Evening Star Newspaper, November 27, 1921, Page 47

‘ [ \ \ < ) Part 2—14 Pages EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES BY N. 0. MESSENGER. ‘Washington, November 26. IKE the Arab who folded his tent and as silently stole away, Congregg departed from the seat of government to be absent until the first Monday in De- cember, leaving the. field of interest at the American capital in full pos- session of the eight friendly nations whose banners float with the Stars and Stripes on the buildings® devoted to the purposes of the armament conterence. And could it not be truthfully said that for the next few weeks the at- tention of the whole civilized world will be drawn to this spot, whereon is centered the hope of civilization for minimization of “the hazard of future wars and lessening of 'the burdens growing out of the last one? * kX X - For of a verity, the swiftly oc- curring events of the past two weeks have given ample ground for en- tertainment of the lively expectation that civilisation may not be disap- pointed in its hopes, and consequent warrant for continuing to bend its gaze upon Wasl ment conference. Officials and diplomats versed in the history of gatherings of this kind profess themselves amazed at’ the contrast between current perform- ance and past record in the amount that has been accomplished and cut out to be finished. * %k kX But to pause a moment before turping to the all-engrossing spec- tacle of the armament conference, _which will from now on fill the pub- lic eve. to take a glimpse at the departing Congress, let's experience sympathy for that body.' If Con- gress could speak in the vernacular, it would probably say with a sigh: “The Lord only knows what 1 have suffered in the past few weeks.” And the republican party, could it be per- sonified, might feelingly add, “The same here.” And both plaints are justifiable. Both Congress and the Yepublican party have been con- demned up hill and down for delay in winding up what legislation has been enacted and for failure to do more than has been done. * % * %X A publicity man of the democratic national committee, with a cynical regard for the feelings of either Congress or the republican party, caustically avers that the admini tration is lucky in have the armament conterence as alsmoke screen to di- vert public attention from Congress and its record. Well, that Is as it may Le. As the late reverend Chief Jus- tice White was wont ofttimes to ob- serve, “there is much to be said upon both sides. “However, the fact stands that Con- gress has passed the tax revision law, helped the farmers—or sincerely car- ried out the plans proposed by the farmers and claimed by them to be to their benefit—and having reached the end of a furrow, has knocked off work to get a breathing spell before start- ing another. There is a vast fleld of legislative land awalting when Congress next puts its hand to the plow. * Kk kX ‘While professional politicians in ‘both parties will make their charges and counter-claims about the efficacy of the tax legislation—the ‘minority loudly proclaiming it as far short of filling the bill and the. proponents as stoutly upholding it as the last 4 in_beneficent legislation—the LLOYD GEORGE—The Man and His Times hington and the arma- | | country will put it to the test of prac- | tical application. | Business and the individual will give |it a tryout, and-.it is for the future to register the verdict of praise or censure, 50 the charges and claims |can well be listened .to with indul- gence and promptly disregarded while {the trying-out process is on. 4 For one thing all can be thankful— that the agony Is over and the law has been written in terms and figures. . * ok X % . The republicans, while admitting privately that the legislation is far ,from perfect. rely upon the spirit of American rsignation to the statutes made and provided to hold the ma- jority party free from blame that might react unfavorably in the future. It is argued that the main thing has been accomplished—to give the coun- try a change in the tax laws, and that | inequalities will be grumbled at ‘anl ! next forgotten. ! The democrats do not propose to let the opposition off’ without a word. however, and from now on will seek jto point out what, from their view- | point, are the mistakes In the legisla- tion and to create as much political v‘:‘apilal as possible for their own bene- t. Maybe the psychology of the repub- licans is correct. You kmow the Amer- | ican people and how quickly they for- | Bet and pass on to something else. * ok k¥ i Anyhow, Congress will be back again in a couple of weeks, and just watch the public, especially if there should at that time be a lull in the proceedings of the armament confer- lence, exclalm, “Good old Congress. welcome home again.” and immediate~ ly begin to take notice of its pro- ceedings and set about to pick flaws in its performances. The old timers in Congress know exactly what to expect. They have been through the mfll time and again, and when they come back will take a | figurative position of getting ready to | dodge brickbats. It has grown to he i the custom of late years when any- thing is wrong to “take it out on Con- gress,” just