Evening Star Newspaper, May 15, 1921, Page 48

i ad a - THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY..........May 15, 1821 The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office. 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office: Tribune Building. Chicago Office: Firgt jonal Bank Ruilding. European Office: 3 Regent St., London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morning edition, s deliversd by carricrs within the city At 60 cents per month only, 45 cents per montii: Sunday on s per mouth, _Or- ders may he sent by mail, or telephone Main 8000. Collection is made by carriers at the €4d of cach month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. and Sund only .. iy only ....... - 82, 5, All Other States. aily and Sund: T Daily only e 4 Sunday only Traction Merger. Failure of the direct negotiations be- tween representatives of the Wash- | inston Railway and Electric and Cap-{ ital Traction companies who have| been secking a basis for the merger of the two corporations is deeply to be regretted. It was hoped that| through this means a consolidation of the two properties could be effected. | Public interests demand the union of the tr: m com to end the cenditions that have for a long time eampelled establishment of higher fare rates than cne of the two com- uires to maintain itself and sonable profit. dispari! between the earning powers of the two companies is due primarily to the fact that the lareer of the two systems is burdened | with a large percentage of at present | untremunerative trackage, which, how- | ever t potential value through | anies, has the development of the District suburbs. The smaller, more compact system, with a comparatively short suburban milcage. can haul passengers | profitably at a r which the utilities been obliged in fairne: enable the other system to pay pénses and to make a small profit. Two remedies have been proposed | to equalize the conditions of the two companies. One of these is a zone rate, measuring the fare to the service ren- dered on the long hauls. The other is a change in the system of taxation whereby the assessment will be made against net instead of gross earnings. “A strong public sentiment has been registered against the zone fare sys- tem, and though it is logical and equitable it has been rejected by the utilities commission as objectionable to, the carriding public. A recom- mendation has been made to Congress to effect a change in the taxing meth-| od" which would serve to bring more nearly equal the net earnings of the two companies. Under the present system the company doing the larger | business is mulcted in the heavier tax, | regardiess of the fact that that larger | business costs proportionately much | mere and at times has represented an adtual deficit instead of a profit. If the companies cannot agree by direct negotiation on merger terms the case goes to Congress, where, in fact, it would have to go in any event for permissive merger legislation. Merger by compulsion is undesirable. Yet obviously the present conditions cannot continue indefinitely. There is no justice to the public in continuing an excessive rate of fare as regards the maintenance cost of one of the two lines in order to enable the other to,live. te lower than that commission has to decree to! ex- Cheap Russian Rubles. The soviet government at Moscow has decreed that international cable payments shall be on the basis of the ratio of 4.000 rubles for one gold franc. This works out to give the soviet ruble a4 value of about one-twentieth of a mill of American money. That is to} say, it takes 20,000 rubles to equal an | American dc Here is a chance for & kpeculation. The Russian ruble in e old daye was equal to about 51% cents. 1f Russia ever regains her plges in the world and re-establishes her financial system soundly the ruble will probably regain that relative value. So that an investment of $100 naw, buying 2,000,000 soviet rubles, would in that event yield a profit of about a million in good American money. But there is a big “if" in that egtiation. Wil the soviet ruble of | today be recognized by the regen- erated Russia of the future? The rbles of the old Russian regime are | a doubtful asset today. The soviet| ruble is still more questionable. How- ever, the ratio may tempt some to take | the chance. The gambling chances may be about as big as the possible winning. Wil there be many takers of thiz 10,000 to 1 bet? | | ar. —————— Women's societies in Budapest are d¥nanding the arrest of wearers of short skirts. Europe has about de- cided that in order to secure novelty : in faxh decorum will have to be résorted to. —————— a mew record has been established | hv Thomas A. Edison. Nobody has akked o m questions since the visit to these shores of Li Hung Chang The Morse Elm. The fall of the century-old elm at the corner of 14th street and Penn- eylvania avenue is a matter of keen distress to all who admire the trees of Washington. The beautiful old tre had become diseased and perhaps best to fe a gaunt and ugl ter of leafless branches, even though it might for another season have borne some foliage. Historic names were asso. clated with the tree, notably that of Morse, inventor of the telegraph, for whom it was officially called. Trees have a hard time in modern cities. asphalt and concrete and stone. Their roots are obstructed by water pipes and gas pipes and conduits. Stray electric currents scek them out and jpjure them. Gas leaking from the mains saps their strength. Above THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor i existence it had no close confining New York to Buffalo, via the New i York Central railroad: that John Napier invented logarithms; that! | shellac is the resinous exudation of | i the realms of human knowledge than { knowledge of which would depend They are prisoned down by | THE SUNDAY ground the insects strip their leaves|the men were citizens of New Jersey and weaken their boughs. It is & won-{and have returned to that state to der, indeed, that a tree could last for a century. Of course, these conditions have not prevailed through the life of the Morse elm. For at least half of its pavement about it, and only during its latter years have the electric currents attacked it. Marvelous changes did that old tree witness. 