Evening Star Newspaper, May 29, 1921, Page 32

THE EVENING STAR 5 WASHINGTON,D. C. SUNDAY..........May 29, 1921 s~ THEODORE W. NOYES. . ..Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office. 11th St. and Pennsyltania Ave. New York Office e Building Chicago Offce: First European Offic i tional Bank Building. 3 Regent St., London, England. The Evaping Star. with the Sunday morning #ition. i delivered by carrives within the ety at 60 cents per month: dsiir oply. 43 cents pet mozth: Sonday only, 20 cents per month. Or- ders may be sent by mail. or telephone Main 0. Callection is made by carriers at the €od of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. - Maryland and Virginia. = ily and Sunday..1yr., $8.40; 1mo., Daily onJy ...-rr..1 3., $6.00; 1 mo.. 50 Sunday only . 1yr., $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ . All Other States. Dafly and Sunday.1 g, $10.07: 1 mo., 85¢ 7. ., 60C By i s 13r: §500:1mon zsc"“‘- or how they would be applied. | surgery. Advances in the conquest - - Nobody has known what the Wage|of disease are continually reported as - costs would be, or how distributed. i eviea ine Sorutions Y anted : More Judges. 2 £ ¢ progress is made s i S Wentel: ) & Nobody has known what the price(of the most obstinate problems of | ; The welfare of the community Wil be best promoted by an early filling of the vacancy in the District Supreme Court by the appointment of a lawver of-learning and character, who knows tha jurisdiction, practice and pro- cedure of the court. s pressure of work upon the local reme Ceurt is so great that the full membership of the court must be avail- able as soon as practicable; the new appointee must be of such ability and experience through practice at the lecal bar as to be able to render a maximum of immediate, helpful serv- ie, and lastly Congress should enlarge | the membership of the court by authorizing the appointment of addi- tignal_judges. | *More than forty vears have passed | sifice the number of judges composing ! the Supreme Court of the District has Been inereased. In that period the nopulation has wonderfully enlarged, and with the growth in population has ing™ is not all. THE SUNDAY . STAR, WASHINGTON. that have caused so much distress |to guide the forceps. In this case the since the close of the war will con-|operation was completely successful tinue. will remount. which will enable people to buy what they need without strain or risk. wage earners should say “Let's go!™ “Let's go" is & good motto. the procession. has known what the tax rates would The | this means is possible. science does not surrender as long as and. recognizing that their high rates | life prevails. of compensation are the main cause|as bullets are not regarded as beyond of the high prices. accept reductions. |reach or the patient bearing them be- They will make more, net, in the end. | yond hope, no matter where they are For they are buyers as well as others. | Jodged, 8o long as the heart continues No-| to act. The bronchoscope is a develop- body ever progressed by holding back |ment of the X-ray and waiting for somebody else to start | operator is enabled to see precisely For some time every | what he is doing and where he is one has been holding back. Nobody | doing it. The cost of living, which has |and the patient was discharged from lately shown a downward tendency, |the hospital two days later. -rays have permitted some remark- The thing needed just now is to|able surgical explorations and achieve- “‘m0" toward rates of production, rates | ments. of wages and rates of retail selling | pelled to work blindly. No longer is the surgeon com- y. No computa- tion of the number of lives saved by At present Foreign substances such idea and the Medicine is going hand in band with scales would be or how adjusted. health preservation. Remarkable It is really for Congress to 8aV|gains have been made against leprosy. “Let's go” and hasten the tax adjust-| Recently at the Molokai leper colony ment. It is for the railroad workers| i, Hawail 200 cases were discharged to accept the scale just proclaimed by | a5 cured as a result of the new oil the railroad wage board. It is for all | yreatment. Cancer, too, has been who work to give the maximum of }pmarkeq for conquest by methods soon, service. It is for every business man, | 4 js ynderstood, to be announced. wholesaler or retailer, to be content with a°moderate profit, Just as soon as Congress gives the word of what the taxes will be, manu- facturers can adjust their production programs, provided they can be as- sured that the labor cost will not be excessive and the cost of transporta- tion will be reasonable. So it is to be seen that this problem is not merely a matter of assuming a confident front and casting out fear and saying, how- ever heartily and sincerely, “Let's many interests and impulses and forces. When the conditions are right the country will “go” without the ceme a correspondjng increase in liti- gation and in crime. There has also heen a notable increase in the number of very important cases brought be- fore the court in which prévate liti-| gants and the government have great ipiterests at stake. WWith the exception of the Supreme @ourt of the United States, there isno court in this country which has the| variety and scope of jurisdiction pos-| wessed by the Supreme Court of the District. Besides possessing all of the | usual, normal powers of a state court | of original jurisdiction, the justices of this court “severally possess the pow- efd and exercise the jurisdiction exer- need of any organization or agree- ment or rallying cry. —_——————— Luxurie! Statistics have been compiled which represent ‘that the sum of $90,800,000 was spent by the people of the Dis- trict for luxuries last year. The sum is large and would indicate that our people have been “reveling in luxury” and “indulging in riotous extrav- agance.” Statistics are often such a misleading form of literature that it might be proper to classify them as fiction. There is always a difference of opin- cised by the judges of the circuit and district courts of the United States.” Fyrthermore, under