Evening Star Newspaper, October 1, 1921, Page 4

THE EVENING STAR. With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY. .....October 1, 1021 THEODORE W. NOYES. . . . Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Husiness Office, 11th St. and Penunylvania Ave. New Yotk Of 50 Nawsau St. "hicago Office: First al Bank Building. k‘a\mp--n Office: 3 Re; + Londor, England. Evening Star, with the Sunday morning . s delivered hy carriers within the eity atio) nt § i 2180 cents per month ; daily only. 43 cents per month: Sulday only, 20 cents per month. Or- bexent by mail, or felephone Main | dors m 5000, end of eac ection is made by carriers at the h month. Rate by Ma¥—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday. . $8.40; 1 mo., 70c Daily only . » $6.00: 1 mo., 50c Sunday onl. . $2.40; 1 mo., 20¢ 1y 1y All Other States. Daily and Sunda; Daily only. y.1yr., 1yr. Sunday onl. » $10.00; 1 mo., 85¢ $7.00; 1 mo., 60c ‘Water Supply and the Surplus. There is no project contemplated under the District budget for the com-| ing year in which residents of Wash-| ington take a larger or more natural interest than that which provides for the reinforcing of the inadequate wa- ter supply system of the District. Concern is expressed by certain of those upon whose shoulders rests the responsibility of maintaining the nec- essary water supply for Washington lest ex-Senator Sherman and Gen. Dawes, in their efforts to cut expendi-] ture, should decide to reduce the large appropriation needed for the carrying out of the project. That this concern should, in the light of the popular ap- preciation as to the exigencies of the case, be communicated to the general public of Washington is inevitable. Yet that it should have substantial foundation is, in view of established facts with which the director of the budget and his assistant on local esti- mates must be familiar, happily im- possible. Both Gen. Dawes and ex-Senator Sherman are undoubtedly aware of the facts disclosed in the recent con- gressional consideration of the local water supply situation. That the exist- ing system is so antiquated as to be! in grave danger of a complete break- down-at any time: that the demand upon its single conduit for continuous service is so great as to inhibit the possibility of temporary disuse in order to make much-needed repairs; that during the past summer that conduit was called upon to deliver, during a period of many weeks' dura- tion, about 10,000,000 gallons of water a.day above the 65,000,000-gallon safety mark established when it was in good repair, are facts testified to by every ompetent authority who has been called upon for an opinion and facts recognized by Congress in its disposi-| tion of the problem. The imperative need for the construction of a new supply line was established when Con- sress passed its preliminary appro- priation of $200,000 for starting work upon the $10,000,000 supply plan of Maj. M. C. Tyler. The necessity for speed in pushing the work involved received the strongest emphasis in that report. Even under the most fa- vorable of circumstances three years must elapse before lives and property within the District shall be free from| the menace of a disastrous water| famine. The vigorous steps necessary have heen recognized by the House and Senate and, under this circum- stance, the dread lest the necessary aeppropriations for the next three vears may be refused must be re- garded as baseless. A more practical concern of Wash- ingtonians in regard to water supply is directed toward the matter of how the District’'s share of the funds re- quired under the Tyler plan is to bei raised. Since that plan is to cost inj the neighborhood of $10,000,000 they! are aware that their share of the ex-| pense would, under the halt-undhalll law compel the raising of about! $5,000,000; or $6,000,000 under thej temporary 60-40 ratio. At this point the District surplus in the national Treasury leaps into mind. H There are indications that the House | will not agree to apply this surplusj to the payment of current District annual expenses if the result is toj reduce current taxation. It has been| urged that the sum involved—amount- ing, when District dollars are matched with dollars from the federal purse, to between nine and -ten millions—be! held to meet some extraordinary ex-| pense in District development. Such| an occasion has now arisen. The Dis-; trict's share of the water supply proj-| ect cannot be met out of current taxes., Through cne expedient or another it| would, did the Treasury surplus not exist, have to be borrowed. Yet with that surplus in existence the financing of the project becomes happily simple. | The figures themselves suggest the natural course. The water supply; project is to cost in the neighborhood of $10,000,000. There lies in the fed- eral Treasury today, awaiting appro-| priation for District uses, the approxi- mate equivalent of one-half that sum, | each dollar of which calls for a second dollar fram the federal purse. An op- portunity is thus afforded Congress, | through the simple expedient of meet- ing an existing obiigation, to avoid the necessity of incurring a new one. In so doing the District surplus, inactive at a time when the inactivity of capi- tal is retarding the return of pros- perity