Evening Star Newspaper, February 13, 1921, Page 33

SEE AN END TO RULE| Ayny and Navy News, ; BY EXECUTIVE ORDER " Members of Congress Think the Harding Administration Laws as Will Enforce the Intended. & BY WILL P. KENNEDY. cholce,” as the late James A. Tawney called it, is beginning to show signs ©f innocuous desuetude at the ap- Droach of the Ides of March. ‘The first pledge that Senator Hard- ng gave to the people after his nomi- ration was that as President he would administer the laws as enacted by Congress and not permit executive of- Heers to twist the law by interpreta- “tion to suit the convenience of either the chief executive, some member of the cabinet or a bureau chief, or even Some minor clerk. That pledge of Mr. Harding appears to have been one of the most popular features of his rampaign, and the tremendous ma- jority he received at the polls in No- vember has made an impression even upon members of the cabinet, the bu- reau chiefs and the officers generally who for eight vears have acted as though they considered this a govern- ment of men and not a government of laws. From the President through the departments the practice or policy or habit of ng excuses for not enforeing the law as pas: and intended by Congress has been strikingy noticeable, and that is the reason that Harding's pledge of a ®overnment by law met such an eager response from the voters. i On June 8, 1920. the new shipping act was passed. Section 24 specifical- 1y directed the President to notify for- down right cign governments that certain sec- tions “of some twenty commercial treaties were abrogated. President Wilson did not do so. saving that he was not called upon to enforce a law in violation of a treaty. Congress has been asking who shouid have decided that point—the executive or the Su- preme Court. Leading students of the Constitution and federal law point out that for nearly a century no other President has gome quite that far in setting aside the expressed will of the law-making body. even in war tim Andrew Jackson came into the presi dency in 1829 and immediately began a fight on the constitutionality of the rational bank act. He took very dras- tic measures. He ordered funds in the national bank to be taken out and deposited in eighty-nine state banks. thus wrecking the national bank. He was terrifically resisted in Congress, both the House and Senate strongly denouncing him. The leadership in the Senate was that great triumverate— Webster. Clav snd Calhoun. Jackson declared he was not to en- force the law as some one else would ! interpret it, but as he interpreted the | Constitution. This arbitrary act led to his censure in the Senate in 1834, which owing to the persistent efforts of Thomas H. Benton of Missouri, was expunged in 1837. This is one of the - most historic records of conflict be- tween the executive and legislative branch of government. * % ¥ % Other illustrations are easy to find. Although Congress had given au- thority to continue the War Finance Corporation, the Treasury Department dropped it. and it took a special act of Congress, passed over the Presi- dent’s veto, to force the Treasury De- partment to revive the ipstitugion. Somewhat similar was the, course taken to force a reduction in the size of the Army. There again Congress overrode the President's veto, al- though the appropriations act had given the executive brinch to, under- stand the will of Congress. The controversy now in the Senate over the failure to obey the act of Congress which gives preference to ex-service men for all civil service appointments emphasizes the evil that Harding promises to reform. There is considerable complaint that the departmental interpretation of the Income tax law and of the Volstead prohibition enforcement law has been ,in many ways far different from that intended by the framers of these measures as made clear during debate in Congress. Attorney General Palmer has been criticised and censured on his inter- pretation of the trading with the enemy and the espionage acts, one particularly striking example being the statement prepared by twelve eminent lawyers. which charged that he absolutely misconceived the whole purpose of the act. * % % % The recent decision of Judge Ander- son in Boston in the controversy be- tween the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor over depor- tations held that the Attorney Gen- eral was about as far wrong in his interpretations as possible. But this case is especially apropos here be- cause either the Department of Labor or the Department of Justice was acting contrary to the intent of Con- gress—both couldn't be right. Representative Frederick R. Lehlbach of New Jersey, co-author of the civil service retirement act, in a speech on the floor of the House, and in a letter to . Postmaster General Burleson, made it plain that he believes Mr. Burleson had deliberately acted contrary to the ex- pressed purpose of Congress written into the law. The intention was that for the good of the service as well as for the advantage of individuals certain efficient employes were to be allowed to remain OVERNMENT by executive | 1 In the service after reaching the age ot retirement. The Postmaster General is- | sued a blanket order that all were to be {let out on reaching the retirement ag | The committee on reform in the civ | service has reported out new measures | to correct this executive misinterpreta- | tion of the act. One of the most striking acts of execu- | tive defiance was in the case of the iate { Col. Roosevelt, when he wanted to re- cruit a force of volunteers for partici pation in the world war. There was a heated controversy in the House and | Senate and a provision was written into | the ~selective service act designed to q vote lwas taken. Congress expressed its au- thorization for Roosevent to go to France, and the War Department turned him down with scant courtesy. * % * % Although this disposition to be a law unto itself has been most conspicuous during the regime of the outgoing executive branch of the government, the laws as passed by Congress I beén practically set aside by other Theodore Roosevelt in his autobiography gives a notable illustration. The S man tnti-trust act in 1890 was designed to restrain combinations in restraint of trade, but the two succeeding Presidents —one a