principles long since established by the Supreme Court the United States, the Supreme 3.." of the District has the unusual power of exerting, in proper cases, the cdercive processes of injunction and mgandamus against heads of depart- ments and other federal officials; pow- €f8 frequently exerted and frequently sustained, agd not possessed, at least i¥ any such fullness, by any other fgderal court, and, of course, not by any state court. Mareover, thé Court Appeals can, at any time when one its members is disqualified, or there is-any vaeancy on that court, draft a émber of the Supreme Court for service therein, a power which, dur- ing the past year, has been several times exercised, with the resait thet there was a tota] of two months when divisions of the Supreme Ceurt. were closed to business because the jus- tices assigned to such divisions had b render service in the Court of Ap- peais. “Fhe great increase in litigation with nglincrease in the number of justices tectake caye of it has necessarily re- sbited in a congestion of litigation ‘Which means delay in the trial of cases after they are ready for trial, and in e circuit divisions of the Supreme Court these delays now approwimate two years, a state of affairs which time and again leads to a miscarriage of Justice, justifying the apborism -that “A delay in justice is a denial of jus- tice.” 2 Estates. “Seldom does the estate left by & man equal that which he was believed to have. It isa habit to magnify a:man’s wealth. Sometimes he may éncourage people to think he has greater riche than he has, but if & man lives well, eppears prosperous and meets his debts an time, the world will be pretty apt to set him down at first as “well-| t6-do,” and from that by easy stages! he-gets the repute of being ‘rich,” thén “immensely rich,” and perhaps | then “a millionaire,” and if he lives] a$ a millionaire is thought to live he| is apt to be spoken of as one who is “fhany times a millionaire.” It see pretty easy for a man who accumu- lates $50,000 or $100,000 to be popular- iy classed as a millionaire. Tt is true that many large and mod- erate estates had suffered great actual shrinkage in the past two years be- camse of the depreciation in securities. | But we have all observed that a pros- | perous man is generally far richer! ‘while he lives than when the estate 18‘ measured by his executors or admin- istrators. In the matter of the vast ertate left by Henry C. Prick one of | hi& executors has given its face mar- ket value, real and personal. wherever situnted, as $92.883,766. His wealth was once listed at $143,000.000, and whs believed to be much greater. How- ever, even in its shrunken state, it is an immense estate and the bequests 19 charities or to agencies for the help of -humanity needing help are mag- nificent. Prof. Einstein's law of relativity of- fers one case in which ignorance of the law must be excused. P — “Let’s Go!” A special dispatch to The Star from Detroit, printed the other day, stated that “Let’s go" is now the motto of tha business men and manufacturers of that city, reflecting a spirit of de- termination to begin hustlipg in trade and to shake off the fears that have! beset practically every American com- munity for many month: ion as to what are luxuries. Some per- sons would list collars, cuffs, neckties and socks as luxuries, and perhaps they are, but they are luxuries to which a great many of us feel that we are entitled. Many of us have come to agree that beefsteak, lamb chops, green peas, leather shoes and street car tokens are luxuries, or at least they cost like luxuries. These statistics represent ‘that the people of the Digtrict spent twenty million dollars on Iuxurious foods. It would perhapsibé fair to classify all food, at least in retail lots, as luxuries, but notwithstanding long practice in the art of economy most persond find difficulty in getting along without food. Some of us have very materially re- duced the amount of food bought, but to cut off the supply absolutely would entail considerable inconvenience, and even then the grocery bills might not come down. Tobacco is listed as a luxury for which the people of the District of Columbia spent $8,440,000. A good deal of the blame for this must be put on the tobacco itself. It is hard to cut down one’s tobacco bill when a two- is merely a luxury. fumes are listed as luxuries. But many women know that they are a complexton. It is a necessity. Soft drinks are also listed as lux- uries. The other kind were listed as dangerous luzuries and taken away, Tuxuries. When & man makes up a list of what he calls luxuries he issues an nvitation for a debate. & rious methods without brilliant suc- must be judged by the manner in which they are put iInto praetical ef- fect as well as by the results which they undertake to promote. ————— ‘The members of the Florida legisla- ture who think the incomes of lawyers ought to be limited to $3,000 a year would find many supporters among { younger members of the profession if the income could be guaranteed. Discontinuanee of the air mail serv- ice involves a slight sacrifice of the picturesque as the only loss. Rall- but it remains more reliable than aero- ! plane service. o Geographic distance has not pre- | vented Silesia from contributing Ub- erally to the Interest of Parisian life. The War for Life. ! The marvels of surgery have come | to be accepted as mora or less. to be taken for granted. So many wonder- ful things have developed in the past thirty or forty years, particularly in the past decade, that people are no longer astounded at some new dis- covery or invention. It is virtoally assul that science can do anything with the human body except actually restore life after an Interval after death. The latest demonstration is reported from Philadelphia. A bullet was ex- tracted from the lung of a youth, not by means of incision, which would |have been fatal, but by forceps | through the breathing tubes and throat. So far as known this is the first case on record of this kind. The operation was made possible by use of aninstrument called the branchoscope, . everybody 4 