to the nation, could be wiped off the books with the same gesture which would supply the funds essen-| tial to a most needed local improve- ment. ———— If September continues to assert it- ulf from year to year as a summer month the date for straw-hat retire- ment may have to be set over to October 1. i ! The Treaties. The arrangement effected in the Senate as to the peace treaties reflects credit on both sides. Two weeks of . general debate should suffice to de- velop the whole subject. Night ses- sions are obviated. A vote forced, or in any measure inflienced, by that means would have been open to criti- cism. A physical test would not have . ‘been the proper test. Ratification is expected. There is a | vantage of others. ‘. the two being in the republican party. So, strictly speaking, politics is not in- volved. Public sentiment is behind these pacts. “They were negotiuted in re- demption of a promise made by Mr. Harding in his campaign last year, when he told the people that if elected he would sign any resolution Con- gress might pass looking to the formal restoration of peace with the central powers. Peace means trade, and here are the opening measures for a resumption of trade with central Europe. Our trade in that quarter before the war was large and remunerative, and it may be made so again. Our associates in the war are trading with Germany and what remains of the old Austro- Hungarian empire, and why should not we, under definite safeguards? Secretary Hughes has done work which ‘many, competent to speak, praise highly, and which, when the Senate approves, should operate to our advantage as well as to the ad- ——— Prices and Unemployment. No part of the reports laid before President Harding's conference on un- employment is of more far-reaching importance than that section of the report of the manufacturers’ commit- tee which deals with price reductions. Put into logical execution, the com- mittee’s recommendation would bring the prices of all commodities nearer to a normal level, abolishing inequali- ties which are as hurtful as they are unjust, and would make it possible with fairness to ask labor to accept a reduction in its money wage. The committee recommends that prices shall be readjusted on a basis of “replacement values in terms of efficient producing and distributing costs plus g reasonable profit;” and strongly urges all manufacturers and wholesalers who may not yet have adopted this policy to do so; but it adds that “it is essential to the suc- cess of these measures when put into effect that retail prices shall promptly and fairly reflect the price adjust- ment of the producer, manufacturer and the wholesaler.” 1t is not expected that such a policy would operate to bring prices down to the pre-war level, the large increase in currency circulation making that il- logical, but the effect would be to equalize prices and to stabilize them at a level commensurate with post- war conditions. As the prices of manufactures came down the prices of | farm products and certain raw ma- terials would have to come up until they met a point of true relativity, and there the level would be estab- lished. Wages, by force of logic and circumstance, would adjust themselves to this level; confidence both in the justice and the stability of prices would be restored, buyers would re- turn to the market and the country would be on the way to a prosperity which would quickly take up the slack of unemployment. The program of emergency meas-| ures recommended to the states and| municipalities is excellent within the limits of its possibilities, and will help greatly both to prevent immedi- ate suffering and to get the larger movement under way, but the big achievement of the conference is ex- position of the fact that no permanent prosperity can be hoped for so long as one man is forced to sell for less than it cost him to produce while an- other exacts an unreasonable and un- fair profit. ———————————— Anglo-Irish Conference. The Anglo-Irish conference is on the schedule for October 11. The note of Lloyd George reopened the way and Eamonn De Valera accepted the invi- tation. De Valera in his acceptance repeats George's statement of the ob- ject of the conference to be the ascer- tainment of how “the association of Ireland with the community of na- ticns known as the British empire may best be reconciled with Irish as- pirations.” De Valera also agrees with George that “conference and not cor- respondence is the most practical and hopeful way to an understanding.” Ile says that “our respective posi- tions haye been stated and understood and w~ agree to that conference.” This conference is to be momen- tous and historic. The wise and pa- triotic men at the table should, and may, devise terms of arrangement of an age-old problem which will involve surrender on neither the Irish nor the English side—which really will flndl a way to maintain the association of Ireland with “the community of na- tions known as the British ‘empire,” and in harmony *“with Irish national aspirations.” It is to be a great task, but great tasks have been accom- plished. A large part of the world sends up its prayers for the Anglo-Irish con- ference, and all the world sends out ardent wishes for its success. ————————— The demand for reasonable