democrat and the other « repub- Nean—misinterpreted it, as Roosevelt Fors Thé administration of Mr. Harrison and Mr. Cleveland evidently construed this law as prohibiting such combina- tions in the future, not as condemning those which had been formed prior to its enactment.” | cover his case, on which a re Pflinu out that in Harrison's time ouf of eight opinions rendered by the federal court under the anti-trust act seven were against the government and not a single indictment filed reached a trial of facts. Mr. Roosevelt shows how by his persistency he put real teeth in the anti-trust act, when in the Northern Securities case he forced the Supreme Court to reverse itself as it had previosu- Iy ruled in the famous Knight case. * % *x X One of the great dangers of de- partmental usurpation of congres- sional authority is that when an appropriation is denied the executive 2gencies quite. frequently proceed just as though it had been allowed and then when the money is spent come to Congress for it under a “deficiency,” so that at the end of the year they really got just about what they asked for at the begin- ning. Chairman Good of the appre priations committee has recently spoken vigorously in denunciation of this practice. Congress is seriously considering the necessity of specifi- ally writing a limitation into the law. Congress has to be protected in its lawmaking rights, and particularly |regarding matters of revenue and ap- propriation. The close co-operation promised between Harding, _fresh from legislative experience, and Con- 8ress is most encouraging. Mr. Hard- ing’s administration will begin more auspiciously with this general recog- nition of the law as written than has any previous administration in recent years, because it is a reversal to the doctrine of the fathers from which we have been slipping away by easy stages until under the stress of war it became a dead letter, with officials and officers of high and low degree interpreting the law without regard to the expressed and implied purpose of Congress in enacting the law. The officials in the executive offices are beginning to realize that Harding intends to see that the law as en- acted by Comgress is in reality the law of the land, to be interpreted only by the courts and repealed only by Congress. There are evidences that while they have previously over- looked the fact that the tendency to executive interpretation has been dangerous to the government, they are quick to see that they may be- come under the Harding regime dan- gerous to the officials who temporarily assume such prerogatives. A Presi- dent pledged to enforce the law as enacted could mot be expected to tolerate officials, however permanent their tenure, who assumed to be above the law. * % % x ‘The Navy department gives a good fllustration of this change of heart. Last July it set aside an act of Con- gress, that had not been prepared in the department, specifically intend- ing and saying that midshipmen at Annapolis who failed in their exam- inations were to be given special instruction and after a fixed period should be again examined. Last week the same law was put into effect as an_executive order. Both the War and Navy depart- ments are slowly becoming cognizant of the fact that the new President won his place at the head of the ex- ecutive department of the govern- ment as a senator and has expressed his _confidence in the Senate as well las his determination to enforce the llaw as written. | “Those who will guide the mili- tary policy say it is well for the Army and Navy officers to revive their early training and remember that no man is fit to command who is not capable of obedience to supe- rior authority. Some of them had forgotten this old adage and accepted a monopoly on the rule of self-de- termination, that they were judges of what laws they should enforce and what they would ignore, interpret or change. Harding i8_coming in pledged as no President before him to a govern- ment. by laws rather than a govern- ment by men—and the distinction has been drawn more plainly than ever before by the people—who are the judges in the end. Anti-Bolshevik Chief Tale« Up Fruit Farming MAJ. GEN. SIR JOCELYN PERCY, Former chief of staff of the army under Gen. Denekine and Gen. Barom Wrangel, which met disaster at the hands of the bolsheviki, has arrived In America and will engage in the .business of fruit farming in British Columbia. He declares that British from the peninsula and earried them 1o the izslands of the Ionizm stp.and’ she MediterTancan, WORLD WAR VETERANS SUFFER FROM NEGLECT (Continued from First Page) by the bureau of notice of the dis. charge. * £ % & Representative Rogers, appearin before the committee, gave a :raphlg 5 description of the processes through which a former service man goes in his efforts to obtain aid. “I want to trace the course of a man who finds himself disabled as the result of his war service,” said Mr. Rogers, “and for the first time proposes to apply for compensation. Let us suppose that that man lives in Worcester, Mass. We will call him Private Jones. “He will probably secure his ap- plication either at his American L. glon post in Worcester or at the local office of the Red Cross. He will get help from one or the othe er source in having the application made out and prepared for trans- mittal. Then he will probably send that application to the branch office in Boston of the United States public health service. The Boston office will necessarily refer the application and the papers to the central office of the war risk in- surance bureau in Washington. “Then the war risk insurance bu- reau will pass upon the papers and will refer the matter back to the Boston office of the public health service, requesting that the man be physically examined by the local representative in Worcester of the public health service. The Boston office will then issue an or- der to that effect to the Worcester public health doctor. “In the course of time the public health doctor in Worcester will call in the man and examine him. 1Y 1 | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €, FEBRUARY 13, 1921—PART BY CAPT. ARTHUR G. DUNCH | | < — < | THE ARMY S bt INETY-SIX colleges and universities—two in each state—will soon be training officers for our National if “a bill for federal cadet- now