this. country wonld eay “Let's go” and then go with & |which is & thin, siiver pipe, & com- will, buslngas. Jx biped pertsoops snd meivamest chay- | plimeated.” go!" but it is a complex involving | cess. But railway policies, like others, | All this pight suggest that the prob- lem of lifé*has been solved and that disease and accident are reduced to such a point that a long span will be added to human existence. statistics, however, do not indicate any prolongation of life. Yet the statis- tician of a half century hence may find the results apparent, provided no new ! menace develops meanwhile. —_————————— Civic Clubs. Club life in Washington seems to be increasing in activity. The old clubs do not seem to be languishing or de- spairing, and new clubs are being an- nounced. There are women's clubs, I men's clubs and children's clubs— 'c]ubs with all manner of aims and pur- poses. There is a slant which the club idea has taken in recent yvears which is worthy of notice. It leans toward the association of men and women for| “civic betterment,” which is a popular phrase that has come to stand for that which makes a city a better place to live in and also teaches better living to { people in that city. The old club idea was generally one that the members should secure detachment from their fellow citizens. It was social or pro- fessional, or social and professional. Those clubs still multiply 2nd prosper, but many new clubs have come into being with a somewhat different idea from the mutual diversion and amuse- ment of the members. The new clubs aim at improving affairs and mortals outside the club doors. They invite to membership men of diverse occu- pations, cast of thought, heredity and that special placement in a community called “social standing.” They ask all these men to come and work with the club to increase. its usefulness to all men. The other evening when a charter was presented to the recently organ- ized Civitan Club of Washington by Senator Underwood he told of the work of civitan clubs in other cities “in awakening the civic consciousness of men throughout the nation.” The Rotary Club and the Kiwanis Club had representatives present to extend greetings to the Civitans. The Rotary, Kiwanis and Civitan clubs do not con- clude the list of the “new idea” clubs. They are numerous and growing. ———————————— Of course, there are individual for-a-nickle cigar sells for 8 cents and | Frenchmen who think there ought to a 5-cent package for the pipe costs 10.|be a fight between France and Ger- Moreover, many men deny that tobacco | many on general principles, and in- dividual Germans who feel the same Face powders, cosmetics and per-| Way about it. e Perhaps a little patient delay will necessities. Ewvery woman knows that|find Berlin demanding that America she must look her best both for social | take some active steps toward reliev- and busjness reasons. She must have |ing Germany of Bergdoll. —_—— Eminent officials are doing their best to impress the fact that the red tape once so fashionable is no longer and now the substitutes are listed as dered good form ———— Many a achool teacher has been sym- pathizing with Thomas A. Edison as { form sponsored by his party at San [POLIT Committee Deficits. This is 2 New York pews note: “George White, chairman of the democratic national committee. and Wilbur W. Marsh, treasurer of the committee. at the New York head- quarters in the Murray Hill Hotel. vesterday said that they would an- nounce in a few days their plans for collecting the $260.000 deficit of the|. commitice Trra’:s burden will be pro- among the states. Among $120.- 000 of the total is a left-over deficit from the previous administration. and the remainder—$140.000—was accumu- lated under Mr. White." The democratic national committee faced a much larger deficit than this at the close of the Parker campaign. The Parker candidacy had not ap- pealed. The Bryanites had been luke- warm. Mr. Bryan had opposed the nomination. True, he had taken the stump for the ticket. But his well known opposition to the influences be- hind the ticket had robbed his appeals of persuasiveness. He and his follow- ers were not inconsolable when the result at the polls was announced. The men most active in making up that deficit were not Bryan men; and the fact led to a popular notion that they would prevent the Bryanites from securing any committee ‘“‘pull” in the three years that would intervene be- fore the next national convention. The idea prevailed that Mr. Bryan was done for; that his leadership having cost the party two contests with his own name at the masthead, and his Vital jctivities in behalf of Judge Parker having now counted for nothing, the party was at last rid of him for good and all. The calculation proved to be woe- fully mistaken. Apparently without committee “'pull,” or afiy other kind of “pull” but that deriving from his con- tinued stumping and lecture tours, Mr. Bryan reinstated himself in the party’s leadership, and at the next national convention his friends were easily and completely masters of the situation. They nominated him for a third race, and he went to his third defeat. Committee friendship is much, but not all. Mr. Bryan has shown that a man ean win a presidential nomina- tion. without it. How about 19247 Supporting the Nominee. The democrats of Virginia have been struggling with a vexatious party question—the question of the split ticket. Some of the brethren split their ticket last year, with the result that the republican vote in certain sections was large. This was resented by the democratic authorities, and they secured a legal opinion to the effect that voters who had thus offended were not entitled to participate in the democratic pri- mary scheduled for this coming August, when a full state ticket is to be nominated. But the politicians gave the matter second thought, and have decided not to press the point. Instead, they will exaeta promise of all who offer to par- teipate in the coming primary to sup- port the nominees for election: The second thought was beét, and it ought to accomplish the object in view. Those who take part in a