con- sideration of the treaties brings up once more the demand for a precise definition of that good old word ‘rea- sonable.” —_——— Due consideration cannot fail to be given to the fact that the strike Which ties up a railroad also ties up many a family market basket. A Long Regular Session. ‘The regular session will probably be protracted—last well into, if not through, the surmer. This ‘was not the calculation when the present session began. The pur- pose then was to put all emergency measures through before adjournment, and leave the regular session free to address itself to the business properly belonging to it. Emergency measures have proved i {to be more dificult than expected.; Complications growing out of the war have been more stubborn than any- body thought possible. Work and con- fer as they might, and have done, the leaders on Capitol Hill have not been able to make the progress mapped out. As a consequence, the regular ses- sion will have to tackle some hang- overs. Its own card will be full, but it will not be able to decline or evade its inheritances. They will have to be, b THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. division in each party, the smaller of|{faced, and even given the right nl’ way. For as scon as possible the tariff question and the transportation question will have to be expressed in legislation. This will mean a lcng session. For the regular program wili have to be carried out in the interest of the con- gressional campaign. The appeal for another republican Congress will have to be based on substantial achieve- ments in order to win. K To adjourn without completing the regular card would be to confess incompetency on ;the eve of the campaign opening, and | practically on the eve of election. The session will be both long and lively. The Land. The Secretary of Agriculture ha: appointed a committee of five scien tists from his department to give special study to the problem of bring- ing more land under cuitivation.; The committee will make a survey covering production, consumption, for- eign demand and population increase. It may also make a survey of the extent of arid tracts, swamp lands and cut-over timber lands that may bo brought under cultivation. The land-working question is not the most pressing economic issue with us, but in the long run it is the most fmportant. The land is the treasure hcuse of mankind. There the basic wealth is to be obtained and the land gives up its riches only as a reward for hard work, except, of course, in those rare cases of accidental mineral discovery. Without adequate working of the land all other industries must languish. It is much more important to know that the corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, potato, cabbage and egg in- dustries are flourishing than to know that the automobile factories, depart- ment stores and theaters are doing a good business. If the corn and cab- bage are all right, the upper stories «f the business structure will be in good shape. If the foundation indus- tries get out of gear the industrial machine will imp or stop. There may be some mixing of metaphor in that but the truth is there. —————— Senator Ball stated in a speech be- fore the Rotary Club that he would be only too glad to be convinced that the vote in national elections would benefit this city. It is no more than proper civic pride to feel that such votes by the citizens of the District| of Columbia might in many instances go further than that and benefit the entire country. ———— The Chicago beef packers profess to be as much mystified as anybody con- ! cerning the high cost of a sirloin steak , to the consumer. A business enter- prise may become so large that the eventual selling price becomes a re- mote and baffling detail. ——eeee———— Suspicions that the value of the mark is being depressed by German financiers for speculation are not cal- culated to soothe the resentment of President Ebert as he figures the pur- chasing power of his salary. —————————— There is a tendency to credit Japan with the assumption that the most important psychological moment in her entire history has arrived. ————— Present events are providing Lloyd George with experience in conference procedure relating to the avoidance of violent measures. ————t——— —— Among the racial prejudices to be deprecated are the antipathies to American ideals and institutions which sometimes suggest themselves. | SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Farmer's Life. A farmer I should like to be, To live all happily and free. Alas! I know I never will Possess the ngedful sense and skill. A farmer has to know the way The markets go from day to day, And how to read a statesman’s mind And speak his own in phrase refined: He has to know in terms exact How various chemicals react Which he inserts into the Soil To stimulate the fruits of toil. To keep hired help upon his list He has to be a hypnotist, And learn to make a flivver start And still maintain a cheerful heart. Each ev’'ning he must read anew Psychology and science, too, The genealogy of germs, And study maps of isotherms, And figure out the laws of chance And economics and finance. A farmer ¥ should like to be. The blissful hope is not for me. It isn’t that the toil is tough, I simply do hot know enough. Self-Preservation. 