1In 1820, when it was planted, Washington was but a village, strag- gling, unkempt and muddy, an un- promising sprawl of a few public build- ings and a few hundred dwellings and taverns and stores. Past it have/ marched millions of men in procession, passing between the Capitol and the White House. It has seen may Presi- dents go by to take the oath and re- turn to their new duties. It has seen the city racked in the stress of civil war. Its leaves have been stirred by the sound of the guns at the ('ayiml'sl gates. w the old tree is gone, from a| hington so different from that of a | century ago that the man who planted | it in 1 would not know this for the same town. A new tree should be planted in the same spot, an elm pre-| ferably, as a fit successor, and named also for him whose genius linked up the capital of the nation with the world in instant communication. Mr. Edison’s Intelligence Test. 1t is noticeable that in the discus- on arising out of Mr. Edison’s asser- | tions concerning the intelligence of | college_graduates the argument tends | to center mot upon the accuracy of | Park, but upon the merits of the means by which he claims to have reached that judgment. The average man of the country has an aversion for sweeping generalities, an inherent disposition to doubt their fairnes: Many undoubtedly hold opinions as the intelligence or ignorance of the limited number of college graduates with whom they have come in con-| tact. But they recognize the obvious limitations upon their opportunities for forming a fair opinion upon the subject in general. Not so, Mr. Edison. How many college graduates have so far taken the much-discussed ‘“‘ex- amination” at the Edison plant has so far not been made public. Neces- sarily, however, the number is lim- ited. Upon the ability of that limited number to advise him correctly as to the fact that it is 438.73 miles from an East Indian insect; that the great- est known depth of the ocean is 31,600 feet—and so on for 140-odd similar questions—he forms his conclusion and proclaims to the world in general ! that American “college men are amaz- ingly ignorant.” One need not go far to find comfort from such a claim. Unless Mr. Edison were willing to admit that the ability correctly to answer 100 per cent of his extraordinary “test questions” would | connote 100 per cent intelligence, the inability to answer any or all of lhcm} means nothing more than that one| does not happen to be carrying in his mind the particular information which Mr. Edison asks for. There are, of course, other facts of importance in those listed for this final “entrance examination” to the esteem of the great inventor. One of these facts is| that the intelligence of man involves| primarily a knowledge of fundamen- tals, the ability to reason logically and coherently, and a disinclination to cumber his brain with an assort- ment of unrelated and more or less useless statistics, names and facts, any of which can be ascertained through a moment's recourse to the encyclopedia. . There are in Mr. Edison's list a| number of questions to which any full- | grown adult of normal mind capacity would know the answer. There are many more calling for an answer the purely upon chance. For a scientist of Mr. Edison’s unquestioned standing | to hold that an ascertainment of one’s ability to answer such a list consti- tutes even approximate perfection as a scientific, intelligence test cannot be believed. It may, therefore, be antici- pated that one of the next inventions emanating from Menlo Park will take the form of the new and infallible test for ignorance. ———— Business men who declare that con- fidence is all that is needed for the! nation’s progress must recail with sat-| isfaction the landslide of last Novem- ber as an expression of contidence in the country’'s present leadership that could hardly have been greater. —_——— The progress of Mr. Knox's resolu- tion haw not been of a character to| invite charges that the nation has rushed into peace impulsively. —_————— None of the organizations designed | to facilitate diplomatic or industrial understandings have yet distinguished themselves as fast workers. 