Evening Star Newspaper, February 26, 1922, Page 33

EDITORI AL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIA L ARTICLES - EDITORIAL SECTION he Sund ay Sttt Society News Part 2—18 Pages WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 26, 1922. THESE BE HARD DAYS UNDER THE BIG DOME BO!!‘LIS.. Bonus. WhO‘S Got the Bonur or the Cash to Pay It?—Only One of Many Difficulties. BY N. 0. MESSENGER. N Capitol Hill the horrifying rumor is afloat that if the sol- dier bonus bill is passed there will be no reclassification of government salaries at this session of Congress. Now, will that suggestion attract your attention and lure you on to further perusal of this story? Some up there say it fs a dead cer- tainty that the reclassification will have to go by the board if the bonus bill passes, and that furthermore there may be efforts to cut down some of the de- partmental forces. * k% % Problems of surpassing importance to the country and all its peoples of high or low degree, and not without interna- tional application, are ta be under legis- Iative and executive consideration at the American capital this week. Congress and the President have their hands full and are quite cognizant of the fact that the attention of the nation is fixed upon the Capitol and the White House in in- tense degree. The soldier bonus, the tariff, the four- power Pacific pact and probably before the week is out a subsidy for Ameri- can shipping constitute four major ques- tions upon which there is wide dlver- gence of judgment and opinion. party, factional and individual. So violent are .some of the differences as to seem al- most impossible of reconciliation. So far apart are some of the groups in Congress as to give at first thought the impression of difficulty of ever being brought ‘together. There are even con- flicting views between the President and various elements in the Congress, not altogether political. * ok ok % But don't let's got downhearted at the outset. reconciled. the groups will be brought together. the conflicting views will be merged into a definite policy trans- lated into legislative action. and “somehow or other” the great Ameri- can Congress will find its way out of the muddle it now finds itself in. In the vernacular, “its is a case of must.” So, with an outcome assured. it 'is possible to take up the questions calmly and discuss the difficulties at- tending their solution. B President Harding, it is declared by observers on the side lines. will occupy in notable degree the position of mediator and referee in the trou- bles of Congress. having aforetime with regard to some of the guestions exercised the function of recom mendation with which he is empow. ered by the Constitution. The fact that his suggestions are not accepted in full by the legislative branch does not constitute a cause for a quarrel between Congress and himself. In fact, political economists and philoso- phers might consider it a sign of a healthy condition bf affairs for dis- agreements to exist. You are dubious of a fellow who agrees with you al- ways and at all times upon every- thing. * ok ok * The saving grace of the present state of difference of opinion be- tween the executive and the legisia- tive branch is that President Hard- ing is not a man who will attempt to force his conclusions upon those who differ with him, and that he is so constituted that he can see the other side of a propaesition he himself has advanced and appreciate the logic of into consideration; that in some of the matters at vari- ance the President has not assumed the initlative In suggestion, but has been solicited by the legislators for his advice and help in solving proby lems for which they were primarily responsible. B It will not be in order, therefore, for anybody to ‘“shake their gory locks” at him and cry dictator. * X ¥ % ‘The most exigent case of difference between the executive and the legis- lative point of views relates to the ways and means of meeting ‘the soldier bonus. It seems to be taken for granted that Congress has its heart set on passing the legislation for adjusted compensation and is only concerned with the method of meet- ing the obligation the government ‘will thereby assume. The latest votes In the subcommittee of the committee on ways and means in- dicated a trend to passing a bill author- izing the bonus and then “let the Treas- . ury Department walk the floor” to find the means of payment. The legislative The differences will be| phrase is to “enact the legislation and let it be a charge on the Treasury,” and at some pains it is pointed out | that this is the usual way of handling such big questions. President Harding has consistently | Insisted that this is not the right way it the pending proposition, and that the same bill which suthorizes the; ! obligation must provide means for meeting It. E * % % % The logic of this insistence appeals to the judgment of the legislators, but the facts of the situation lead, them to an opposite course. To tell | the truth, they are unable to hit upon jany plan to-provide the means of meeting it, In special terms. The President has said he will not have a | bond issue. nor will he approve thel eight special sets of taxes at one time suggested. He has hinted at a‘ sales tax. But the congressmen say that there 1s such opposition to a sales tax that ! it would be next to political suicide— that is, they fear it would be—to im- pose