as it is when trouble comes up to run to Congress, like a child with a cut finger, for healing. * koK R It is said that some of the visiting foreigners expressed surprise the other day that there was not an over- turn in the administration when the House of Representatives voted dead against President Harding’s expressed wishes on the tax bill. They regard- ed that as a vote of lack of confi- dence, which in Europe would be fol- lowed by a change in the ministry, the dominant party resigning in a huff and a new set coming in. ‘Wouldn't the Americans have a hec- tic life if the cabinet and the Presi- dent had to step down and out every time the administration got the worst of it in & vote in the House or Senate? And wouldn’t Congress thereupon find its chiefest joy in making the admin- istration turn handsprings? Some people are so sensitive. * ¥ ¥ ¥ " One may justifiably wonder if the American public will soon settle down to consideration of humdrum domestic questions after its present fiyer in in- ternational subjects? Can it fix its mind upon So prosaic a thing as the' tariff, wages and .prices after follow- ing the fortunes of France, sympa- thizing with the troubles of China-and pondering the mystical “agenda”. of the world conference? It hag not been many months back when the average man couldn’t have told you whether agenda was a new The Sundiy Star. EDITORIAL SECTION - Congress Fades From the Picture, Feeling It’s a Tough Old World breakfast food or an automobile ac- cessory. * ok ok x One educational benefit of the in- | ternational conference is already ap- parent. The meeting has brought to Washington from Europe and Asia | digtinguished writers for the public press, thoroughly acquainted with all questions pertaining to the eastern and western hemispheres. Their writings are being “syndicated”—that is, published simultaneously in many | newspapers, and it is not to be dis- puted that they are enlightening to! a high degree to the American pub- lic. The larger newspapers and the press associations have called in from foreign parts some of their best men, who are painstakingly and consci- entiously informing the omniverous readers of the American newspapers of the ins and outs of overseas na- tional politics. True to the spirit of the American press, these thoroughly informed and capable men do not indulge in prop- aganda, but fairly and without preju- | dice state the facts as they find them. * ok k% i Overseas visitors say that one of the most surprising features of this conference has been the readiness ) with which the foreign delegations have fallen into the American habit of “telling it to the press.” They contrast it to former international gatherings. Every day it is the cus- tom for some one in authority in each delegation to meet the news-! paper men and\talk with great free- dom about what is going on. They find that here, as at home, when they speak in confidence, and so announce, the confidence is maintained. The visitors say that they have discovered that American officials discuss with newspaper writers more intimately than is the custom abroad. THe foreign newspaper correspond ents are as welcome at: the confer- ences which President Harding and Secretary Hughes hold with the press as any one else, and there. is| no effort to" discriminate. against them. o (Copyright, 1921, by The Washington Star) | 15 SHIPS OF OLD NAVY | T0 GO ON AUCTION BLOCK Several of Doomed Vessels Have Helped in Making of United States History. Fifteen ships of the old navy will be put on the auction block soon, it was announced last night by the Navy De- partment. Several of them helped make American history, among them being the cruiser Brooklyn, flagship of Rear Admiral William S. Schley, during the | battle of Santiago. Others are the cruiser’ Columbia, which in. her prime was one of the fastest ships on the sea; the battleship Maine, which replaced the battleship of that nanie destroyed in Havana harbor; the battleship Missouri, launched in 1901; the cruiser Memphis, now a wreck on the San Dominican coast, and the torpedo boat Dale, which recently has been known as the Oriole while serving as headquarters of the Baltimore naval militia. Four monitors on the list are the Miantonomah, the Oszark, formerly the Arkansas, and the Puritan, both of which have served as naval militia ships at Washingtoh, and the Tono- pah. Other ships are the Intrepid, a steel training ship, rigged as a salling craft; |- the Galatea and the Vega, steam yachts, used as patrol craft in the world war; the freighter Surprise and the de Smith, bullt in 1900. . a larger feudal regime. ‘ program, WASHINGTON, D. C.,.SUNDAY ' MORNING, THE NEW AUSTRIA BY FRANCESCO NITTI, Former Premier of Italy. EFORE the war Austria- Hungary was considered to be the mosaic of Bu- rope. It was an historic formation which had gathered around the monarchy of the Haps- burgs, peoples of differing lan- guage, traditions, race and .even religion; it was considered as a sort of political show, of many heads and many minds, incapable of having -one united conscience, but obliged to follow united ac- tion under strong guidance. Tn 1910 the monarchy had 51.3 million inhabitants on a