4 Bigamy Laws at Variance. There are some queer kinks in the marriage laws of the states of this Union which throw the matrimonial | situatton into confusion. One of these has just come to notice in the case of a New Jersey man who deserted his wife and eloped with another woman. He applied in his own state for a license to marry his new affinity, and, his ineligibility under the New Jersey | statutes being known, he was re- fused. He thereupon went to Con necticut, where, on swearing that he | the marriage ceremony was perform- |ed. Under the Connecticut laws a harge of bigamy does not lie unless | the persons involved live as man and wife within the state. The utmost | that can be done in this case in Con- necticut is to bring a charge of per- Ill\'e with the “wives” they | dis married n Connecticut. They cannot be pros- ecuted for bigamy in New Jersey, for the Connecticut marriages are not recognized there. Some vears ago an effort was made to secure uniformity in the state mar- riage laws, but with small success, though some of the states adopted amendments to their statutes to bring about a closer approach to a standard. Such an extraordinary departure as this Connecticut definition of bigamy is surely worthy of correction, for as long as'it remains it virtually nullifies the laws against bigamy of all other states. —_—————————— 1 The United States as Example. A cable from Buenos Aires sa “The far south of the Argentine re- public has been the scene lately of a erie of adventures the account of which reads as though it had been lifted from some United States story of the “wild west" in its palmy days of lawlessne Peons of some of the ranches of the territory of Santa Cruz, atistied with the humdrum life of sheep-shearing and sheep-tending, which is the occupation of the srea majority of the people in those mote regions, converted themselv into a band of bushrangers and com- menced to hold up the inhabitants in the best Jesse James style.” “The evil that men do"—or tolerate —"lives after them.” We are still re- membered in far countries for the| capers of the “bad men” who operated | in what was then called “the wild and | woolly west,” and for the robberies | committed by Jesse James and his| gang. It would be a pleasure to say that| the judgment of the wizard of Menlo {“the wild and woolly west” long since | time: disappeared, and that Jesse James and his gang have for many years been in | their graves, if we could stop at that| and point to greatly improved cnndi~: tions since. And such a statement; would be of service to the country | abroad. ! Unfortunately, however. our lynch-| ing statistics show that the mob piril: has transferred its activities from the | new states to some of the old, and | that Jesse James and his gans, who worked with horses, and confined their industry to comparatively narrow lim- its, have been succeeded by gentlemen of the road who work with automo- biles, and make even our large cities their hunting ground. i 1 Recent social entertainment has| been a source of complaint because of efforts to discriminate not only as to rank and precedence, but in the qual- ity of food served to different classes of guests. Food of course, ex- pensive at the present day, but it might perhaps be desirable to refrain from economies of so gstentatious a nature. The practice is, moreover, un- reasonable, for the humblest citizen is frequently blessed with the most lib- eral and exacting appetite. is, f ‘The Aldine Ciub of New York did not admit William H. Anderson to membership. Mr. Anderson will have his' opportunity for revenge in case any of the Aldine men apply for membership in the Anti-Saloon League. l In desiring not to be addressed as “colonel,” Mr. Harvey defers to an English custom which takes titles| more seriously than they are regarded | in this country. i The ship owners who sought pri- vate settlements with workers will, of course, be disciplined, but not as severely as the ordinary type of mutineer. \ The fact that John Barleycorn is a severely criticised performer does not prevent him from securing a remark- able amount of financial backing. H i Soviet Russia has provided steady government employment for Lenin and Trotsky without the aid of a civil service system. $ Emma Goldman's desire to return to America is no more than natural in one who has for a lifetime special- ized in unrest. ) { Rallway managers regret that for a long time the trains were not com- ing in as punctually as the bills. Daylight saving has made the time of day a matter largely of local cus- tom. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON, Spellbound. I like to hear the men who tell In language brief and breezy Just how to keep things going well— They make it seem 8o easy! 1f I my hand neglect to lift In work, I am not balking. tranced, I let the moments drift ‘While listening to the talking. A Fate Deserved. man. “It'd serve him right,” replied Farm- er Corntossel. “A circus is one place where everybody has to keep workin’ all the time. Alert Calculation. “How do you figure that this small flat is worth as much as the larger one?" “It saves you money. You don't have to buy so much furniture.” The Vamp. A vampira hath a gaze intense, She doesn’t think or read much. Some say she has but little sense— But then she doesn’t need much. “Many a man,” said Jud Tunkins, “inquires about the base ball score not because he's particularly interested, but because he wants to get his mind Jury. This is the third case within two vears in which bigamous marriages have occurred in Connecticut, and in the others no action has resulted. The subject is now under discussion in the lhupp of an amendment of the Con- necticut law. 1In all of the three cases las a United States senatorship? “Josh is talkin' about runnin’ away “Swinging Round the Circle.” Former Vice President Marshall opened his readable contribution to last Sunday's Star thus: “As 1 go from place to place in America and converse with men in every station in life, listening to what they say and peering beneath their ords."” In this way Mr. Marshall is acquir- ing a good deal of valuable informa- tion bearing on all sorts of subjects. He is greeting men and women whose conversation is worth while. Their very presence at his meetings—he is filling lecture engagements—testifies to their interest in public questions and in public men. He should, and probably will, be- come especially well informed on the subject of political sentiment as it exists here, there and yonder. Local politicians of his own party, and even those of other parties, will take his hand and tell him ‘“the lay of the land" thereabouts. By 1924, therefore, Mr. Marshall will have widencd considerably his e of acquaintances, have “stocked up” on the general political situation and its possibilities, and be ready for an initiative in his own behalf, if he cares to undertake one, or with advice in somebody else's behalf. 