being prepared by Repre- sentative Harry E. Hull of the House military committee, is approved by Congre: The bill provides, that each state may designate two schools to which officer students will, at gov- ernment expense, receive free tuition and all necessary perquisites, such as are supplied cadets at West Point. Any bright boy who deires a college education is eligible for selection, provided he devotes one school hour each day to military training under government regulations, and upon graduation serves five years as an offi- cer in the U. S. Reserve Corps. The President, the United States Senate and the’ governors of each state may designate ten boys each year for training. Applicants must undergo a physical training equal to that prescribed for West Point and also have an education fitting them for university entry. Further, they must take an oath to serve the gov- ernment by carrying out their obli- gation. The perquisites at govern- ment expense inciude food, quarters, boOkS, uniforms, medical ~attention, etc., 5o that even a poor boy may take advantage of the opportunity. Under the plan it is contemplated to train between nine and ten thou- sand young men between the ages o. eighteen to twenty-four. The cost, according to Mr. Hull, approximates a government outlay of eight million dollars a year. A tentative bill to carry out this work will be presented to Congress within the next few days. it is proposed that the schools used for this purpose shail be approved by the Secretary of-War. According to the author, members of Congress and officers of the Army who have seen the draft of the bill are in hearty ac- cord with its national scope and prac- jtical features. It is claimed the bill in effect would act in building up the officers’ training corps to a member- ship of possibly one hundred and fifty thousand. Kahn'’s Views on Bergdoll. “I'm. convnced the Whole affair was rotten, and that we should go to the bottom of it.” This terse remark in- dicates the attitude of Congressman Kahn, chairman of the House mili- tary committee, who last week rec- ommended an investigation of Berg- doll—that master skulker, whose es- cape from justice cast a stain upon the department responsible for the prisoner. It was recently reported vy an officer of the judge advocate's department that Bergdoll, while in Washington, drew $50,000 in gold from the Treasury and that no further trace of this money has since been discovered. It is hoped in the coming investi- gatién, with the assistance of the Philadelphia attorney who represent- ed the prosecution of the Bergdoll family, that the military committee will be able to bring to light further facts in the case. In any event, Mr. Kahn is to be commended for his in- tention, as expressed by him, to the bottom of it. i Replace Technical Employes. Reducing the civilian personnel of the War Department, as recently or- dered, and instructing commissioned officers, to perform the duties of civilians, brought fortA the wrath of Federation of Labor and civil serv- ice representatives, the effect of which has been the issuance of a statement by the department that the order applied more particularly to professional experts in the supply and technical services and that this policy of utilizing commissioned offi- cers wherever possgible for profes- sional positions “irf no wise affects those employees now carried on the various statutory rolls or occupying what have been generally known as clerical positions.” For the past two years there has been a desire on the part of com- missioned officers to instruct a num- ber of enlisted men in clerical posi- tions. This policy was not encourag- ed, so that today, it is not uncommon to see officers up to the grade of major typing their own letters. It will be interesting to know how the instruction of officers for civilian work will be carried out in event the |proposed reduction by Cbongress in the number of officers takes place, and civillan “professional experts™ are discharged. If it takes one offi- cer to teach another and the officer is taught to do $1.800 a year work on $4.000 a year pay, the incongruity of the situation becomes apparent. the famine stricken districts of China, according to a cable to the Depart- {ment of Commerce from Commercial { Attache Julean Arnold. The Red Cross | has about 3,500 men engaged in highway construction, of which about ten miles been constructed, twenty have already enstruction and thirty. seven more have been staked out. ‘An unusually mild winter in the famine district has aided _relief materially and it is estimated that only 10,000,000 persons are serfously affected among a total population of 30,000,000 in the districts involved, rnold says. MY inas trade will not be material- 1y affected by the famine conditions nor will Chinese credit be affected, Mr. Arnold says. Suggestions have been made, Mr. Arnold says, that the credging of the Grand canal and other similar public works requiring large bodles of labor would be the most_effective relief that could be af- forded, as such relief would saf guard ‘against the danger of pauper- izing_the population. It has also been suggested, Mr. Ar- nold said, that modern American ag- rigultural methods be introduced in China to safeguard the people from a repetition of the famine. In the province of Szechwan an actual sur- Officers’ Promotion Problem. It is begninning to dawn upon former emergency officers whose ap- pointments were practically confined to lieutenants and captains in the regular army and recently eonfirmed in the Senate, that they are not yet entirely “out of the woods.” ‘The reorganization law prescribed the manner in which these officers shall be placed upon the promotion list. The general impression prevalls that the ranking of officers according to time, which may be short, but which is far too often very long, the public health doctor will fo: ward to his Boston chief the re- sults of the examination. Then aft- er more delay the Boston public health office will forward the entire file to the war risk insurance bu- reau in Washington, which will at length be in a position to re- view the papers and make the award. That is the usual process of getting the papers before the war risk insurance bureau in a status which enables it to proceed. You will notice that in those