1 “We will yet see a day when there is no fighting in the world.” “T hope 80,” answered Senator Sor- ghum. “All contentions must eventually cease.” “I don't follow you quite that far. If there isn't some kind of an argument now and then we statesmen will be deprived of half our usefulness.” Jud Tunkins says there isn’t much chance for a man who sits at home and tries to solve his problem of un- employment with a ouija board. Limiting the Destruction. The laws they frame to save the game Serve a much nobler end, And save the lives of many a tame And trustful hunter friend. A Professional Decision. 4 “You don't take any interest in the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy?” “No,” replied Mr. Stormington Barnes. "“Whoever wrote the play: Shakespeare’s got the reputation, and you couldn’t interest the people by putting another man’'s name on the bill boards.” Nothing Untold. “You have wealth untold!” “No, I haven't,” protested Mr. Dustin Stax. “I don't possess a-dollar that I haven't told all about to the income tax authorities.” Editorial Digest The Program of the Arms Con- ference. There is little adverse criticism edi- i torially of Secrétary Hughes' proposed ! program for the armament conference. | Press discussion is rather an endeavor | to interpret to newspaper readers the iplans of the government as disclosed by the agenda, to explain why the problems of armament reduction and far eastern affairs are so closely in- | tertwined, and to show to what ex- | tent these plans can be made to serve | the purposes for which the conference was called. A few papers express re- ' gret that land armaments are subor- dinated in the program, and others! !feel that by the relative position of he discussion of armaments and far eastern affairs Becretary Hughes (s |putting the cart before the horse. But {10 theSe objections most writers en- ! i{8wer that since there is nothing rigid | about the plans, the conference Is left free to proceed In any manner which may prove most effective. An analysis of the agenda and an estimate of its significance that ex- bresses pretty accurately the opinion of most editors is found in the Topeka | Capital (republican), which says: I “The public in having before it this outline of the subjects of the arma- ment conference obtalns for the first time a clear {dea of the breadth of the | undertaking, which amounts to an at- {tempt to solve the problems that re |late to future conflicts among nations. | If the conference should be successful | {in 1ts efforts to find a solution of the | status of China and the far east, then (reduction of armament and a real jmovement toward disarmament will be | {relatively easy. But failure to come {to a basis of understanding on the Pacific and tar east will only empha- size the dangers of the present un- stable status of that part of the world and the conflicting ambitions and in- terests relating to it, abolishment of armament rivairy wiil be highly fm- probable.and the conference will not get far in its primary object of re- ducing armament outlays.” Because of the intimate relation be- tween far eastern questions and the possibility of agreement on armament reduction, the New York Tribune (re- publican) maintains that the former phase “should be considered first,” since “in the present disturbed state of affairs no nation is willing to dis- arm so long as acute problems remain unsolved,” and the logical procedure is “to deal with the causes of war first.” International experts in Washing- ton, the Salt Lake Tribune (republi- can) informs us, “are becoming of the | opinlon that any decision respecting | the limitation of armaments that may | be reached will depend solely upon | the determination of far eastern prob- ilems,” and “as the time for holding | | the conference draws near” the Nash- | ville Banner (independent) thinks “it | i8 becoming more and more apparent { that the main purpose is to clearly! { define conditions in the far east and | i {hold Japan in due bounds.” However, | this “sentle insistence of Becretary Hughes on ventllating the oriental situation at the conference is causing {no little uneasiness in Toklo," and | jwili result, the Muskegon Chronicle (independent) thinks, in Japan's ad-{ vancing proposals “fof the extension | of the agenda to problems on the | American as well on the oriental | oast of the Pacific.” and, in its opin- ion, “opening the race is: for d cussion by the conference auld be “a | perfectly logical thing."” { | In the matter of the consideration of land armaments, the Buffalo Times | (democratic) expresses the hope that { Mr. Hughes' assignment of that toplc the third rank in the ensemble of | | discussion means nothing more than! the necessity which, when several | things are to be mentioned at the | same time, requires one of them to be it holds, { ‘the cost and menace of large stand- ing armies are every bit as pertinen and necessary themes for conscien { tious deliberation and for remedial measures as are the cost and menace | of huge naval establishments.” The| | Detroit ‘Free Press (independent).! {however, interprets the position of !land armaments on the agenda as { dicating that “it is accounted a m: I ter_of relatively minor importance. and in its opinion “the settlement of this