1t was in this very way that Mr. Bryan made himself so great and re- sourceful a power in his party. As a lecturer filling engagements he went from place to place,” and “conversed with men in every station of life,” and kept thoroughly abreast of the political He secured for himself three nominations for the presidency, dic- tated that of Woodrow Wilson in 1912, and was able to foresee the defeat of Judge Parker in 1904, and of Gov. Cox in 1920. when he was out of sympathy with his party's action. The chautauqua field possesses for the observing politician other return than that of coin. It affords him op- portunity to study the game in which he has a stake to greater advantage than he would otherwise enjoy. Up and Doing. ‘While many democrats, still groggy from last November's wallop, are un- certain as to what should be done to regain the lost paradise, certain demo- cratic leaders are alert and moving. They give no sign of having lost heart. Gov. Cox is not at present in the limelight. Neither is he in KEurope. It is the delay about, or the cancella- tion of, his intended visit abroad that calls attention to him. Opinion has it that he is not idle at home, but has an eye on the gun, and will “fire when ready.” Despite his miscalculations of last year, he is still rated as a very clever politician. Mr. McAdoo is active, though not in the political field. The interest he is manifesting in matters non-political keeps the public reminded of him, and that he is keeping up with the pro- cession. There are McAdoo men now in many states not unaware of the fact that in 1924 another tussle for demo- cratic leadership will take place. And, as at all times, Mr. Bryan is alive—very much alive. He seems never to rest. If not one thing then another engages his attention; and, no matter the particular thing he may have in hand, he manages, with little effort, to engage the public's attention. He has many moods, but his mood for politics is ever present, and upper- most. It is safely assumable that he knows what is going on in the political field every day in the week, and Sun- day, too. Neither Gov. Cox, nor Mr. McAdoo, nor any other man has any- thing on Mr. Bryan in matters relat- ing to politics or party organization. It seems early to be preparing for 1924. But this is an enterprising age, and the sleepyhead gets nowhere in this enterprising country. Sloth is particularly unremunerative in our politics. Two Men From Texas. Col. House and former Postmaster General Burleson are in Europe. Will they meet on their travels? And if they do will home politics enter into the conversation? The two men have been friendly, and, so far as the public is advised, still are. Both have stood very close to Woodrow Wilson. Mr. Burleson still stands close to him. Col. House, for reasons only guessed at—he has said nothing openly on the subject—; has drifted away. He and Mr. Wilson have not met since thelr separation in Paris, now nearly two years ago. The two men have been mentioned in connection with the Texas sena- torial contest which takes place next vear. The suggestion as to Col. House is not persuasive. He has never cared for office holding. Why should he care for office now—even so high an office He has world-wide fame. He has large means. He enjoys life, and comes and Zoes at his pleasure. Why should he put on the shackles of office and bend under the burden of routine? It is different with Mr. Burleson. He has often sought and obtained of- fice. He likes its shackles, and while wearing them shakes them with pride. | and joinin' the circus,” said the hired | He is out of commission now for the first time in many years. Is his free- dom agreeable to him? Few who know him think so. Nearly all of them, indeed, expect to see him try for place again. And why not for the Texas senatorship? As a member of the Senate Mr. Burleson would have opportunity to reply to the criticism that pursued him while he was a member of the Wilson cabinet. It was both indus- trious and tart. It never loafed on the job, nor fell asleep at the switch. But, with all of its industry and tart- ness, it did not succeed in driving him out of his place. e —————— Investigation shows that a wrecked automobile often carries more white mule than gasoline.—Indianapolis News. 1t looks as if we had beaten our swords into monkey-wrenches.—Co- lumbia (8. C.) Record. off the league of nation Perceptions of the Comic. “Has a woman a sense of humor?" “Yes,” replied Miss Cayenne. ““More than a man. If men were to come out in the same clothes we wear, women would laugh themselves to death.” ¢ P ———- & A shimmy dancer has had her legs insured, but that seems like an_un- necessary move on her part.