nu- merous steps there are many pos- sibilities of delay, and even prob- abilities of indefinite delay.” Mr. Rogers urged that there should be consolidation “at the top” and decentralization in the field to bring about the necessary jmprovements in the system. —_— RED CROSS FEEDING 17,000 DAILY IN CHINA ‘Has 35,000 Men Building Roads, Department of Commerce Hears in Cable. The American Red Cross is now feeding about 17,000 persons a day in Then, after a mrr.n-i lapse oz ¥ plus of Lood exists, Mr Arnold says length of commissioned service would apply within the respective grades. It _now appears however, that lieu- tenants and captains will be listed for promotion indiscriminately, with- out respect to grade, and that the list once made up cannot be changed, except by ngressional enactment. Officers familiar with the law con- tend that this method of promotion will operate to cause officers who re- ceived licutenant grades to pass over the heads of their superio thus enabling junior officers to reach the grade of ‘major, before many of the present captains reach their majority. There are officers who claim that training camp graduates have less commissioned Service than the pro- visionals, reserves, and others who were commissioned between April 6 and August 15, 1917. Under the in- terpretation generally placed upon the wording of the law. they believe that an officer commissioned second lieutenant during May, 1917, for ex- ample, and who was not profession- ally qualified in his examination for a higher commission, may reach his majority before an officer whose age, experience, education, etc., qualified him for a captaincy from the first training camp. and whose qualifica- tions again obtained for him a cap- taincy from the reorganization board. Officers who claim this_inconsistency in promotions, say that if ofliccrs who struggled to get into the training camps and made good there and since will be passed over by junior officers adjudged inferior in qualification; the disappointment of senior officers, unless | correction is made, will last through- out their servicy . New Manual in Effect. The new Manual for Courts-Martial, U. S. Army. 1921, War Department Document No. 1053, has been printed and takes effect February 4. The militia bureau has requested the ad- jutants general of the several states and territories to submit requisitions for the number of copies they need for the National Guard, but none of these will be filled until the issue to the Regular Army has been completed. Language Detail for Officers. Three young officers of the Army will be selected some time in March for a four-years oriental language detail. These officers will probably be sent to China and Japan early in June. No officer of less than three years' commissioned service will be detailed, and preference will be given to bachelors about 30 years old. Pre- vious linguistic training will be given considerable weight in the selection. Officers who desire this detail and who have not already filed a ques- tionnalre with the _military _intelli- gence division W. Dr general staff, should make application to that divi: sion through military channels. Retirement Date. In cases in which retirement on the application of an Army officer is_ap- proved, effective at Some future date, the department has specified that the retirement shall be effective upon the date specified, irrespective of the date upon which the action is taken or the officer receives notice of retirement. This rule is promulgated in order to apply to cases coming under the pro- visions of the law on classification of officers so as to make retirements under that provision effective on the date of retirement specified by the President, although notice might not be received by an officer until after such date, Chemieal Warfare. A toxic smoke candle and a simple smoke candle are among the recent developments in the chemical warfare service which have proved most sat- isfactory. These candles are about the size of the ordinary tomato can and weigh about two pounds. The contents are solid, perfectly harmless until lighted by a special safety match. No agent except intense heat can release the gases, and consequent- ly they may be transported. freely at are used in great numbers to produce a gas cloud, poisonous or non-poison- ous, depending upon the candle used. ‘The simple smoke candle alone is used principally for screening pur- poses. Another improvement in chem- ical warfare material is the new style carrier for the gas mask. This new carrier fits snugly under the left arm about the waist line and is always in the alert position. Suitable Transfer of Officers. ‘There is an actual shortage in the total number of bfficers authorized by law and required to carry out the Regular Army mission. This short- age can be somewhat counterbalanced by a proper and correct distribution of the officers now in the service. The act of June 4, 1920, provides that of- ficers may be transferred from one branch of the service to another on their own application, but specifically states that an officer shall not be transferred from one branch to an- other without his consent. The intention of Congress was that an officer should not be arbitrarily transferred from one branch, after long years of service, to another branch against his will. It was a provision dictated by a consideration of the personal and professional feel- ings of the officers of the Army. At the same time, Congress did not intend and did not take away from the Pres- ident the authority to assign officers | all times and places.” These “candles ;. Rear Admiral William S. Sims, war-tim, forces in Europenn waters, and Brig. Gen. W 2 ADVOCATE LARGER AIR FLEET. ommander of Ameriean naval im Mitchell, chief of training and operationx of the Army air forces, at the close of their testimony before the House naval committee. large air fleet and not a greater Navy. They testified that America’s greatest need is a “Our aircraft strength must be superior or we will be shot out of the water,” said Gen. Mitchell. to duty in accordance with the exi- gencies of the service. Realizing the danger of misunderstanding due to the present accidental, and, for the time being, illogical, distribution of commissioned officers in the several arms, and the importance of proper distribution, the