territory more than ,double that of Italy and notably larger than that of France or Germany. It was the largest central European state | and based itself on two groups of population, Germans and Mag- yars. According to statistics of languages, in 1919 there were in the empire 12,000,000 Germans, 10,000,000 Hungarians, 8,400,000 Bohemians, -Moravians and Slo- vaks; 5,000,000 Poles, 4.000,000 Ruthenians, 5,500,000 Croats and Serbs, 1,300,000 Slovenes, 3,200,000 Rumanians, $00,000 Italians and Latins, 900.000 other nationalities, foreigners, etc. The dual mon- archy was agitated by the most divergent currents: There were little separatist movements, in great measure promoted and maintained by Russia, and there were_movements for autonomy in The dual g monarchy was on the way to be- come a triplice on account of the Slav tendencies, or that of some of the .principle groups among them, to unite. Thus, as she was constituted, Austria-Hungary was considered as the greatest nega- tion of the principles of national- ity, but as an historical necessity. Not only were the people of the monarchy different in nationality and language, but also in religion. By far the greater majority were Catholics of the Latin rite, 39,000,- 000; but there were 5,500,000 Catholics of the Greek and Ar- menian rite, 4,500,000 of the ortho- dox Greeks, and Armenians, 5.000- 000 or thereabouts of evangelicals of different order, almost 2,500,000 of Jews and more than 600,000 Mussulmen. * % ¥ X During the war the entente made several solomn statements which were in the nature of programs. The allied governments made a collective declaration by means of Briand, then president of the coun- cil of ministers of France, to the ambassador of the United States on the 30th of December, 1916. They did not pay special heed to Austria-Hungary, although they spoke of the liberation of the Ital- ians, Slavs, Rumanians and Czeco- slovaks from the Austrian domi- nation. Russia being at that time a united power, no referencé was made to Poland; they limited themselves to saying that the in-, tentions of his majesty the em- peror of Russia regarding Po- land were clearly indicated in the proclamation addressed to his army. It was a way to avoid com- promising their relations with an ally like Russia, who had obtained, not only that she should ‘go to Chnstantinople, but that ‘she should enlarge her borders in Asia Minor. In his tenth proposed which hecame the fun- damental document of the en- tente on January 8, 1918, Presi- dent Wilson limited himself to de- claring that the people of Austria- Hungary, whose position amongst- the nations must be safeguarded and assured, should agree as to the freest opportunity for auton- omous development. As to Poland, in the thirteenth proposal Wilson confined himself to -declaring that it was necessary to have a Polish state with an undoubtedly Polish population, with free and safe ac- cess to the sea. * X ¥ X As admitted by Its chief author, the treaty of Versallles has been a means of condinuing the war, and has brought to birth a num- ber of states which' are not na- tions, but which make S0 many Austrias, but with this difference that the populations held in sub- Jection are the most cultured and the most intelligent, and therefore the least casily assimilated. stead of one Austria, there are three or four Austrias, the difficul- ties of existence of which will shortly become intolierable. The fundamental pre-occupation of the. treaty of Versailles was to distrib- ute the greatest possible number of -Germans to ‘the less cultured populations, and reduce the great Eroups of Germans to such condi- tions of existence as should be intollerable, like that of the. new state of Austria. A ‘minor pre- occupation was that of dismem- bering Hungary and reducing the Magyar state to an impotent con- dition. Part- of. the German territory has also been given to states which did not take part in the war, and had never asked for this land. Instead of an ethnical Poland, that-is to say, of undoubtedly Polish population, a Poland has been formed which does not con- tain 18,000,000 or 19,000,000 inhab- itants, but 31,000,000, of whom 8,500, 000 are Ukrainians and Russians, and more than 2,000,000 are Germans. But of the 19,000,000 Poles 3,500, 000 are Jews, who have never been assimilated, and perhaps. are not capable of assimilation, and often subject to bitter rule. Thus the true Poles are in the minority, and yet they claim to occupy fresh territory, and obtain Upper Silesia also, in #pite of the plebiscite. * % % X Jugoslavia, or ashit is callec. the state of S. H. S., has about 12,000,000 inhabitants on a territory not much larger than that of Italy: 5,000,000 are Serbs, a little less than 3,000,000 Croats, 1,000,000 Slovenes, 750,000 Mohammedans, 600,000 Macedonians, 600,000 _ ars, 700,000 almost of other nationalities. Before the Bal- kan war Serbia had less than 3,000,- 000 inhabitants; afterward it reached 5.000.000; from the ruin of Austria Hungary another 7,500,000 men have been taken; the central nucleus of * Serbla has been quadrupled since 1913, Czechoslovakia, which has arisen entirely from the ruins of Aus- tria Hungary, is composed of a