—Bur- lington News. “Americans lack imagination,” says an English_critic. Friend, did you cver study the pictures on the cover of an American seed catalogue—Har- risburg Telegraph. STAR, WASHINGTON, POLITICS AT HOME|Co-operative Marketing Plans/HEARD AND SEEN| i 'Semhry Hoover D. C, MAY 15, 1921—PART R) Made to Appear Menace by Farmers’ Demands. BY SHELDON pushing their program for the co-operative marketing of their products there is in- creasingly apparent danger that the national organizations of farmers may unnecessarily handi- cap themselves by secking and demanding too much. With the proposition that the farmer should get a larger proportion of what the consumer pays there is gen- eral public sympathy, but if tne farmer sets out to get “all the traffic will bear” regardl of methods or the rights of others, this sympathy will be changed into a public hostility that can result only in disaster to the agricul- tural interests. Since the Supreme Court of the United States, in the Duplex case, outlawed the secondary boycott, and thereby brought all the ex- emptions of the Clayton act into question, the farmers have launch- ed a nation-wide propaganda to have Congress specifically absolve p-operative marketing asso- ciations from the restrictions of the Sherman anti-trust law. This propaganda is beginning to show results in a steadily increasing pressure upon members of Con- gress. ko % The general public welcomes the proposal of farmers to market their products collectively, hoping and believing that such a system would simplify and lessen the costs of distribution—to the bene- fit of the consumer as well as of the producer. But if co-operative marketing is to justify itself as an economic factor in the national life, it must do so in unfavored competition with other systems of distribution. Success as the re- sult of special privilege woulg not be a test of efficiency and uld hold no promises of general good. When the farmers ask that they be ‘exempt from the provisions of the Sherman act they are asking just one thing, no matter how camouflaged their request may be. What they ask is that it shall be specifically stated in the statues of the United States that it shall not be unlawful for members of farmers' co-operative marketing associatlons to conspire in the re- straint of trade. Against such a proposition every man who is not a farmer must, in self-defense, take up arms. If co- operative marketing cannot suc- ceed without such exemption from restraint, then co-operative mar- keting is not economically de- sirable. * k% x For a number of years co-opera- tive marketing associations have been making rapid headway, until today their total membership numbers into the millions. But as yet none of these associations has attained a size to give it a monopoly in controlling any par- ticular line of products. They have benefited the producers by abolishing abuses and reducing the costs of distribution, but they have sold in competition with oth- er associations and with independ- ent producers, and prices to the consumers have not -been unduly enhanced by them. The law of supply and demand has been per- mitted to operate and there is no evidence of any serious conspiracy in restraint of trade. But it will be regarded as some- thing more than a coincidence that agitation for specific exemption from the Sherman law comes at a time when organization of the greatest co-operative marketing association of them all is under way. If the plans of its projectors are carried out—and these plans have the backing of the organized farmers of America—the national association for the co-operative warehousing and marketing of grain will be a giant among pig- mies. 1t would dwarf the steel trust, the coal trust, the packers’ trust and, with all legal restraints removed, would have a strangle hold upon the nation. * ok ok X It Is declared openly by those ac- tive in organizing the grain associa- tion that, once it is in full operation, “the price of grain will be fixed by representatives of the producers, not by traders in Liverpool or gamblers in the Chicago wheat pit." That “the price of grain will be fixed” has an ominous secund. 1f the growers have the power abso- lutely to fix the price of grainm, will they have the self-restraint to fix it at a reasonable price? Grain srowers are human, no better or no worse, probably, than the av- erage run of citizens. With so powerful an association removed from all legal restrictions, the “representatives of the producers” would be subjected to a terrible temptation. It would be a simple matter to levy and collect an ex- tra tax of a billion dollars or more | each year from the bread eaters of the nation. Co-operative marketing, with all legal restraints against monopoly and restraint of trade removed, could mean nothing else but the early death of all other systems of distribution. No other system, operating under regulatory law, could meet such unfair competi- tion. So we would have a system of direct marketing by producers, not because such a system had demonstrated its economic supe- riority, but because of legal fa- voritism. And when the other systems of distribution were put out of busi- ness producers either would have to market through the co-opera- tive associations, whether they willed or no, or find their own ulti- mate consumers. It would amount to the “closed shop” in the indus- try of agricultural production. * ¥ ¥ *x No such life-and-death power as this over the nation's dinner ta- ble ever was contemplated by those who conceived the idea of co-operative marketing. Co-oper- ative marketing associations have been highly successful and bene- ficial to producers without wield- ing or asking any such power. They have succeeded because they eliminated unnecessary costs and corrected abuses in distribution, and they have won their way in fair competition. For such co-operative market- ing systems as these the farmers can have unlimited public sympa- thy and support. The public will not complain if, in fair competi- tion, co-operation outdistances and displaces all other systems of dis- tribution. It is as true of distribu- tion systems as of other commercial and industrial processes that they can claim the right to exist only by demonstrated efficiency. It is charged, and the charge generally is believed, that our present meth- ods of distribution are cumber- some and unnecessarily expensive. If the farmers can devise a better system they will be public bene- factors. But it doesn't promise much in the way of betterments— for any one except the farmers— if success of their program de- pends upon their being freed from the legitimate restrictions im- posed upon competing systems. (Copyright, 1921, by The Washingten Star.) 