primary ought to accept the result—at any rate ought not to oppose it at the polls. The dose may be bitter, but fair dealing and- good politics advise that it be swallowed. An eminent democrat struggled with this question last year. Mr. Bryan did not like either the ticket or the plat- "Francisco, and felt unable to take the stump. But, as he had participated in the_convention, he considered himself bound by its action; and so when poll- ing day arrived he went to his polling place and plumped for regularity’'s sake for Gov. Cox, and for a platform that was anything but agreeable to him as a dry. Had he not done this; if irregularity could now be established against him, the Coxites and the McAdooites, who are watching his movements with some concern, would be much easier in their minds about 1924. Louisiana. Edward Douglas White was a mem- ber of the Senate only a short time. Had he remained he doubtless would have taken high rank th¢re. His abil- ity, character and personal address would have made a place for him he sat up nights correcting examina- Railway management has tried va-|tion papers. ————— SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. Beneficiaries. ‘When speculators make a play For cornering the wheat The rats and mice serenely say, The plan strikes us as neat! By shutting humankind away They leave us more to eat; And we, like speculators, may Live lives of ease complete. Transfer. “City people come to the seashore road service is open to eriticism.| (o be cool.” “Yep,” replied the stationmaster. “And what do the regular residents do?” “They go to the city to get warm.” “Use de bes’ gif's you has” said Uncle Eben, “an’ don’.try to be more artistic dan you honestiy is. A good banjo player is a heap more comfort to a community dan a poor performer on de violin. i An Exacting Ceremonial. The statesman has to contemplate ‘The various needs throughout the land On off hours, when he does not wait For folks who wish to shake his hand. Jud Tunkins says the worst delay he has met with in raflroad travel is the length of time it takes to buy a ticket. A Problem. ““What do you regard as the most diffcult problem befors you?" ‘“‘Selecting one man as postmaster of a town and convincing twenty thou- sand others who wanted the job that they ought to feel grateful and com- among the leaders. But, fortunately | for him, he was transferred from the political to the judicial fleld. He came to higher distinction on the bench than was possible to him in politics. He will | be long remembered as a great judge, who in an important era of our af- fairs interpreted the law in a way to assist and encourage good government. Since the, civil war Louisiana has sent some men of very high quality to the Senate. Randall L. Gibson was one. He rajed as one of the best and shrewd- | est of the southern politicians of his| day. He was strong at home, and had a long lease of favor. James B. Eustis was another. Wide- 1y read in the law and in literature; widely traveled; a brilliant conversa- tionalist; a man of charm, Mr. Eustis was in his element In the Senate. Mr. Cleveland was urged to put him at the head of his second cabinet, but sent him instead as amhassador to France, where he made reputation as a diplo- mat. Donelson Caffery came to the Senate rom a prominent place at the Louls- iana bar, and maintained in Washing- ton his reputation for keen analysis and vigorous statement. Samuel D. McEnery had played an important part at home both as judge and as political leader, and in the Senate showed qualities of courage and independence toward publie questions ‘which raised him into much considera- tion. He was as powerful at home as Gen. Gibson had been, and championed the interests of his people with a fearlessness as to personal conse- quences which gave him a position and an influence apart in the southern politics of his time. —te Prohfbition has managed to get much farther in actual polities than it ever was when the prohibition party had-it in charge. Henator-Borah's plans have met with. many opponeats, but with few {rreo- encllablet, D. C, MAY 29, 1921 _PART 2. For Great Trade Warfare ? BY SHELDON S. CLINE. HE greatest battle for inter- national trade the world ever has known soon will be in full swing. It is the judgment of informed students of the situation that in that battle Germany has a big advantage over the United States and England and the other “allied and associated™ powers, with the possible exception of Japan. Germany’s chief advantage lies in cheap labor, made possible by a low standard of living. Her people are reconciled to that low standard, are willing to endure it for what- ever number of years may be necessary to discharge the repara- tions debt to the allies and free the “Vaterland” from the penalties of the war. They are looking to the future. to the day when, the war debt discharged, Germany will stand greater, richer and more powerful than she was before that fateful day in 1914 when, in a drunken dream of conquest. her gray hordes swept into Beigium and the north of France. It is the almost unanimous test mony of foreign travelers in Ger- many that “Deutschland uber Alles” still has power to quicken the pulse and stir the Teutonic imagination. * x x ¥ In this warfare of the nations for commercial existence there will be no brotherhood among the spears of trade. The nations alongside which America battled to preserve civilization are going to fight American competition just as re- lentlessly as they fight that of the former enemy peoples. No nation can hope to win without putting every ounce of energy and re- sourcefulness into the contest. For in this case the race will be to the swift and the battle to the strons. parable generalities to the contrary notwithstanding. ’ While our commercial sympathies may be with England and France as against Germany and Austria, and those of England and Franca with us, sympathy will play but a minor role when it comes to barter and exchange. So in taking stock of the fitness of the nations for the fray America must take into ac- count the comparative strengths of England and France as well as that of Germany. 