population which has given many proofs of seriousness, and give good promise for the future. They are the most cultured, most per- sistent and tenacious part of the Slav race. A Czechoslovakia of eight or nine million inhabitants would’ have formed a compact ethnical unit. Instead of this, they have been given 5500000 people of the most diverse nationality, among whom about 4,000,000 Germans, to- gether with some of the most Ger- man cities in the world, such as Pil- sen, Karlsbad, Reichenberg, etc. German ‘Austria has ' been: re- duced to 6,500,000: inhabitants and In- | (Continued on Third Page OVEMBER " 27, 1921. g|/How Charges of the Middlemen " Hit Farmers and City Consumers BY WILL P. KENNEDY. HE farmer and the city man must get closer together. The farmer, producing the food supply, and the city man, who must be fed, have a common in- terest to narrow the gulf of cost that is widening between the prices the farmer gets for his harvests and what the city consumer has to pay for what goes on the table. In recent legislation it that those representing the agricul- tural sections and those representing the urban centers seem to think their respective interests are antagonistic. Representative Simeon D. Fess of Ohlo, who, by the way, is chairman of the republican congressional com- mittee, thoughtfully points out that “the agricultural sections must look to the centers employing the labor of the country in industry for a market in which to sell the products of their farms.” is noticeable * X X ¥ Investigations conducted by the foint congressional commission on agricultural inquiry, headed by Rep- resentative Sydney Anderson of Minnesota, have found that the high cost of living to city dwellers is due principally -to cumulative costs be- tween the time the food supplies leave the farm and their delivery in the city homes. This mounting cost is for the most part a labor cost, not only the cost of railroad labor, which is 55 per cent of the very high and some- times prohibitive tramsportation charge, but labor all along the line— milk cart drivers, butchers, etc. But to use the railroad labor cost as an illustration, it has been figured out that the wage bill on the railroads can be reduced a billion dollars, and still pay the employes 40 per cent more than they were getting in 1916. while reducing the transportation bill of the country 25 per cent. The whole nub of the economic problem just now seems % be that wages is the one commodity that has not come down, and that they must come down before the business machinery of the country can run again with economic efficiency. * * % % Showing the effect of high freight rates on farm products, Representa- five Anderson has had prepared a set of charts representing the pur chasing power of corn and wheat. which the farmer produces, in terms of agricultural implements, which the farmer has to buy, at various cen- ters. It takes more than 4,000 bush- els of corn at Culbertson. Neb., to buy four typical farm implements where it took less than 1,000 bushels in 1913. At Fargo, N. D, it took 3,000 bushels, as compared with 1,000 in 1913. At Syracuse, N. Y., it took only 1,500, as compared with 1,000 in 1913—showing the advantages of proximity to the seaboard. If the farmer at Springfield, IIL, in 1913, purchased four typical farm im- plements, the entire frelght bill in- volved in the transaction—including the haulage of the ore from the mine, the cost of moving the finished machine from the factory to the farm center, and the cost of shipping the corn to market to pay for the ma- chine—was $71.60. In October, 1921. the same transaction would involve a { transportation cost of $266.26. If he purchased them with wheat instead of corn it would have-cost $66.82 in 1913 and $143.03 in 1921 The same transaction at Kansas City would show,.for purchase with corn. in 1913, $108.18, and in 1921 $480.37; for purchase with wheat, $102.77 in 1913 and $203.35 in 1921. Oklahoma City gives an extreme il lustration: there the purchase in ¢orn yin 1913 would have cost $197.97 and in 1921 $1,238, and the same purchase in wheat would have cost .in 1913 $189.12 and in 1921 $368.46. * x o x At a time when the question of raflroad rates and wages has been brought to the attention of the peo- ple by a discussion of the raiiroad funding bill, and by the recent threat- ened strike of employes, Representa- tive Parks, democrat of Arkansas, has made some illuminating remarks and presented interesting and valu- able statistics. He asserts that when the peak of high prices was passed and every business was charging off its losses and endeavoring to be- gin anew, the railroads were the only concerns that refused to take their losses along with the rest. As a contributory cause of unemployment, he cites that the lumber industry in his state, giving employment to many thousands, has been almost destroyed on account of freight rates; that i cost as much to ship a carload of lumber as it does to manufacture the lumber and get it ready for ship- ment. He gave the following in- etances of shipments of fruit: A carload of cantaloupes shipped to Pittsburgh sold for $586.20; freight, $361.16; after deducting drayage, com- mission, crating, etc., the