i*. The formidable agricultural community of interests has placed on file with Congress collectively and congressmen individually emphatic | protest against it. A number of labor organizations have done likewise. i Self-constituted spokesmen for “the plain people” outside of the farm and labor classes have uttered and re- corded vigorous protests. This bloc, the farmers, the union labor men and the presumed section of plain people outside of those Ivlas!es. constitutes a powerful sec- tion of voters, whose views must be considered. ! * * ¥ ! Sccretary of the Treasury Mellon says, however, officially, that it is useless to make the bonus bill a lcharge against the Treasury because {there will be no funds in the Treas- |ury. “There ain’t géin’ to be no core,” he ullows. A certain deficit stares the Treasury in the face, as things are running now. without further charges against the Treasury. In this dilemma the congressmen are placed in they are hunting high jand low for means to meet the bonus, and are now proposing to go over the budget again, cut down more appro- priations. save a dollar here and there, to help meet the first payments, nd to utilize the expected proceeds from the funding of the foreign debt. The sum and substance, it is ds- serted on Capitol Hill, of the present ttitude of the bonus-raisers is to let the future, a rather Indefinité ang un- certain future in the viewpoint of a banker who was scrutining proffered collateral. take care of the charge on the Treasury. * % % % Thereupon there is raised this doubt lin the minds of some of the legisla- tors:'Suppose ‘the beneficiaries of the bonus legislation should not ‘con- sider this device satisfactory and sup- pose that the people who are resisting any bonus legislation at all should consider that the Congress had flout- ed them in passing the legislation, what would avall all the travail and in what quarter would they get credit for the legislation? Is it surprising that there is trouble and tribulation on many a mind on Capitol HIlI? | * K ok > Indications at the beginning of the the question of reservations to the four-power Pacific treaty.” One group of senators may be expected ‘to hold out to the end In their resistance to the compromise, but the fact must be considered that the treaty must in the end be passed upon by the Senate in full body assembled and that commit- tee sentiment is not represented pro- portionately to sentiment in the Sen- ate. The form of the reservations which may be adopted in committee can be reversed or modified in the Senate. The prevailing judgment In the Sen- ate continues to be that the four- power pact will finally be rafified, probably with reservations, but in such form as to be acceptable to the President and warrant him in ex- changing ratifications with the sig- natory powers and putting the treaty into force. Tk ook ok ‘Was something sald at the outset of this screed about the tariff and the subsidy for the merchant marine? Well, next Sunday is another Sunday. I ! BANK WITH $800.000 CAPITAL FOR FARM LOANS IN PALESTINE o ‘The Zionist organization In Pales-[dlvidual money lenders, whou‘ rates tine, aocording to a report to the De- |are usuricus. The average bank rate partment of Commerce from Consul |is 9 per cent and that of money lend- Southard at Jerusalem, has officially jers 10 per cent and upward.. _The REAL STATESMAN OF NEW IRELAND o BY DR. PETER GUILDAY, 'rofessor of Histo RTHUR Grifith saved Ireland from anarchy, and it is upon his shoulders today that the responsibility rests of guiding the Irish nation past the dangerous raplds of defeat. For. the problem | Te has to face Is not whether Ire- iand wants a republic. His problem is to save, from the confusion which is growing in Ireland, the republican form of government it has been | guaranteed by the Irish peace treaty. | It Is unfortunate that parties and| party shibboleths have not been kept more distinct in Ireland. Grifith is not and never was a Fenian. He was not a member of the Irish Revolution- ary Brotherhood, which brought about the Easter uprising in 1916. | Padraic Pearce, the soul of the Easter rebellion, openly declared from plat- forms and In private that he would neyer accept the policy of Griffith, since it involved recognition of the king as head of an Irish state. * k% ok Arthur Grifith was the founder of the modern movement known as Sinn Fein, and it Is not only ludicrous but erroneous to translate that party title into the words “Ourselves Alone.” Sinn Fein is a term as old as Ireland itself. It can have only one adequate meaning—"Self-Reliance.” Now what did Griffith propose to do by means of Sinn Fein? Nothing moré and nothing less than a revolution, yes, but a bloodless revolution; a revo- lution along legal and constitutional lines: a revolution by reawakening the goul of Ireland to its ecomomic, and therefore, indirectly, to its po- litical possibilities. The essential elements of Griffith’s Hungarian plan was non-co-operntion. The term “boycatt” does not express its entire meaning. Grifith advo- cated the organization of the forces of Ireland, first of all, for the pro- tection of Irish industry. He re- organized these industries on a co- operative plan, which soon made it- self felt In English commercial cen- | ters. He set up arbitration courts for the Irish, and soon the British civil law in Ireland was at a standstill. He advocated Irish insurance socie- ties