3 g * x % % England and France are estimated to have an advantage over the United States almost if not quite as great as Germany and Austria have over England and France. In other words, it the central powers have a 25 per cent advantage over England and France their advantage over this country is 50 per cent. Unless a margain can be overcoma by greater American efficiency and productivity the German advantage over us in the matter of labor is even greater than 50 per cent. The cost of living in Germany is estimated at about one-half the cost in thix coun- try, figured in terms of gold. The gold wage of the German working- man will average about one-fourth of the corresponding wage in this country. This forces the German working- man to a lower standard of living, but not a great deal lower than the standards of American workingmen prior to the war. The wages of no class of workingmen will enter into the world trade problem more large- ly, probably. than that of machins: A high-grade machinist in this coun- try will get about a dollar an hour, and the eight-hour day is standard, giving him a daily wage of §8. A similarly skilled machinist In Ger- many will gat 25.cents an hour, but will work ten to.twelve hoyrs a day, making his daily wage $2.50 to $3. With & 50 percént advantage in liv- ing costs, therefére, the German ma- chinist has the American cquivalent of a daily wage of $5 to $6. which doesn’t involve an unbearable reduc- duction ip living costs, judged by pre- war standards. A great many Ameri- can famliies are forced to scrape along, even at present price levels, gn average incomes of less than $5 a ay. * ¥ x ¥ But the difference between $1 an hour and 25 cents an hour for ma- chinists gives Germany an almost incalculable advantage when it comes to selling goods in the neutral mar- kets of the worid. If the labor cost figures at one-half the cost of pro- ducing an article, which is not ex- cessive, and the cost is equal as to raw materials, the German manu- facturer can underbid the American manufacturer 372 per cent in any market which is free to both of them at_equal transportation charges. The German manufacturer is doing that very thing in South America today, with the result that German factories are busy while American factories producing similar goods are idle or working only part time. And if it is true today, handicapped as Germany has been by the conflict and uncertainty over reparations, it is not ecomforting to contemplate what the situation will be when Germany really settles down to’ the Job of paying off her debt to the al- lies in the fewest possible number of years. e % Nor is the disparity in wages the only advantage which the German Whirring Industry, Hoover’sAim To keep the wheels of industry in this country whirring with war-time speed and expansion, Secretary Hoov- er has started upon a program of systematic development of foreign markets to absorb the manufactured surplus, and the hearty support Con- gress proposes to give him was shown in the action of the House in approv- ing an ftem for $250,000 in the de- ficlency appropriation bill. This is not a deficiency at all, but provision for mew activities by the bureau of foreign and domestic com- merce, starting July 1 next, to re- lieve the recent industrial depression. ‘The $250,000 appropriation is to be used in developing foreign markets for some.of the more prominent com- modities, and thus stimulating all ‘business in this country. * % % % The plan of Secretary Hoover is to organize a number of commodity divi- sions in the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, about ten in all— for example, chemicals, lumber, leath- er, textlles, machinery, automobiles, etc. These divisions will have head- quarters in Washington and will cen- ter, around two real experts in each line. One of these experts will stay in Washington, while the other trav- els about the world, going Where there {s most interest shown in any particular foreign market. When the traveling commodity man has mede his investigation he will return to hington to prepare his report and Wi disseminate the conclusions, while the other expert starts out on another trip. 0’!\. of the most important features of this campaign is that the commod. ity experts are to be in closest touch w{th the special industries, and this contact is to had through volun- tary committees organized by the in- dustry—along the same line as the War Industries Board was operated during the war. These committees, each representing an industry, are to meet &8 they ses the need and make recommendations as to what they thfnk can be done for the in- dustry, Toaki: these recommenda- tions direst to the new division. LI This systematic course of foreign.lithe ind % P b e e e ot e B S S nufacturer enjoys. For one thing. P Ts mot mearly so heavily taxed as is the American manufacturer. It is true that the German government went through the motions of levying heavy taxes, but taxes which are not collected are not a burden on business. And the economic experts of the al- lies have been a unit in agreeing that the collection of taxes from the big German interests has been nothing but a farce. ‘While the German OV~ ernment has pleaded poverty. Ger- man business has prospered a ingly since the armistice and the people have found the money to take Up doubled and trebled capital is- s SU (s true that in some lines the German manufacturers are having difficulties over raw materials. but these difficulties are being solved and probably will disappear entirely Fhen the reparations question finally settled and the mark begins to appreciate in value. Whatever disadvantages there may be as to raw materials are more than offset by the close orzanization of German scientists_and their devotion to the cause of German industrial and com- mercial supremacy. The marvelous scientific organization that almost made Germany the military master of the world is marshaled today to make Germ: commercially ~su- preme—the main thing it aims at be- g to increase the productivity of German labor and to reduce the cost of the processes of production. * ¥ ¥ % Back