grower re- ceived $38.17. On a carload shipped to Chicago. which sold for $417.60, the freight, commission, etc, was $371.86, leaving $45.74 for the grower. * Kk ok Representative R. Walton Moore of Virginia has just had another in- stance called to his attention by a farmer who raises registered Hol- steins ‘'at Orange, Va., only about seventy-five miles from the capital. He shipped a milk-fed calf to Wash- ington. It took $20 worth of milk 0 raise it. The Washington com- mission merchant paid him at the rate of 5 cents a pound, or $11.95. Out of this he was charged 60 cents commission; freight, $5.58; express charges at Orange, $4.54, leaving the producer” $1.23. In testifying before a House com- mittee ‘investigating the milk sup- ply - of Washington, Representative . D. Beck of Wisconsin, himself a dairyman, galled some more specific instances to the attention of his col- leagues ‘Hé pointed out that during the early days of the war the govern- ‘ment appealed to the farmers of thc northwest. to. throw their potatoes on the market, and suggested $1 a hun- dred ‘pounds as a fair price, when they. were really bringing $1.25. The farmers put their potatoes on. the market as fast as they could be taken at $1, but the consumer in Chicago, 150 miles away, paid $4.50 for those same potatoes, and the com- mission men allowed thousands of bushels to rot or dumped them out along the railroad tracks to spoil. Representative Beck continued: “What. fs the sense of a farmer in Texas selling cabbage at $20 per ton, that costs the consumer in New York, $240. A cargo of peaches shipped to a Chicago com- mission man from a farmer in Georgia didn't bring enough to pay the treight, but a second cargo semt by the same farmer to Chicago and sold direct to the consumers on a falling market brought $500 per car net. What is the sense of peas packed al- most within a stone’s throw of the city of Milwaukee vielding the pack- er 5 cents per can when that same can costs the consumer in . Mil- waukee 15 cents. What is the sense of our, paying $8 to &1 a pair of shoes when the farmel my state heir hides” for lack of a market? What is the sense of a barrel of apples yielding a farmer near Buffalo, N. Y. $3.50, | Boing " through seven different hands and costing the comsumer in New York city $22.50 per barrel? There is just as much sense as my paying 15 cents a quart for milk here in Washington when a farmer out here on a hill in plain sight gets only 8 cents for it. “The bureau of markets in Wis- consin recently made an investiga- tion which shows that the milk dis- tributors in the leading cities of that state returned in net profits one- third of their investmenet every year, and the filled milk interests returned 50 per cent of their actual invested capital every year. The producers supplying milk to the city of Chicago actually received $1.45 per 100 pounds, while it cost the con- sumers of that city $5.75 for 100 pounds.” Representative Beck urges that the farmers and their city cousins should be able to exchange their wares on a just and equitable basis, each to have sufficient of the products of his own and the other fellow's toil, without having to pay excessive toll to the fellow on the bridge between the farm and the city. * ¥ k¥ “What's to be done about it?” I asked Chairman Anderson of the joint congressional commission on agri- cultural inquiry, and he said: “The two principal elements inter- ested in the cost of distribution are the producer and the consumer. In the first place, the cost of doing busi- ness piror to 1913 was steadily in- creasing and has about doubled since 1913. Those costs include sorting, grading, packing, bulking, trans portation, hauling, storing, ware- housing, selling, delivering and all the overburden of wages, interest, rent, insurance and general admin- istration. All of these costs have increased. “As we see it, the problem of re- | ducing these costs is: (1) In ellm- ination of waste in production and distribution; (2) in relating produc- ]lion to markets in such a way that i overselling and overstocking will be avoided and to speed up the turn- over; (3) in a general readjustment of costs—particularly Wwages, rent and interest—but other elements of cost as well. “We think that along with this must go a readjustment of freight rates to correspond with a general lower level of prices of commodities. “One of the elements of cost is the great variation of quality. quantity and variety of service, atmosphere and environment, that the consumer has come to demand. If the com-, sumer telephones in (o have a spool of thread or a loaf of bread deliv- ered from one to five miles it in- creases the cost. 1f the consumer insists upon having facilitles pro- vided for writing letters while on :a shopping tour he must expect to pay for it” VISEING OF PASSPORTS TO SWITZERLAND TO END Persons going from the United States to Switzerland will not be compelled to have passports vised after December 1, it was announced vesterday at the Swiss legation. The decision to lift war-time re- strictions on travel in Switzerland follows extensive agitation by busi- ness men of that country for removal of vises and.lessening of severity in border regulations.. The new law. is not reciprocal in its application to Swiss seeking to enter this country. - By Philip Kerr (His Secretary, 1917-1920) V.