'TRADE RIVALRY ON EVEN TERMS Organized and federated organiza- tion of business leaders of the United States, the offictal bus- 5 iness advis- Notes Disadvantage. .. ¢or un- cle Sam, in the person of Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce, and Congress, ready to pass whatever leg- islation may be found necessary, are now studying and visioning what must be done to afford proper pro- tection to American interests against foreign competition in the world's trade. Secretary Hoover, after receiving direct reports from the principal for- elgn markets and after conference with manufacturers and exporters, | has frankly admitted to the organ- ized business men of this country that we are at a disadvantage against European manufacturers and export- ers in our foreign marketing machin- ery and our lack of foothold in in- dustry abroad. Except in a few indus- tries we do not have an adequate representation of native Americans in wholesale business and in general business enterprises in foreign coun- trie. The selling of f. 0. b. goods in boom times is easy, he admits, but he calls that “ephemeral.” It leads to goods badly adapted to foreign markets, to bad credits, to our being put in the discard by business houses of com- eting nationalities the moment they n draw from their home ‘market thus summarily disarranging mer: chant marine schedules. * * The present American system for marketing goods abroad is likened by him to a supply A Military train and a general staff. with no fighting Metaphor. men on the front. Our competitors hold the front lines—and inaturally we lose the markets when the clash of competition comes. In addition to distribution, one of the strongest foundations of foreign trade is our own citizens engaged in foreign industry. Their enterprises constitute a_constant pull of machin- ery and supplies. It is useless for the government to say to Americans: “Exile yourselves; get into business, distribution and industry; protect our foreign trade.” In the Webb-Pomerene law the United States government has tried a short cut to the establishment of ribution agencles by arranging the risk which individuals would hesitate to take can be spread over a number of manufacturers. Con gress is now being advised and is giving serious consideration to fur- ther laws because it seems that those already on the books are inadequate to stimulate, protect and give equality . { to American citizens who exile them- selves in trade abroad. * * ¥ Some situations among foreign competitors must concern business in this country. Compefifinn Secretary Hoover finds considerable by Germany. discouragement in | some trades at the apparent inability to meet German competition, and has called this situation to the attention | of Congress. He finds German manu- facturers exporting goods at prices that we can meet with great difficulty in’ foreign markets and are, even worse, invading our home markets at such price levels that he has urg- ed upon Congress strenuous protec- tion if sBome American industries are to be preserved as going concerns. . There are distinct signs in foreign commercial organization of a mili- tancy which may call for a remed. on this side, Secretary Hoover has warned the business men and Con- gress. Prior to the war there was a tendency toward consolidated ac- tion among European exporters; that is, manufacturing pools for joint ex- port, and such combinations were able’ to inaugurate competitive proc esses which could not be met by individualistic export business, and which often enough could extinguish even our domestic industry. Since the war this type of combi- nations for export abroad has direct- ly and indirectly had further growth, Our Webb-Pomerene law has not proved an answer to this type of governmentally encouraged and stim- ulated combination, Secretary Hoover feels. x * ¥ So the United States business men | face @ new phenomenon in the world's 1 trade, combinations of iCombinntion ’busd'[ern of our com- modities, which, by the of BUyers. iurge volume pur- chased. are able to Influence greatly the level of prices. Secretary Hoover has admonished Congress that this whole process of combination for ex- port and import trade requires most earnest thought. If it continues to expand, he says, we have before us two alternatives, “either these combi- nations in import and export com- merce must be suppressed through international agreement, or we must take further action in our own pro- tection.” But “equality with all others' broadly speaking, the one and only demand we make in international commerclal relations—and that means “equality abroad to the opportunities we offer to others in this country.” We are rrep-red to rely upon our own skill from that point onward, Secretary Hoover assures the world. is, President Harding’s native state has a certain distinction which perhaps the average person knows nothing about. Ask almost any one where the stamped envelopes &old at post| offices are printed and the answer is likely to be, “Why, the bureau of en graving and printing, of course!" But of course not: These envelopes, with