passed before the fiscal year ends next June, but in view of the tangle over disarmament it is unlikely that anything will be done during " the present session of Con- gress. Furthermore, if there is a chance of getting some kind of understanding about naval disar; ment before next July it will affect the size of the tax budget. In other words, everything waits for Harding, and the government has not been in function on vital ons since the peowle voted for a change, two and a half months ago. (Copyright, 1921.) ———————— e HARDING NEARING END OF JOURNEY (Continued from First Page.) dustries of the whole nation alike, was bespoken by President-elect Harding last night, in a message to the people of the south. 3 The message, written at the request of Clark Howell, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, and democratic national committeeman for Georgia, follows: “Of course, I have no.message to the people of the south that I would not gladly utter to all the United States. Perhaps the south would be interested to know. however, of one ambition which I cherish. I want to be the instrumentality in establishing that complete concord of union which T hold to be essential to the American fulfiliment. I realize how the political solidarity of the south followed the unfortunate days of the clvil war. 1 know how that solidarity has been encouraged on the one hand, and I think I understand the desire to break it on the other hand. “There is little left of the old-time hostility and there isn’'t any occasion ; for any section of America to pin its | aspirations to the fortunes of one party. I believe most cordially in prospering America first. I do mot see how we can retain our home mar- kets. upon which American good for- tune must be founded, and at the same time maintain American standards of production and American standards of living, unless we make other peoples with lower standards pay for the priv- ijlege of trading in the American mar- kets. Ours is the best market in the world, because we are largest In con- sumption and the ablest to buy. “I am sure the incoming administra- tion wishes to see, figuratively speak- ing, every southern port whitened by the sails of commerce and know that our carriers are taking messages of good will and amity along with our cargoes to all the marts of the earth.” PIEZ CALLS GILLEN CHARGES UNTRUE (Continued from First Page.) poration, from top to bottom, koneycombed by a like condition. “Graft in ship operations has from time immemorial been considered one of the perquisites of petty officers, and is a difficult disease to eradicate. It.has no place in the operations of an American fleet and should be treated with an iron hand. “But it is to be regretted that the Fisher-Richardson charges are couch- ed in such general terms that they have besmeared the whole structure of the Shipping Board and fleet cor- poration with the slime of suspicion. Many of the charges should have been made in the police courts rather than in a report of such importance.” was Seeretary Payne’s Statement. Becretary Payne of the Interior, who was chairman of the Shipping Board at the time of the Morse audit, last night issued a statement giving his version of incidents in dispute before the Walsh committee, especially in relation to the testimony of Col. Abadie, former general controller of the board. The statement follows: Col. Abadie presented to me a writ- ten statement (probably in February, 1920), recommending that the books of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Cor- poration be audited. At that time Col. Abadie was general coontroller in aharge of the accounting for the Shipping Board and had approximate- 1y 5,000 men on his pay roll. I imme- diately issued an order directing that the audit be made, assuming that Col. Abadie would have the audit made by his own accountants. “In a few days I was informed by the treasurer that Col. Abadie had made @ contract with Perley Morse & Co. to do this auditing, and that the expense would likely be in the neigh- borhood of $500,000. I immediately telegraphed Perley Morse & Co. not to proceed and directed Col. Abadie to make theaudit with his own force. “This_resulted in an interview be- tween Perley Morse and myself, and with Col. Abadie, and after giving consideration to the matter I decided that, notwithstanding the cost it would be wise to permit Morse to proceed with the audit. “Charges meantime were preferred against Morse by the Bethlehem peo- ple. We declined to interfere. The Bethlehem people then declined to Permit Morse to have access to their books. When this came to my knowl- edge I notified the Bethlehem com- pany that it must submit the books to Morse for audit and that we would charge the company for al} of the ex- Denses occasioned by its refusal. “This was the status of .the case when I left the Shipping Board. The voucher to which Col. Abadie refers ($260,000 for personal éxpenses in October, 1918, of an officer of the Bethelhem Shipbuilding Corporation) was not called to my attention.” GILLEN MAKES DENIAL. Says He Did Not Force Resignation of Abadie. NEW YORK, January 22.—Admiral Berson, chairman of the Shipping Board, had “determined to comman- deer the yards of the Bethlehem Ship- building Corporation.” if it were nec- essary fo adjust the dispute over the audit of its ooks, Martin J. Gillen in- formed the Walsh congressional com mittee. Gillen was a former special assistant to the chairman. The Bethlehem, Gillen said, did not object to the audit, but to the em- ployment of the firm of Perley, Morse & Co.. ir connection with the same. The auditing firm's employes, he added. had been refused admission to | the corporation’s yards after the audit was ordered. At a conference to bring about an adjustment of the difficulty, Glien said, it was necessarv to bring pressure to bear on both sides. Gillen declared that the voucher for $260,000, which the preceding witness, Col. E. H,_ Abadie, former controller general of the Shipping Board, had ibrought into the testimony, was dis- {cussed at the conference. The vouch- ler. Col. Abadie said he had been in- {formed by the auditor, Perely Morse, {was for the October, 1918, personal expenses. of Charles’ M. Schwab, a former director-general of the Emer- gency Fleet Corporation. Gillen testified the item was “charged to profit and loss by th Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation., and was not charged in any way fo the Shipping Board or the Navy. The witness added he had been informed at confercnces with the auditors that there was “nothing wrong with that item.” Continuing, the witness denied that he forced the resignation of Col. Abadie. as the latter had testified, or that there was any ill feeling between them. Testifying to incidents that led up to the resignation of Col. Abadie, Gillen s2id it was evident Abadie could not hold his organization. Gillen said he was directed by Chairman Payne to notify Abadie that the latter’s resignation would be ac- ceptable. When he delivered the message Abadie flashed up, said Gillen, and threatened to fight the action. The witness explained he persuaded Abadie not to make a fuss. BILL GIVES TRACK USE. Would Permit Pennsylvania Road to Reach Warehouses Here. Reductions of the price of meats, lime, cement. sewer and water pipes to the residents of the District is said to be the purpose behind a bill introduced by Minority Leader Champ Clark, to provide additional terminal facilities at 1st and N streets north- east. This bill has been referred to the House District committee. The Clark bill would allow any rail- road company to use the tracks of any other railroad to deliver freight to square 710 and square 712. On square 710 the District has a storage place for sewer and water pipes and similar materials. On square 712 there is a new, large packing plant, a warehouse for lime, cement and other materials. The Clark bill would grant the Pennsylvania railroad the right to use the B, and O. tracks in reaching these warehouses. thus avoiding extra costs in trucking these materials from the Pennsylvania freight house. —_— CABRERA REPORT DENIED. State Department Says He Is Held in Prison, But Not Maltreated. Reports that former President Cabrera of Guatemala is being “maltreated” by the present Guatemala authorities are “unfounded.,” declared a report from Acting Secretary Duvis of the State Department to the Senate. ‘The department confirmed, howeve statements that Cabrera is in pris: and that since his confinement hi home had been lotted of property esti- mated at “from one to several hundred thousands of dollars. HARDING TO STAY AT HOTEL PRIOR TO TAKING OATH ent-elect Harding and Mra. Hareine witl stay at the Willard Hotel when_they arrive in Wash- ington in advance of Inauguration day. It was generally believed that they would be guests of friends on this occasion, but it was made known today ‘that they Would stay at the hotel instead. It 15 expected that they will arrive in Washingtor. from Fiorida twe or three days befors Inauguratien day. i