financed by Irish capital. He succeeded in setting up national banks to stem the tide of Irish money from going outside the island. He pleaded for an Irish mercantile ma- rine to underbid the English carry- ing trade, which had monopolized the harbors of Ireland. He planned to send Irish commercial agents, or con- suls, to all the great foreign trade marts. * k k% This in brief was Sinn Fein. Grif- fith always opposed the engrafting of violent methods on his Hungarian plan. Where Kossuth had failed, Deak had won gloriously. Irelagd's Bistory was a lonk stccession of Kok- suths, many of whom, like the great Hungarian rebel, had come to the United - States, seeking to arouse a spirit of sympathy for their repub- lican policies. But Arthur Grifith stood firmly against violence. In his first weekly journal, which he found- non-co-operation policy of Sinn Fein had triumphed. * x kK The end is not yet In sight. Arthur Griffith heads the provisional govern- ment of southern Ireland, but it will take all his cleverness and sagacity to weather the storm of protest gath- ering on the hills and in the valleys; of Ireland against his fundamental! platform—the acceptance of the Eng- | lish king as suzerain of Ireland. He! faces republican discontent in many: parts of the south. He faces civil war towards the north. And to credit, it must be said, that for the. first time in his career, only recently nickel-in-the slot telephone. has he hinted that force may be, This is an actual, .practical, new necessary to settle the Ulster prob-;Public service set up especially so lem. “We shall mot use force” he|that business men may have service I | BY WILL P. KENNEDY. OW comes the public radio pay 80 and talk, just as at the says, “against that part of Ulster|keeping apace with development of which votes itself out of the Free|this great new means of practically State, and we shall mot permit un-{limitiess and instantaneous communi- ARTHUR GRIFFITH. ——————————— ed In Dublin, in 1899, the United Irishman, he left no phase of Irish history, poetry, literature, and biog- raphy untouched. Without doubt the United Irishman is one of the im- mortal things in Irish literature. In 1905, when he reorganized Sinn Fein, he changed the name of this weekly to Sinn Fein, and it is in the pages of this remarkable newspaper that the real history of Ireland In our day must be sought. Sinn Fein never taught rebellion by the sword, but a rebellion far more dangerous to Eng- lish interests and far more likely to succeed—the rebellion of non-co-op- eration. From 1905 until the Easter rebel- lion of 1916, the principal Irish ten- dencies were being exiressed by means of three parties—the nation- alist party of home rule, with John Redmond at its head; the party of Sinn Fein, with Arthur Grifith as its spokeymin, and the I svolution. dry brotherhood, which was fast growing to alarming proportions and which only needed a leader to set the torch of rebellion aflame in the is- land. The seven young men, Pearse. Connolly, MacDonagh and Plunkett among them, all intellectual giants in Treland, who signed the declara- tion of Irish independence on April 24, 1916, and who paid for their hero- ism with their blood. left behind them a disorganized society, until Eamonn De Valera was chosen as the head of Sinn Fein. * k k % Thd British forces in Ireland blun- dered and blundered cruelly in many ways, and when they dubbed the Easter rebel movement Sinn Fein, all Ireland accepted it and the name be- came &ynenymous for the national aspirations of the Irish people. In December, 1918, all nationalist Ire- land declared its allegiance to the re- publican ideal and in January, 1919, the Irish constituent assembly, the dail elreann, was assembled in Dub- lin. In July, 1919, Arthur Grifith was elected acting president of this na- tional congress, by that time called on all sides the Sinn Fein assembly, and with De Valera, its president, ab- sent in the United States direc Irish affairs, it was inevit#bre t these twn commanding figures should Le brought closer, for contrast and for comparison, by the public. both herc ard abroad. When Grifith was elected chairman of the Sinn Fein mission which went to London in October last, to arrange for the Irish peace treaty, it was evident to clear- sighted political thinkers that the challenged force to be used against that part of Ulster which votes itself into the Free State. We are at the besinning of an epoch, the rebirth of a nation, and we desire to sink the old distinctions of unionist and na- ionalist in the common name of Irishman, whether the Irishman be of Dublin, Cork or Belfast.” * k k% Very little is known of Arthur Grif- fith qutside of Ireland, for the simple reason that he is the most unap- proachable man in Erin. He is not of Irish blood, but Welsh and Eng- lish by descent. He is a small m: in stature, with steely gray eyes, taciturn to a fault, without eloquence, and so self-controlled that he is “the coolest and best brain in Ireland.” During his earlier days in Dublin, one editor made the mistake of comment- ing upon his attraction for Maude | Gonne, now the widow of Maj. Mec- Gride, who was executed in 1916, and there was certainly enough romance about this beautiful Irish revolution- ary girl to attract all the leaders. Grifith, who had spent two yearz in South Africa as a gold miner, paid this editor a visit and soundly thrash- ed him for the insult. He then went to fail for a week for committing the assault and came out to find Dublin waiting with open arms for a hero. Grifiith’s great strength lies in his grasp of the economic facts and prob- lems. He was once offered the post of financial editor of London’s largest dally newspaper. With this combi- nation of coolness, a powerful grasp of modern journalism, and a clear strategist on the fleld, where nelther ;polllk:l nor religion have battled so strenuously as the economic forces ! of England and Ireland, Grifith is to- day Ireland’s one hope of leadership out of the welter of conflicting ideals and aspirations. He is one of the tew men in Ireland who knows thor- oughly Ulster's mind and attitude. 