of the German scientists is every resource of German capital and the German government. Ger- man hopes are staked on their la- bors. It is as much a matter of life and death to the nation that they shall succeed in devising the means for commercial supremacy as it was during the war that they Should produce the weapons for military victory. They disappoint- 24 the latter hope only by the nar- owest of margins. They failed Y this narrow margin only be- e America and the countries associated with us in the war fin- ally woke up and organized their own scientific talent and put it to the devising of counter weapons. Yt was a terribly impressive les- son and one. it would have seemed, which would not soon be forgot- ten. It has not been forgotten— by England and France. They are maintaining their war-built scien- tific organizations and giving them every encouragement and support as they labor to make their coun- tries better equipped for the new commercial warfare America, ap- parently, has not remembered. The Scientific organization which was built up in this country and which made the winning of the war pos- sible has largely gone to pieces and, so far as the government is concerned. receives no encourage- ment at all ook Yet if America is to compete successfully with Germany for world trade, one of two things must be done. Either American wages must come down or German wages come up until they more nearly meet, of the productivity of American labor Tnust be increased to an extent that will overcome the difference n wages. : A rder to place the American manufacturer on a parity with his German competitor in the matter of gold outlay for labor. both the money wage and the standard of living of the American working- man would have to come down. AS for reducing his standard of liv ing, that might as well be forgot- ten, It coulin’t be done, even if it were desirable, without an economic Struggle that would cost more t was worth. o reaves in the first alterna- tive only the cost of 1iving to con- slder. As the cost of living de- oreases in this country, undoubted- Iy the money wage of labor will Pave to come down in proportion. But as the exchange value of the mark increases and imports into Gormany approach normal vol- ume, the cost of living in Germany naturally will decrease as well. And if it is logical to expect lower Wwages to follow lower living costs in this ocountry, it is _equally logical as to Germany. So there doesn’t seem any promising pros- pect that the difference in the wage levels will be wiped out. * X ¥ X This reduces America's hope for successful competition in the world trade contest to the greater pro- ductivity of labor. That is a bet- ter hope than it might have seemed a year ago, for undoubtedly labor in” this country has increased its productivity. But—and we eannot apcape from this fact, however much we might like to do so—it isn't sufficiently productive today to wipe out the difference in wage scales between this country and Germany. And it will not be made sufficient- ly productive unless there is genu- ine co-operation to that end be- tween capital and labor, reinforced by the organized and earnest support of the best scientific and enginedring talent which this country affords. There is lacking today both the co-operation be- tween capital and labor and the organized reinforcement of scien- tiflo talent. With the battle al- ready in its opening stages, Amer- ica continues peacefully asleep at the switch. | ! trade development, with the organ- ized industries of the country sup- porting it, has been framed as a re- sult of a series of conferences which Secretary Hoover has had with lead- | ers in the principal industries, It de- pends on the recommendations of the voluntary committees from the in dustries where these expert invest gators will begin their commodity studies, designed to develop foreign market, Take chemicals and the wide fleld of allied products—the first concern of the voluntary committee will proba- bly be to find as much of a market abroad as possible for the surplus products made possible by expansion during the war. This is the big prob- lem of all industry—to build up the toreign trade 80 as {0 keep the wheels of industry revolving happily. * % % x The need for this was emphasized by Chairman Good of the House ap- propriations committea when this item was under debate in the House. He laid stress on Secretary Hoover's explanation that foreign trade in the last six months has dropped off some- thing like 50 per cent. “He realizes that conditions in the world today are such that it is going to take the very best men he can get as counselors and advisers to help advise American industry and American commerce how our. trade with foreign countries can be extended and enlarged,” said Chairman Good. He said the amount involved in the appropgiation 15 a mere trifle and that the members of the committes did not dare to take the responsibility for denying that emount. “In this hour of paralysis of American trade,” he said, “all loyal Americans should 1ift themselves above themseives and give this de- partment what it asks and thus help develop foreign trade.” In visioning the problem Secretary Hoover takes cognizance of the fact that we have passed through a post- war speculative boom, stimulated by a world vacuum in commodities; that we are suffering both from the after- math of the boom and from the war destruction, with the consequent re- lon. B r of.the greatly lowered stan s of llving in Europe. The situation is one of the most difoult in lustrial history of the country. jof a fixed annual amount. A musician brings a pleasant story from New York regarding Enrico Ca- ruso, at whose recovery from a se- vere illness recently the whole world rejoiced. A gentleman was discussing the 111~ ness of the great tenur with a friend, his small son being present. “Caruso is certainly a sick man,” he | said. | The child’s countenance brightened; the light of knowledge shone in his . Caruso isn't a man™ he re “He’s a phonograph record. * * % Proponents of the proposed regula- tions to forbid smoking in the gov- ernment departments