War Department and the chiefs of the arms most seriously affected desire to enlist the co-opera- tiorr and support of officers of the Army, in bringing about, by suitable voluntary transfers or otherwise, a redistribution to the several arms to accord with the intention of Congress, the interest of the Army and the de- sire of individual officers. THE NAVY < ‘Whether or not the capital ship will remain mistress of the seas, the fact is evident that our seacoasts and pos- sibly inland cities are open to attack by enemy air fleets and that ships must be equipped with aircraft at least equal in force to that of the enemy. That fleets or cities were not desrtoyed by aircraft during the war is no guarantee in future conflict. It is well, therefore, to look the situa- tion in the face and in the meantime keep our air service abreast of the times. The modern army in action is admittedly handicapped without an adequate air force. As to the Navy, the opinion of Admiral Jellicoe, as ex- pregsed in his book, “The Crises of the al War,” must be recognized. when he says: “Air power is regarded by many officers of wide practical expe- rience as an essential complement to sea power, whatever future the air- ship and aeroplane may have for in- dependent action. * ¢ ¢ The ad- vent of aircraft has introducel new and, at present, only partially ex- plored problems into naval warfare, and officers commanding naval forces will require frequent opportunities of studying them. They must be worked out with naval vessels and aircraft acting in close association. ® * © In view of all the possibilities which the future holds out, now that the airship and aeroplane have arrived, it is well that there should be no doubt on such matters, for inefficiency might in concelvable circumstances spell defeat.” ks Fuel Economy. A policy governing the employment of vessels during the coming fiscal years is expected to result in & ma- terial reduction in the deficiency of some $20,000,000 incurred in the use of oil and coal. It was agreed that many craft now in commission could be laid up without seriously impair- ing the efficiency of the fleet. This applies particularly to yachts, tugs, subchasers, mine sweepers, eagle boats, patrol vessels, older-types of cruisers and gunboats. Many of these vessels will doubtless be sold. The number of destroyers retained in com- RISE AND GROWTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ‘The cen.unnlnl celebration of the founding of George Washington Uni- versity is to begin next Saturday with appropriate exercises. The university had its inception in the long-cherished dream of George ‘Washington, who desired a great national educational institution in this city. The realization of this dream was made possible by the suc- cessful efforts of the officials of the university, who struggled against hardships and adversities to establish an institution that would do honor to “the father of our country.” George Washington, however, had given a bequest of $22,000 toward the establishment of such an institution. It was started with thirty-nine stu- dents and several teachers and now has grown to a student body of more than 5,000 and a faculty of approxi- mately 300, making it one of the larg- est higher educational institutions in the country. This student body is composed of representatives from all parts of the globe as well as from every state in the Union. ‘Washington’s Message te Congress. President Washington was so much interested in his plan for a higher educational institution at the seat of government that in 1790 he sent a message to Congress on the subject. Five years later he offered to give fifty shares of Potomac Company stock, then valued at $22,200, as an endowment for a national unlvm!t{. to be erected during his lifetime, if possible, and requested the District commissioners to select a site. The commissioners _proposed a tract bounded by 23d and 25th streets, E street on the north and the Potomac river on the south, a site later oc- cupled by the Naval Observatory now occupied by the Naval Medical School and Hospital. ’ The institution’s main buildings now are located only four blocks from the site selected by the Commissioners and approved by George Washington him- self. The national _university was not started during Washington's lifetime, but when he died in 1799 he left this item in his will: “I give the fifty shares which I hold in the Potomac Company toward the endowment of a university, to be established within the limits of the District of Columbia, under the aus- pices of the general government, if that government should incline to extend a fostering hand toward it.” % ‘ was as eothusiag, At the tic as Washington for the establish- ment of a great university here, and he dwelt on the subject in a message to Congress, in 1810. In the meantime George Washington's $22,200 bequest was lost, as the Potomac Company fail- ed and the stock became worthless. Charter Granted in 1821. In 1817 Rev. Luther Rice, a Baptist missionary, copceived the idea of founding a college in Washington. In 1819, Mr. Rice purchased nearly forty- seven acres of land between what are now 14th nad 15th streets northwest, and running from the Boundary, now Florida avenue, for about half a mile northward. The price paid for this site, now worth millions of dollars, was $7,000. In 1820 Mr. Rice presented the tract to the Tri-Annual Baptist Gen- eral Convention, his idea being to pro- mote the education of the ministry and ultimately to form a college under the direction of the Baptist General Con- vention. A charter was granted by Congress and approved by President Monroe February 1, 1821 Several departments were organized and a small oollege building was erected at a cost of $35,000 to accom- modate 100 students. Later three ad- ditional structures were built. college, which was known as Columbian Gollege, was formally opened January , 1822, Y mission will also be greatly reduced, which will bring down the number of destroyer tenders. . Reserve Officers’ Pay. The question of retired pay for officers of the Naval Reserve Force came up on January 28 in the District Supreme Court, when Justice Fred- erick L. Siddons issued an order directing Secretary of the Navy Daniels to revoke his order of Novem- ber 12, 1919, which placed Commander George