—Wilson, Lloyd George and the League of Nations. F Lloyd George and Clemenceau were the out- standing war leaders on the side of the allies, President Wilson was undoubtedly the spokes- man of the idealism of the peoples. However opinions may differ as to his practical policy dur- ing the years 1914-19-18, no one will dispute that his war speeches were accepted as embodying the general popular idealism of the time. Accordingly President Wilson came to the peace conference under a great advantage and a great handicap. Because he had expressed in words the hopes and dreams which had sustained millions in the daily torture of the trenches or the monot- ony of the worshqp, he was regarded when he reached Europe as a sort of saviour. People paid no attention to the fact that he gained a minority of votes at the election of 1918. He was the Presi- dent of the United States, he was its official repre- sentative, and, under the Constitution, he. was the only person with whom foreign nations could nego- tiate. They looked to him, therefore, not only as the leading spokesman of the peoples, but the chief guarantor that the peace would fulfill the ‘expectations of mankind. 3 * X k. ¥ Unfortunately- the facts of everyday life and human nature do not coincide with the hopes of idealists. Married life seldom fulfills the confident certainties of courtship, and, in the case of the great war, the expectations, all the more extrava- gant because of the depth of suffering and anguish _in which they grew, were foredoomed to disap- pointment. People had come_to believe that they- were fighting for an immediate millennium. " The truth was that they were fighting to prevent the triumph of the darkness of ‘militarism and au- tocracy, and that victory only laid bare the foun dations on which a new and hetter international order could be constructed during many arduous years. The war constructed nothing. left the edifice of autocracy and militarism in ruins. Lioyd George, the more practical and experi- enced statesman, had a clearer appreciation of the realities of the case. President Wilson yas more concerned with what ought to be, perhaps, than with what was practicable. Standing on Olympian heights, he discerned how the world of men ought to behave if peace and .freedom were to reign on earth. But living in Washington, he was too remote from the passions and hatreds of Eurcpe to realizte how far the ‘world of his specches was from the practical possibilities of -~ It simply * the day. Bernard Shaw long ago wrote a book called “A Handbook for Revolutionaries.” In it he made the case for catastrophe revolution which, thanks to Lenin and Trotsky, is now familiar to everybody. He sald in an epilogue that it was unanswerable. But even then he admitted a doubt: “I'm not sure,” he said, “that the revolution in human nature is not the only revolution which will do any good.” * ok k ok The revolution in human nature is, indeed, the only road to progress—as the founder of Chris- tianity saw. And this revolution takes time to accomplish. It cannot be affected by the argu- ments of politiclans or the treaties of statesmen. It comeés from the gradual transformation of the human heart. President Wilson' slowly began to realize the facts as he visited the leading allied countries before the peace conference commenced. Col. House has told how horrified he was at the vio- lence of the political passions of Europe. He saw that the feelings engendered by the injustice, op- pression and bondage of a long and bitter past, and bursting forth at fever heat during the war, could not be suddenly composed in a few weeks. As he listened to the flerce speeches of the vari- ous national leaders, demanding this or that as’ their right, without any consideration of the es- sential unity of Europe, far less of the world, he gradually came to recognize that the dream he had entertained, and with millions of others, of a new .world in which violence and recrimination should be no more and nations .and individuals would settle their disputes in brotherly love, could not ibe. brought to fruition:immediately, but must be worked to gradually as the hatreds and misuader- standings of centuries died down and reason and ustice and mutual confidence took their place. ‘And ‘&s' the prospect of this immediate new order ‘faded away, thé prospect of a league of nations ito remedy in the- future the defects—the in- evitable defects—of the forthcoming treaty and to ‘butld: gradually what could oniy be founded at Versallles, grew steadily in his mind. By the time he reached Paris for the conference it had taken the first place. * %k * % = I well remember one of the first speeches made at Paris by the President. Tt was on the occa- sion when he proposed the setting up of a com- mission to consider the formation of a league of nations. 