the stamps an integral part of the envelope, a printed in Ohio, a certaln firm hav- Ing a contract with the Post Office Department for their printing. The bureau here merely engraves and runs off the postage stamps that are affxed to letters and all sorts of mail matter. Whenever you purchase a packet of stamped envelopes you are getting a product of the Buck-! cye state. * * % Has a new use been found for the automobile speedometer? One would think so, judging from the conversation overheard in an ele-| vator ia the Post Office Department building one day last weck. Postmaster General Hays has speed- ed things up so in his department| that clerks believe they have discov-! ered what that “H" stands for in his | name—Will H. Hays. “Hurry” is the interpretation some | kave put upon it. “Human” is an- other reading. The man who got on the elevator, | béaring the speedometer, evidently | favored the first interpretation. - | ‘We need this now.” he smiled, as he got off at the fourih floo “He got off at the wrong marked another clerk, as the a: the fifth floor, upon which m«nnmm- ed of the hustling Postmaster Ge s | of the b aster General is | * | ¥ ¥ T am in doubt as to whether the man was a philosopher, a “nut” or an individual possessed of more than m-»] usual share of “gall.” | Into whatever classification he fal } there is no question that his actions | were out of the ordinary. Those who | have attempted to eat a lunch in « | irat on a Pullman will understand! his. No matter how fine the home-made | luncheon is, the average individual | hesitates about taking it out of its box aboard the car. One sits side- wise so lhe porter n't see. But (bis, Eentleman outfaced a whole ashington street ca E whale | g t car load of He was eati bag. | He prefaced his performanc s e by| yawning broadly and insistently, in- | dulging in his face-splittin . until he could prolong the yawn no onger., ven nature S ita longe has her limita- | Then he put in ed out a bun. He looked around t his thumb and pull- he car, as if to| say, “Now watch me.” and feil 1o ow and then he would look up| from his paper, take another bite of bun and go bac i (The word Jnuntnt 18 a0t a fosting | of the writer, but it aptly describes So let us leave him munching away. ‘*. There is a man on F street who sells whistles and other similar ar- ticles on the street corners, Usually he, is patronized by mother whose little child wants of the whistles, Sometimes he metal mice that run around. That afternoon a young woman, dressed in the height of fashion— ahem—gave a sidelong glance as she istle man. the one has passed the w He was whistling at a lively rate. The girl stopped, then looked | around to see if she was observed. Not seeing anybody. she opened her purse and drew forth a coin. “Give me one of those,” she said.| When the exchange took place the | young woman smuggled the whistle guiltily into her handbag, and walked on _down the street. She had gone about six feet when | curiosity got the better of her. She | took a quick look around. pulled | forth the whistle, and put it to her | lips. | “Toot! toot!” went the whistle. The young woman smiled, hurried- Iy slipped the whistle back into its | place, and walked on again. CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. | varieties, ng buns out of a paper . | “In th | which FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE STAR. Fifty years ago optim!sm prevaile ed respecting the possible develops ment of the District as an ifndustrial center. In The Stat of May 11, 18571, i3 owing editorial on the sub- Cheap Fuel for Washington. the fol Jec “The advantages of the District of Columbla as & manufacturing center ave been hitherto referred to in The The immense available water nd the accessi- 1 and cheap to this manufac product northorn and eastern the only advantages, which is ined arkets, ar however. €y very choap here to be the very eration of ste no kawanna or hard anthra pounds per horsepow hour; of the Py cite, 4.02 pound the Cumberiand of Maryiand At the Sprin warn for caleu we Cumberland th and loged it more fie o would be only ab Tennsylva When nin avenue was paved with wood blocks, a little more an half a con Varieties of Wood *ury as0. the work was divided Pavement. tween four con- erent kinds of it was though 1y 1o tractors, who use paving material would | give opportu A little fater ar 16 the wisdom In The May 1 following editorial on the “Is wood pavement a fa the question now being d in the papers, and flirmativeiy or th doub subjee ire? This actively 1S an- ativelv, lure -cording to the Success or the experiment in the localities from whence the answers com the western es, where the n used for ale, the verd probable h T tensive favor, It is large experience w of wood pavement i upon the most useful same time acquired t perience to insure i the best manu s ‘ment that I paver ct is in that throu various kinds ¥ have settled nd have at the wood pav and desuitory been obtained institute sons between different kinds in the matter and the manner of laying them, either through or inexpe- rience, has not been at all satisfac- tory in mo: ances “In this city ment is be- ing tried on vania iz the mo s now, with pent. oné of the most superb d n the country, or the world. Yet there is great inequality in the different kinds of wood pave- ment used on the Avenue, and some That street, from 1 its wood pave of them are palpable faiiures. The mistake was in using any but a proved kind that had stood the test of experience elsewh periment on the Avenue will at least be useful in showing by comparison is the most serviceable pave- t of the four varicties used “It