A. Berry, U.S.N.R.F., on the inactive list without pay. Secretary Daniels was directed to permit Com- mander Berry to appear before a Navy retirement board for a second inquiry into his physical disabilities in the same manner as inquiries con- cerning disabilities of Regular Navy officers are conducted and disposed of. Commander Berry said that he had been placed on the inactive list be- cause of injuries received in the line of duty. He held that he was entitled to retirement pay, as are officers of the Regular Navy who are retired or discharged because of some physical disability. The case will affect peti- tions of other Naval Reserve officers who seek retirement pay. The Secre- tary of the Navy now has the choice of conforming to-the writ or of filing {an appeal to the District Court of Appeals. Costs in the case were as- | sessed against the Secretary of the | Navy, and the question of damages | to which the petitioner may be en- titled was reseryed for future de- termination according to law. Precedence Opinion Stands. In response to requests made by the chief of the bureau of naviga- tion and the chief of the bureau of construction and repair written in October, 1920, asking for a reconsidera- tion of an opinion of the judge advocate | general of the Navy fixing the rank and precedence of line and staff officers of the Navy according to the date of their respective commissions instead of date of entry in the Navy, as here- tofore has been the practice in pre- paring the Navy register, the judge ad- vocate general rendered ‘an opinion on December 11, 1920, confirming his previ- ous opinion of 16, 1920. In the re- quests for reconsideration especial stress was laid on_previous opinions (incor- porated in that of March 16, 1920) in which it was held “in effect that ‘the act of August 29, 1916, repeals: Ly necessary implication Sec. 1485 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and that staff officers now take pre- cedence among themselves and with officers of the line according to their respective dates of commission with- out regard to length of service.” In ending his_opinion, Rear Admiral George R. Clark, judge advocate. gen- eral of the Navy, advises “that the decision as rendered should stand and be made immediately effective, in or- der that there may be no further de- lay on the part of the Navy Depart- ment in conforming to the law.” Sec- retary Daniels has approved the opin- ion. | number of students was greater than at any previous time. With the war at an_end, students and instructors flocked to the college. The only large benefactors the uni- versity has ever had were W. W. Corcoran of this city and,John With- ers of Alexandria. Mr. Corcoran gave the college the Trinidad estate of 152 | acres, immediately adjoining the city, which when sold furnished the m | cleus of what is known as the Cor- | coran endowment fund. Sale of Land; New Buildings Erected. In January, 1873, the trustees were authorized to sell the college prop- erties on College Hill, as the 14th street site was known, and to locate in_the heart of the city. In 1884 a college building was_erected at the corner of 15th and H streets north- west, where the Woodward building now stands. e In 1882 a new preparatory school building_was erected on the north side of H street, between 13th and 14th streets. The preparatory school was discontinued in 1897, in view of the excellent public high school sys- tem here, and the building was used as a part of the University Hospital. In 1884 the Corcoran Scientific School was established and in the following year Mr. Corcoran gave to the university a lot in the rear of the medical college building, on H street, with a view to extension of the property. In 1887 the dental school was established. In 1904 Congress restored the non. The | denominational character of the in- | stitution and permitted a change in name. When the college was moved to the heart of the city the name had The medical department was opened | been changed from Columbian Col- in 1825, in a building erected by the lege to Columbian University. This professors themselves, but later was granted room in the United States In- firmary building, which was destroyea by fire during the civil war. The law department was organized in 1826, but was soon discontinued on account of financial troubles and was|ington A theological | George Washington Memorial ~ Asso- not revived until 1865. school also was founded but soon afterward was moved . to Newton, Mass., where it is still located. latter name was objectionable be- cause it frequently became confused with Columbia University in New York city. In 1903 conferences had been held between representatives of the Wash- Memorial Institution, the ciation and Columbian University with a view to combining and forming a memorial institution and hall bearing The only aid ever received. by the|the name of George Washington for college from the government was in graduate work and reseach and for 1832, when Congress extended a grant | co-operation in such work. of $25,000 in city lots, Georgetown :Jn.lverslly receiving a similar gratu- ty. ‘The college fell into financial diff- culties because of the plans of the officials being on a more elaborate scale than the contributions justified, and in 1826 the Baptist Convention withdrew its connection. In the fol- lowing year the faculty resigned in a body and classes were suspended. In the spring of 1828, however, the col- lege was reopened, and has been in session ever since. Renaissance of the College. Name Changed. The university agreed to change its name to George Washington Univer- sity on condition that the George ‘Washington Memorial Association erect the memarial ~building for graduate study and scientific research work at a cost of $500,000. But about this time Andrew Carnegie established the Carnegie Institution for Scien- tific Research here, and as the project covered fully the fleld that had been contemplated by the memorial asso- clation, the memorial hall was aban- doned. However, the name of the was . 