3 “There are,” he said, “many complicated ques- tions connected with the present settlement which, perhaps, cannot be- successfylly worked out to an uitimate Jssue by the decistons we shall arrive at here. 1 can easily conceive that many of the decisions we shall make will need subsequent al- terations in some degree, for if I may-judge by my own study of some of these questions, they are mot susceptible of confident judgments at present.” Here was the first note of warning that the millennium was still far off. I remember com- paring it with the confident speeches and expecta- tions of war and thinking what a tragic disil- lusfonment it implied. The President went on to say: “It is, therefore, necessary that we should set up some machinery by whicn the work of the con- ference should be rendered complete * * * In coming into this war the United States never thought for a moment that she washintervening in the politics of Europe or the politics of any other part of the world * * * Therefore, the United States would feel that her part in this war had been played in vain if there ensued upon it merely a body of European settlements. We would feel that we could not take part in guaranteeing ' those Eurcpean settlements unless that guarantee involved the continuous superintendence of the peace of the world by the associated mations of the world.” T So President Wilson made himself the champion of the league of nations, presided over thé de: liberations of the league of nations committee, and made it probably his biggest single object at the conference to bring it into effective being. K K K ok Lloyd George's attitude to the proposal for a league of nations was characteristically different. Lloyd George seconded the President’s proposal and seconded it without reserve. But from his long experience as a practical’ politician_he was not so confident as the President.. Po° him the league was an experiment, one: worth® making, but still an experiment. . . - i R “I visited,” he said, “a region which but a few years ago was one of the fairestsin-an etception- ally fair land. I fouad it a ruin.and a desolation. I.drove for hours through .a country whith did not appear like the habitation of living men afld women and children, but like.the excavation of a buried province—shattered, torn,.rent. I went to one city where I witnessed a scene of devastation that no indemnity can ever repair—one of the beautiful things of the world disfigured and de- faced beyond repair. And ome of the cruelest features to my mind was what I could see had bappened: Frenchmen, who love their land almost beyond any nation, in order to establish the justice of their cause, have had to assist a cruel ememy -in’ demolishing thelr own-homes. Had I been i 7 . people had there months ago I would have witnessed some- thing that I dare not describe. Everywhere I saw acres:of_graves of the fallen. And these were the results of the only method, the only organized method, that civilized nations have ever attempted or established to settle disputes amongst each other. And my feeling was: Surely it is time, surely it is time that a saner plan for settling disputes between peoples should be established than this organized savagery. I do not know Wwhether this will succeed. But if we attempt it, the attempt itself will be a success, and for that reason- 1 should second the proposal.” * % *k % At the same time, as we shall see later, he felt that if the experiment of a league was to succeed it was essential that the powers should do some- thing practical to demonstrate their own confi_/ dence in it and their own trust in one another. The mere signature of a high sounding document was. not enoukh. Accordingly, he proposed that the powers should strengthen the league by coupling with "it an agreement about armaments which. would .prevent competition between them. Here is clearly brought out the difference ‘be- tween the two men. Lloyd Géorge is always the practical statesman. . His mind is instantly recep- tive of progressive ideals. He is ever to be found on the sidé of reform, but his plans are resolutely limited to.what he belleves”the people are ready to .accept, and his active support for reform is always conditional -upon its being real reform and not high sounding camouflage. As a popular leader in his early life, he was reckless, because he saw that the changes he demanded were over- due -and had -overwhelming support. As a leader in war, though energy and initiative itself, he was more cautious, especially in securing unity of com- ' mand, because he saw that.the supreme necessity . was to_keep his own countrymen and the other allles united; and to carry them with him in what-’ ever he wanted to do, ‘At Paris he was more cau- tious still, Because' hé realfzed that in the long. tension of:the war and. the:éxcitement of victory, . got ‘things.ont of perspective and wanted to achiéve by strokesiof the pen what could only be accomplished by, the slow education of public opinion of many peoples. That his insight was not at fault is shown by the behavior of every ome of the great people; of the world since the war. S x k ¥ X President Wilson's interests, on the other hand, were centered in the future. He saw what the un- speaking masses wanted—security from war.. He saw that nothing, save resl ation of .the na- tions to conduct together the world's affairs,: could 2 give it, and, ignoring or