question is not of primary impor- tance ‘to the adjustment of the big | world relationships which the confer- {ence aims to bring about.” A conference which would settle all the problems presented in Secretary Hughes' program would, indeed, the | Milwaukee Journal (independent) re ! marks, “create an unprecedented sit- uation of understanding among na- tions.” But, it points out, “the con- | ference was called because of one thing—the overwhelming demand of ithe people that armaments be re- duced”—and it can accomplish that purpose “without solving all the com- plicated questions in the rest of the agenda.” I The Watch on the Rhine. Senator Lodge's intimation that the | American troops would soon be with- drawn from the Rhine has excited| unfavorablé comment in France. It is still top early to believe in Ger- many's good faith. So long as the; reparation payments remain doubt- ful and America is committed to the clauses of the treaty in which Ger- many binds herself to make these payments, it is desirable that Ameri- can troops remain with the allied troops as a constant reminder to Ger- many that America stands with the allies in this matter. Their early re- moval would be mistakenly inter- preted by the Germans as an aban- donment by America of any support of these clauses. The result could only be unfortunate and encourage those elements in Germany which seek to nullify the penaltics of the war. Mr. Borah opposes the treaty with Germany “because of the principle of force which runs through it.” Except for this principle it would have died a violent death two years ago. And if this principle is weakened the Ger- mans will soon refuse to meet their obligations. Two things stand out plainly: many must be made to pay the pen: the war, and Germany re spects only force. To encourage Ger- many to resist the treaty is to, nulli. fy the vietory won at the cost of mil. ilions of lives.—New York Tribune (republican). Every dentist's office is a filling sta- tion.—Columbus Dispatch. Yes, employment is the best cure for unemployment, just as going to sleep is the best cure for insomnia.—Bos- ton Globe. ‘We sometimes wonder if anythin ever happened in the world that didn cause a famine in China.—Lafayette Journal and Courier. As a 100 per cent American organ- ization the Ku Klux Klan is not a 1921 model. You can tell that by the hood.—Detroit Ne . “Bitten by Insect Twenty-! Years Ago, Suffers Great Pain )’ says a headline. That sounds almost like the first attack of the presi- dential bee upon W. J. B.—Philadel: phia_Record. It's.-easy to meet expenses thess days. You run onto them every time you turn around.—Jackson Citizen. Patriot. - Probably the reason the traffic po- lice have so much trouble bringing motorists under control is that nearly every motorist is an ex-pedestrian.— Kansas City Star. A film company has incorporated a “morality” clause in its contracts with performers.-Now if an “ability” clause could be worked in.—Saginaw News- Courier. 73 ¢ A Boston man insured against rain on his wedding day. It rained, but the bridegroom bore up ing the money in the same. sophical lglflt in which accepted the proceeds fi showers.—Kansas C MOURNING BLACK 7 CARMACK "%Y CLEANING co.|| Ta Dela Painting Is 8 2aint now—it is the best sewson of the yeir. You will avold the destruc- tive " influences of winter wind and weather, Consult FERGUSOW. Interier and Exterior Work. = x- FERGUSON, INC. 212, “Palnting Department, Ph. N. $31.828. “Burchell’s” Bouquet Coffee Surprisingly Good 250 Per pound “Burchell’s” 1325 F St. N.W. Dupent Cirele, Fr. 5333 = ‘3460 18th St, Cel. €36 IF IN A HURRY For your painting, then it can be done at once by the HARRY W. TAYLOR CO. 2333 18th St. N.W. Phone Col. 1077 Laces and Lace Curtain| Cleaning MME. VIBOUD, Inc. Oriental Cream How the Lansburgh & er Anniversary Sale, Which Begins on Monday Morning, Has Taken Advantage of A National Situation The word “Unemployment” has appeared in print pretty of- ten these days. g And many solutions to the problem have been offered. But logical minds have c%:red the only true solution—in- creased production through increased consumption of mer- chandise. But it takes orders to keep factories going—and these orders must come from retailers. And in turn, the buying public must come in great numbers to the retail stores. Many of the big manufacturers and jobbers of the country have cut deeply into their prices to accelerate the movement of merchandise. They have adopted “Leét’s go” as their slogan. They realize that with the retailer supplied with the sort of values the buying public could not resist, retail stocks would move faster; they'd fill in the depleted assortments. Facto- ries would hum; the unemplovment problem would take care of itself. : It was such a situation that the Lansburgh & Brother buyers walked into to secure the merchandise for the 61st Anniversary Sale, which starts Monday. Welcomed with open arms because they came prepared to purchase tremendous quantities, they brought back with them bargains that even exceeded their own fond hopes. And they surely expected a lot! Rather than fall back on the poor, time-worn methods of us- ing a lot of big adjectives, we invite you te come in Monday morning and see what the unusual market situation has made possible. ’