3 LABOR WILL DEFEND tered Much Critici to Misapprehens BY BEN McKELWAY. FFICIALS of the American Federation of Labor recent- Iy returned frem the pan- H American labor conference in Mexico brought back with them re . ports of leveled at the ! United States for its interveation in | the internal affairs of various repub- ilics of Central ana South America. Wwhich shed 4 new light on how such jaction has Leen viewea b iclasses in those countries, jally, this eriticism has set a new { for leaders in the pan | movement—that 'appears to be |impression of eriticism by sk -American labor of dispeliing what an absolutely wrons | impression of the motives for this 'S intervention in La - |2t n in Latin Ameri | Delegates to the conference, par- ticularly those from Haiti, Santo Do- {mingo, Colombia and Nicaragua, mad {Known their belief that intervention by the United States w nspired by {what they termed the “moneved in- ;terests.” who brought it about for { their financial gain. They based their ibelief on the fact that intervention {by the United States government {usually has been accompanied by ex- | i tensive exploitations backed by American capital. These investments, they complained, took a great deal in wealth out of the country, and brought little in, all under the pro- tection of the United States govern- ment. This mistaken idea of America’s purpose in sending troops to certain Central ~ American republics, aided somewhat by insidious propaganda. spread by those who suffered by this iintervention, was denied by Ameri- |cans who attended the conference in Mexico and by those who were fa- miliar with this country’s real mo- tive in taking a hand temporarily in the government of some of the youth- ful republies. It will be one of the aims of the mem- bers of the American Federation of La- bor in the future to impress on the minds of their co-workers in Latin America the fact that this country has no ulterior purpose in intervention. As a matter of fact, as has been shown. the labor element has been helped in every case where the United States has ‘intervened, for in the general shake-up following reorganization of government, the labor party for the first time has won its v in man- agement of the republic's Internal af- fairs. Senor Santiago Iglesias, a Pgrio Rican “senator and the representa- tive of the American Federation of Labor in Porto Rico and Cuba, who is temporarily in Washington, gives an ‘interesting resume of the labor movement's status in Latin America. Organization of labor unionism in Argentina and Uruguay has. been successful, he states, and the same is_true in Chile, where a national federation of trade unions recently has been formed. Such an organiza- tion is under way in Peru, and Bra- zil's_organized iabor, at present a number of separate groups, contem- plates a national federation in the near future. Because of the foreign element in these countries, particu- larly in Argentina and Uruguay, la- bor has inclined to the radical or- ganization. In Paraguay. Colombia, Feuador. Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Venezuela the labor miovement is in its infancy. according to Senor Iglesizs; The labor element has lit- tle power and practically no voice in the government. The American Federstion of Labor has a great opportunity in impress- ing the new labor parties of South America with the need for conserva- tism as against radicalism in their future programs, Senor Iglesias de- clares, and this will be one of its aims in the formation of the Pan- American Federation of Labor. Latin American affairs will be par- ticularly in the limelight at the com- ing convention of the Southern Com- mercial Congress here March 1, 2 and 3. The banquet on the night of March 2 will be a Latin-American affair entirely. and members of the diplomatic corps from the southern continent will deliver the main speeches of the evening. A former German citizen and of- ficer in the German army has been placed -at the head of the Bolivian army. Gen. Kundt has been made chief of staff of the Bolivian army, and: before accepting the appoint- ment became a Bolivian cltlleni as law of that country requires. g‘:fl. Kundt derved in the Bolivia: army before the world war, but at World Has But The suffrage statue which em- braces the figure of three great American women, Mrs. Anthony, Mrs. Mott and Mrs. Stanton, to be placed in the rotunda of the Capitol on February 15, recalls that there are not many women whose memory lives in sculpture. Most public memorials to women who have become famous in the betterment of the world during the last few centuries are the work of .the present generation. A statuary figure of Queen Alex- andra, wife of King Edward VII of England, has within recent years found a site in the grounds of the London Hospital, of which she was long president. The tragic death of Empress Elizabeth of Austria, at Geneva, some twenty-two years ago, has Jed to the erection of a number of statues to her memory throughout Austria, two of the most beautiful ones being those at Salzburg and in the Volksgarten at Vienna. % % x But the statues of famous wo- men in public places are exceed- ingly rare as compared with the n‘::l!’lpllclty of marble and bronze fligies of famous men, in the :Inficd States and Europe. 1t is said that among the causes e amazing disparity between :;: :?ltuel of men and women, the consideration of dress is the prin- cipal one, for in all ages feminine attire has run to extremes. What foay be regarded as absolutely cor- rect by one generation may appear preposterous and ridiculous to those that follow. France has a number of marble and bronze effigies of the “Maid of Orleans,” made in the seven- teenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but the statues of Joan of Arc, In every instance, repre- sent her in the martial attire of a medieval knight in masculine b. e * k ¥ ¥ ‘There are a number of statues of women in Germany for which the empire is indebted to the de- throned Emperor William. Among these his great-grandmother, en ise; his grandmother, press Augusta, and of his mother, Empress Frederica, all of whom are represented in marble afiigies in. the Tiergarten at Ber- in. e e { Erected in Public Placesin - Honor of Women. INTERVENTION BY U. S:- Delegates to Mexican Conference Encoun~: sm of America Due ion of Its Aims. 1its beginning was recalled to Gewd jmany, where he fought in the Ge! {man army during the war. | Sebastio Braz.lian mercial attache {who went 1o B Colby on his r Com- turn to this country the {next month. He left the s Iparty in Bra and has been engagod !in delivering a numbcr of addressos: ibefore Braziliun business men om jtrade comditions with United States. Hoffman Philip. United Stat ter to Colombia. has left Bogota {the United States #nd is exp {reach here this week. He wa {by the Secretary of State L | State Department officials in the cons (sideration of the Colombiun (reaty {and other questions pending betwee: { the two republics. | Plans are under way for the of | ganization of an institute for jsearch in tropical America, whos. irpose it will be to promote biolog** i¢al rescarch on the fauna. flora, pees: ple, zeology. soils and climate,’ wit | @1l Asheries ‘and in general all sciei=" tific objects that will aid the devel: :(-nmonl of the American tropies It is ibelieved that most of the leading In- stitutions of the United States inter-" lc-lled in work of this character withs be represented in the membership of the institute. 