forgetting in his zeal the immense obstacles and practical difficulties in the way, and over-riding the political and personal ‘factors™ in the situation, e endeavored, by a su- preme effort of will, to shorten the years. =" It is interesting to recall one instance of this deterinination, probably one which had as muth to do as any with the subsequent failure of his plans. The usual practice of the peace conference was for the big four, as they came to be called— the representatives of France, the United States, Britain and Italy—to appoint international. com- mittees of experts or ministers to hear evidence about the principal problems.before them and draft proposals. for their criticism or correction. In this way the work of one body df men working continuously at the details of a question was re- vised and approved or rejected by the supreme body which had the shaping of the peace settle- ment as a whole. In the case of the league of nations. ‘commission, the other powers appointed delegates llke Gen. Smuts, Lord Robert Cecil, M. Bourgeois and M. Venizelos to prepare the scheme, while President Wilson appointed himself.. This. meant that when the draft'came to be considered by the council of four, it gould no longer sit as - - an impartial judge of the work of the expert com- ission; fore one of its members had been chair- man of that commission. -In”point of “fact, the structure of the league was tiever seriousiy de- bated by the big four, and the text of the covenant never had the wide.- political ‘experience aud: sagacity. of M. Clemenceau and Mr. Lloyd George properly brught to bear upon it. Substantially, it was the handiwork of the league of nations commission and not of the council of four. * X X X It has often been said by his enemies that Lioyd George i not in favor of the league. That is @ profound mistake. He has.supported the su- preme council during the last: two years because he believed ‘that a body consisting of the heacs of the governments of the principal European pow- better qualified to deal with such prob- .lem: the disarmament of Germany, the exac- tion of _reparations, the bolshevik invasion of Poland, and so on, than was the league of nations, which could not order armies to move and whose time was largely spent in deliberation. But he is also convinced that the fundamental dea undeérlying the league is sound. If the world 18 not to drift into armed camps-and the diplomacy of force, there must be some organization where the collective volce of mankind can find expres- sion, where grievances ‘can be ventilated, and whiere the_representatives.of .the leading nations can be brought face to face with one another in +"the liberties and independence of its members. order to concert measures for the protection of justice and the preservation of peace. If world unity and world peace is to be achleved, it will be through some such means as a league of nations, and simply to destroy the league would, in his judgment, be to destroy one of the best hopes of mankind. He never thought, however, that the covenant was very well adapted to the conditions of the world as they were bound to be a year or two after the war. It was In his opinion too amM- ' tious and too elaborate, and he thought an agri ment against competition in armaments almast important as the covenant itself. He was iq prepared to take the covenant as the M;I(r which to work toward something more prag| effective, but it is an open secret that when become clear that the United States did nu#n v to take the covenant as it stood, Lloyd Geol hoped that it would call a conference to codsif how the league could be remodeled so that, should be acceptable to America and better adap) to the needs of .the world of évery day, thap one drafted in the hothouse atmosphere of 191 * % k % i There for the moment the matter stands. haps the Washington conference will pave th for a reconsideration of the whole problem z: ternational co-operation for peace. Lloyd Gdo: reflecting accurately the.mind of Great Britain,| for a league of nations. - President Harding, ing’ for America, is committed ‘to an.associat! ofnations. France and Italy are both willing herents. The league itself at Geneva has to make good in a useful sphere. The passi which centered about it have begun to die awi Both the supporters and the opponents of the co nant are saner than they were a year ago. No| now beileves that the.league can in itself mankind. Nobody now believes that it can threaf The Washington conference, -indeed, is in f! proof of the necessity, of internatfonal gatheri of the leading statesmen of the world. If t conference succeeds, as we all must hope thatj will succeed, in-dispelling the .dark political clou that brood over the Pacific and the far east, in paving the way for a reduction of armames by land and by sea, the experience there may make possible the framing of a better all embracing league. For it is only in sible gatherings of the representatives of all nations of the earth that that spirit of sympath tolerance and understanding can be born whicl will bring justice and lasting peace to men. (Copyright, 1921, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) Confersnce—Germary.