would have been proved. IHEARD AND SEEN|FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE STAR. Following the surrender of Paris to the Prussian troops in 1871, com- munists organized a The Burning revolution and seized - the cit holding it for of Paris. some time, with muen fighting proceeding between them and the troops of the regular govs ment, which was established at sailiex The communists collapsed about this time fifty years ago after a desperate conflict in the streets of the capital, marked by the burning and looting of soma of the most im- portant public buildings. The shocked had they attended the four-| teenth annual conference on weights and measures held at the bureau of standards. The conference was held in the au- ditorium of the east building. and such delegates as desired to smoked freely As far as one could tell offhand there were no signs forbidding smo: ng. But what were those two signs hung on the front wall, twisted around on their wires. so_that their backs were to the audience? They were the “no smoking turned around by some thoughtfi person. And so they hung during the four days of the conference. = * *x The peculiarly human qualities of Dr. S. W. Stratton, chief of the bureau of standards, were admirably display- ed at the weights and measures con- ference. At all times he attempted to keep the delegates on the main track of discussion and at the same time have them discuss matters without prejudice. Whenever he himself might be dis- small covered in displaying a bit of warmthjinsurz.nts upon a question, he was the first to| smile it down and call of the conference again to the neces- sity of calm judgment without heat “There is a right side to this and a | wrong side,” as he said so often. One of the experts of the bureau used the word “subsequent” in a pa- per. At the conclusion Dp. Stratton beckoned the speaker and whispered | to him. The expert smiled, turned to the audience and said: “Dr. Stratton and I differ as to the meaning of a word. He says ‘subsequent’ means ‘before’ and I think it means ‘after.’ " A dictionary hastily being pro- duced, the definition was read as “fol- lowing in time, place or order,” where- upon Dr. Stratton smiled his acqui- escence. * * How have the mighty fallen, and the fire horses of Washington per- ! ished! Now there is none to do them reverence save a few small boys, who stood open-mouthed when the horses “went out,” and have mot forgotten them. There is one fire engine house in this city that was motorized not so many months ago. Formerly the prancing horses were the sight of the neighborhood. when they went snort- ing_down the street. The firemen loved those horses. They had them wonderfully trained, too. And the horses seemed to know and understand everything that was expected of them. But they had to give way to mod- ern progress. What becomes of the old fire horses is not known, but ome small boy thinks he knows. He was looking out a back window, when suddenly he gave a cry. ) “There goes Jim!" he thrilled. Nor could anything shake him from the conviction that the gray horse hitched to the ash wagon which was going down the alley was Jim, the mighty fire horse of old. Maybe he was rig! Y CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. but | the attention | ums of The Star of this pericd icontain man Pat 1 | fragmentay but vivid | story of tha collapse of the {and the devastation in ¥ in th i following s the day | “Last night #r i gation at about 11 {the burning of the Hotel Do 2 oclock the palace was a mass of {flames The Aust S S prope talso | gerous ipointed down troops splendidiy n gent fusill | Gcorde h@xy f Memge taki There o ana houses, d | feom the [twelve | _Anothe en to e cit towns =gthin a radius of ch of the sama date “Place Vindome w definitely oc- cupicd at 4 ck this morning. The made a strong nd the Rue St. Honore. The Palais Boys was s fire by the retiring - surgents. The capture of the Pt Vendome made the Tuilleries unte able and the insurgents saturated ith petroleum and set it on fire. The insurgents are still fighting lik fiends in the eastern farbourgs. T i population seem mad with joy and th tri-color floats everywher, x * * The communists were not so easily routed, however, as these dispatches suggested. ‘They re- Slanghter and turngd to the attack with the torch. A dis- | Destruction. ..cn in The Star of | May 27, dated Versailles, May 2 | ¥New fires are bursting out in Pa The insurgents put boxes of petroleum leverywhere. It is reported that the | Tuilleries was fired by Begeret's own |hands. The building, they say, wus | steeped in petroleum. The Church of | St. Germain Auxerrois. and the Hotel { De Ville were burned down and the Pal- jace of Justice destroved. Blood runs in the gutters. The wails of the Tuilleries have fallen; the Rue Rivoli is burning and the only means of stopping the fire is by pails of water om hand to hand The dead bodies of hationals are secn everywhere. Any hidden mauonals when found are brought out and shot immediately. “A few communists are still holding out and are shelling the city, doing the utmost gischief possible. The slaughter of the mationals is frightful, and the { Versaillists since Tuesday have been kill- ing all their prisoners. The houses in the Rue Royale were wet with petroleam and the nationals fired them. The peo- ple are furious in consequence. IU is clear the insurgents intended to destrc the whole city. Even women were dis- | covered throwing petroleum upon house | and six members of the national guards who were dressed in ‘pompiers’ and who threw petroleum on the fires instead of water were shot in the Place Royale. The gas works at Aubervilliers have ex- ploded. Many other explosions have oc- curred. The firing is continuous.” DIGEST OF FOREIGN PRESS Approves Percentage Plan. At least one French critic prefers the plan of taxing Germany 25 per cent of her exports to the alternative This is a writer in the Oeuvre, who say: ‘By the treaty of Paris of Novem- ber 20, 1815, those who were then called the allies imposed upon France a huge war indemnity, which was no less than seven hundred millions. The sum seemed so tremendous at th_c time that no one imagined that it could ever be paid. Less than taree years after, the 9th of October, 1818, the allies themselves decided—in spite of the opposition of Prussia— to reduce the indemnity from seven hundred millions to two hundred and sixty-five millions, which were then paid off without much trouble. “When, half & century later, Bis- exacted from France 5 K v of Aive billions, he imagined he Wwas taking a mortgage of at least forty years. The following year nowever, France puid off the whole debt to Germany. Dr""!