3 Similar institutions in the countriés of tropical America will be represent- ed. according to the present tentative arrangement. Institutions in the United States which already have expressed their aproval of the idea and their intent to participate in its active member- ship are the Smithsonian Institut of this city, the American Museum Natural History, American Geograph- ical Society and New York Zoological Society of New York, Academy of Natural Sciences and the Commercial’ Museum of _Philadelphia, Carnegie. Muscum of Pittsburgh, Field Colum-. bia Museum of Chicago, Brooklyn Bo- tanical Garden, Natiomal Geographic - Society of this eity, Harvard and Yale. vniversities, Johns Hopkins Univej sity. University of Penneylvania. T-nt versity of Michigan, University of Inws diana. California Academy of Science, American Phytopathological Society. American Soctety of Agronomy and the Ecologicsl Society of America. _ The. temporary executive commiltee. . is composed of Dr. A. S. Hiteheach SF" * the Smithsonian Institution, who is chairman; Dr. W. J. Holland. director of the Carnegie Museum: Dr. D. & Johnson. professor of botany at Johns~ Hopkins; Dr. G. R. Lyman of the American Phytopathologica Society and Prof. J. W. Toumey, director of" the Yale Forestry School. < A committee, of which Dr. Holland, of the Carnegie Museum is chairman is making a resume of all the re- search work already accomplished ee- under way in tropical America, to, serve as a basis for the future opera- tions of the institute, so that thete~ may be no duplication, no overlapping of effort. It is planned to have all the institutions interested in the work' co-operate, and when one institutism: undertakes some phase of research., work it will be unnecessary for any of the others to waste time or money™ in_that particular field, although aik: will enjoy the benefits derived. . The Cuban minister. Dr. Carlos Man_ uel de Cespedes, will be one of the™ speakers at the celebration of the, twenty-third anniversary of the Maine sinking, at Fort Myer. Tuesday. - Through the Argentine embassy 200z pecan trees are being shipped. ta., Yerua, province of Entres Rios, Af- zentina. The trees were sSelected Wit the help of the Dgpartment of Agris, . culture from a Texas nursery. The climate of Texas is Said to be similar to that of Entres Rios. Everythifg - possible has been done here to insuze.. the success of the undertaking, and the result will be watched with & great deal of interest. If successful,- it will mean the beginning of a new industry in Argentina, rich of tunity. Formal recgnition by the ‘United,. States of the Boliv#m government as the constitutional government of th&f+ republic followed an interesting series~ 2f events which had their bexinningg last July when the government President Gutierrez Guerra was overs: thrown by a military coup d'etat, fol-. Towed by a bloodless revolution. which left the country entirely tranquil. TH&* ex president and his ministers were, deported, a3 a junta, composed of three leader® of th» republican part¥. was constituted a_provisional counoii.« of government. The junta called for . zeneral elections, which resulted in the election of & national congress, - which in turn elected Beautista Saave- « dra president on the 25th of last month. There has been little blood- shed during the change of governme.: ment, and the present administration _ is said to be the popular choice. I Few Memorials svn s in Calcutta, in commemoration ofnd. her visit as Princess of Wales to the oriental empire, and it forms a pendant to the handsome statue. of Queen Victoria, already in ex- istence there. In the United States there is buts,« one woman who has received a marble form of popular homage, that of Frances Willard. cham- pion of the temperance and femin- ist movements of her day. This’ statue is in statuary hall of the rotunda of the Capitol. * X % % There are several royal public' monuments of feminine figures in< marble or bronze standing in the Grand Square of Melines in Bel- gium, which have greeted tour-~ ists for several hundred years. majestic and statue of Empress Maria Theresa,' between the two museums at Vienna, gives an idea of the gran- deur of this imperious and im- perial woman. There is the statue of Queen... in front of St. Paul's Cathe- dral, London, which is familiar to '~ every American who has visited the English me lis. ‘This statue is said to be quite the re. verse of regal and is regarded by many from an artistic point of view as an eyesore. * x x ¥ The statue of Margaret of Aus- tria, who ruled over the Nether. lands in the fifteenth century, placed on the Grand Square of. Melines, in Belgium, is the repro- dllctl&:i. of an earlier date, and s perh: the most unusual figure of its character in continental Europe. o There are a number of statues of, ., Queen Victoria in the various por- tions of the vast English empire, but they show the queen in her-.. widowhood and old age, when this. . eat woman was wholly in- ifferent to fashion or her own'"" attire. Thus, the artist was more, concerned in preserving her faclal resemblance. BONUS FOR EX-SERVICE MEN. SALEM, Ore., February 12.—The Oregon house today passed a biN: ' providing a bonus to Oregon ex-sery- fce men of 315 a ‘month for each,. month served In the world war. Th bill also provides an alternative of: farm or home loams, not exceed $3,000. Is passed by the senate approved by the ”® (s .