is very desirable that Washing- ton, as the metropolitan city, should be made and no pavement vet inve ms so well adapted to this cular end the wood pavement. It .is not necessary that all the streets should be this material, ‘but enough of the lead ing streets to make a circuit of driv of several miles that may he used thréugh the year and in all weathers. But the wood pavement experiment cannot stand the 1 more botch-work jobbery. Hereafter the interests of the taxpavers must be protected and som: afforded that proper pavements shall be lected and properly latd ™ ; but the e n part s S DIGEST OF FOREIGN PRcSS How Horthy Became Admiral. The Figaro gives an amusing inter- view with Admiral Horthy, regent of Hungary, who recently refused to yield his throne to Charles of Haps- | burg: | all and vigorous, with regular features, clean-shaven, with a good color and a frank and energetic face, the admiral looks much less like a Magyar than like an officer of the! British navy. He is a man of about | forty-five, whose whole life almost has been spent in Vienna in the sur- roundings of the emperor. Rut this | did not prevent this courtier from becoming a splendid sailor during the war. 1 remember him telling me, in this same drawing room where he re-| ceived Charles, in hesitating though vivacious French, the story of the w in which he sank fleet of allied transports laden with food and ma- terials for the Montenegrin As he was occupied watching these ships burning and exploding he w: suddenly told that there was a sub- marine at about a mile from his ship— a submarine which by an unheard-of misfortune had just run aground a sand bank at the very moment when it was going to discharge its torpedo. It was the submarine ‘Monge' I made signs to it to surrender.’ related the admiral, ‘but your commander re- fused. At once I sent off two cannon shots and wounded some of the men. All resistance was in vain. The “Monge" accepted its fate and [ pick ed up the crew. When the command- er of the submarine came on bouard he was crying with despair at having missed his mark. just as he had been on the very point of succeeding. for| feally all the chances were on his troops Why France Refuses German Labor Much eriticism has been heaped o France because of her refusal to ae- cept offers of German labor 1o r struct the devastated Tt of Milan, Italy, howaver, compry the French point of view in this mat- ter. Tt says “During the war the German people did not understand the enormity of the devastations made in France by its general staff. After the revolution there was nti-militarist move- ment which E time fa- | vorable to sneh opin- ion did not un importance 1ent did not tuke »f the opportunity Shortly afterward ey chauged. There was the v t unforcseen conditions, the re- of the tive n Germany in France in The pr or 142 ers do., sumption ment conse and retur Were not re wrated maove- ly the o populations of the themselv, nt ubstance story which that Frs using th Ry whe show their w to incite the pity of the passers- It ould make s that she shouid she is bound the 1o £e mater; rman camy position who are bringing - most enthus ities must tion ish crities money and se dead lo- to considera- rmans, even those who mean 101 understand, after two ersion to a direct their labee ~nd their in- present the Germans - noever t France is Stries At leve more t Side and he ought to have blown me upt But in war fortune changes auickly: this confounded sand bank had come in the way to spoil every- thing! 1 consoled your unhappy com patriot as well as I could, as I very el understood his grief. He was “splendid_officer to whom I sent| hools as often as possible during his captivity. 1 have the very best re- membrances of him and I can ussure Vou that if I have the pleasure to talk o you at this moment it is not his fault! il ""Phis story was told to me with lots ot good humor, with no wish what ever to boast, in the tone of a good sportsman: and if I relate it again iCls because it seemed to me very cl cteristic of the man. R his success and others which fol- lowed, some bold expeditions where he was lucky and after which he could always ‘return home’ (home, in aiming at th cconomic destruction of Germany exhaustion much more reconstruction of . me and mil ns do ni duty t Simons socialist might e the writer, minister could not say, that ple consider the reparations just ry 5o far as the devasta- concerned. But there 4 German who believes that he obliged 1o pay for military pensions and merchandise sunk at sea. They all think of their own dead s especially of those victims of -starvi- tion, and they do not consider that the ‘exclusive guilt of Germany’ has been proved. To make up for it the organ- ized proletariat masses and the demo- cratic parties demand that ‘red tape’ and looting (inevitable after such dis- n tions scarcely is mora are {s French, meant the port)—all these e loita made Capt. Horthy very popular; and King Charles, recog- hising his bravery and his services, raised him to the rank of commander of the fleet. ‘But, sire’ said Horthy. ‘Y am onZy a simple captain, and you make e an admiral'— ‘And L vaid the emperor. ‘Was 1 not yester- day & simple captain? And am 1 not {oday the commander-in-chicf of all the armies asters) should not increase the cost of the_enterprise. “For several months French labor and the German syndicate league have been trying to arrive at direct collaboration. Whoever hopes for a_lasting pewce must ount on the good will and on the huppy issue of this co-operation. which would be u guarantee of reconcillation and se- curity, hetrer than all the troops poetcd in Germans." [ e T3 however, > ”