“:lrelu two precedents have all the same not prevented our economist: from building hypotheses about what Germany's capacity to pay will be in twenty or even fifty years. u ten, heur has made all sorts of con- }'eoc‘fires. and Mr. Keynes also. As ight be expected, they are very dif- ;'2:"0:": one. thing alone would have been paradoxical; that is. that they should have been the same. %t is possible, if necessary, to de- termine by general vote which is the most beautiful woman, or the most beautiful child. or the most magnif oent marshal of France, but it seems fo be quite impossible to determine with any precision how much a billion Will be worth in ten, twenty or fifty years' time. “For this reason agreement excellent. claiming a precise sum o 1 find the London Instead of pro- £ six billions forty- vears hence, it stipulates that O et pay us every vear, besides a fixed sum of two billions, a variable annuity equal to a quarter of her rts, X Phe fixed indemnity will permit of us making loans of which we are in most urgent need. wThe variable annuity will permit of Germany getting rid of her in- ease. ST%But it is a question of 132 billion marks gold; that is to say. 165 billion francs gold, which makes at the pres- ent ri of exchange 400 billion francs—paper. Do you realize that these sums have »aly a relative value? “I understand perf: These are not more in reality than the seven hundred millions which Met- ternich wrote to our account in 1815 nor than the five billion which Bis- mark demanded {n 1871. And it is exactly because I realize that these sums have only 8 relative value that 1 agree with the London negotiators for having taken relative values into consideration in their calculations. “Mr, Keynes in the Kolnische Zeitung and M. Jean Herbette in the Temps tried to show that the amount agreed upon in London was less than that of the Paris agreement. In order to prove this they have made the most wonderful calculations in the world. “\German exports,’ writes M. Her- bette, ‘reached, last year, five billions.' ““That is true.’ “Even in agreeing with 3 Loucheur that they will amount to twenty-five billions in 1932 and that they would remain at that rate until 1963. =Oh, no! Step joking'! 1 have no that Germany is to pay us, one thirty years after. But Bfter all I know nothing at all, in which I w exactly like M. Loucheur, Mr. Keynes and M. Herbette. “On the contrar: . T know very well |—and M. Herbette, Mr. Keynes and M. Loucheur know also—that there is a constant relation bretween the ex- {Ports of a country and the amount of its fortune.’ “For this reason precisely I prefer a ipercentage to a hypothesis. “There are essentially twa sorts of business men. The one savs to you: “4ntrust your money to me and [ will give you so much per cent on my profits’ “The other says: ‘Intrust your money to me and I will guarantes you 100.000 francs income.’ “But 1 have noticed that the latter is generally a swindler.” Too Clever. He was one of those people who would sell his soul for a piece of antique furniture, relates the Lon- don Morning Post. In a littie wil- lage outside Oxford he happened to call at a cottage for a cup of tea and moticad some rabbits in a hatch. It was not the rabbits that interested him, but the hutch, which was a lovely olg Jacobean chest! He feit that care was necessary, and inquired whether the rabbits were for sal On being told that they were, h paid for m. remarking in an off- hand way: Send them off in that hutch, it would be a pity to take them out of the ona they're used to.” Next dgy the rabbits arrived in a new deal box' The disappointed purchaser rushed off to the cottage “Why didn't you send them in the old hutch?’ he inquired feverishly. “Oh, that old box?" weplied the old fellow: “Why, the missus chopped that up for firewood and it'll come in very useful in these day: Smoking Competitions. The feat of the London workman lin keeping a pipe alight for two hours and five minutes, reminds the London Morning Post that these pipe- smoking competitions have long been held in Belgium. The prizes to be won are not_inconsiderable, and I once took part in a competitign in which the winner received five‘hun- dred francs. All the competitors were given a eertain quantity of to- bacco, a long churchwarden clay pipe and a box of matches. Then. at a signal they all lit up and emoked away. I forget the time the winmer made his pipe last, but it was weil over two hours. Mine, alas, went out in something over half an hour. The winner was a very old Flemish peas- ant of patriarchal appearance, and his victory was well-earned. for he smoked in solemn silence the whole time, only diverting himself by co- pious draughts from his chopin of beer, which was frequentiy replenish- ed during the course of the contests International Exchange. An immediate result of the franc's rise was the cancellation of orders for French goods. American and Eng- lish importers who contracted for shipments, counting on paying for them at a cheap rate of exchange. find it quite impossible to go througn with the bargain at the gew prices What has become of the old trade custom of quoting export prices in gold? Had these contracts been drawn in “francs gold"—or even in dollars. which are exchangeable against gold idea, not-being M. Loucheur. whether the - German exports will reach twenty-five. billions in 1032. The most 1 know 1 it they did owu:“m Il.:z!c ey —the deals would not have been can- celed. Making international ex change of goods.denendent on fluctua- tions of paper money is much like making them dependent on the -