1 His first adt; ‘on belng released from prison in 1916, was to go to Belfast to study the general situation of the northern counties. The future will reveal how this singularly endowed statesman, who detests violence and outrage, will be able to cope with the forces which are now arrayed against the Irish Free State. | (Copyright, 1922, by Dr. Peter Gullday.) How Most-Favored-Nation Clauses Complicate Task of Framing Tariff BY EDWARD NELSON DINGLEY. NE of the difficulties en- countered by all natfons in the problem of readjust- ment of war conditions, is the disturbance "of what is known as forelgn exchange—that is, the gold value of the standard units of measure in the various countries ‘when ; compared with the American unit of measure, the gold dollar. For many years there has been a prac- tically uniform rate of exchange be- tween the American dollar, the Eng- lsh pound, the French franc or the German mark, 8o that the value of imports and exports between various countries could be, measured ac- curately. 3 The world war and the resulting vast quantities of paper currency ls- sued, has thrown this “forelgn ex- change,” or table of comparative gold values, out of joint. Obviously, with “exchange” disarranged, the values of all imports and exports are dis- arranged; and any country imposing ad ‘valorem import duties— that is, dutles based on a certain percentage of the value of imported goods—finds itself facing a new and perplexing problem. This has been the situ- ation which has confronted the pres- ent Congress for more than a year. In a large measure, it may account for some of the delay.. * % k¥ To overcome this situation, the leading commercial countries have devised new methods of applying ad valorem duties. To bridge the chasm between normal exchange of stand- ard units of monetary measure and existing abnormal exchange, the plan of limiting the depreciation of for- efgn money or currency when ap- called “flexible tariff” may be argeed | concession was freely made, or on al- to by the Senate finance committee, glving the President authority (after hearings) to proclaim an Increase or decrease of the ad valorem rate re- clted in the law, not exceeding 50 per cent, the question of “forelgn ex- change” and disturbance of inter- netional monetary units of measure reours and presents & collateral prob- lem of no small importance. To meet this situation, Senator Smoot hos offered an amendment to the Fordney tarift bill, providing In sub- stance that, in case of dutiable merchandise infported from a coun- try whose currency has depreclated more than 5 per cent from the value of the pure metal of its standard coin if the President’ finds that forelgn producers have an advantage over American producers by reason of that depreciation, he shall determine what duties will equalize those advantages; and thirty days after proclamation such proclaimed duties shall be put in force not exceeding 50 per cent of the value of the imported articles. Obiviously the effect of such a plan, if put into operation, would be to authorize the President to Increase import duties on merchandise coming from any. country or countries whose currency has depreciated more than 5 per cent in gold. * K k% This proposition opens up another mooted and. important question—the construction of our‘commercial trea- ties and what 'is known as the “most- favored-nation” clayse, which ap- pears in nearly all such treaties. The purpose of this article is to throw some light on the situation, the average reader will know, (1) what the commercial treaties are; (2) 80 that tual lowing the same compensation, if the concession was conditional.” The lan- guage employed was “the most favor- ed natlon” clause, so called. * Kk k% This “most-favored-nation” clause has come down from early commer- cfal eras, before the perlod of mod- ern natlons, of Industrialism or tar- iffts. The KEuropean practice was founded on what was then known as “commercia] liberallsm,” which now is denomirtaged otherwise. Each state desired the 'same concession granted to any other state. AR instrument was devised to automatically secure to newly contracting states the bene- fits of concesslons previously made tc other states. That instrument was “the most favored nation clause,” which 1s found in nearly all American commercial treaties, It was trgns- planted from Europe to America. In one form or another, this for- mula was inserted in commercial treaties subsequently put inte force by the United states. Our treaty of “amity, commerce and navigation” with the Netherlands in 1872 provided that “no other or greater duties or imports of whatever nature shall be paid than those which the natlons the most favored are or shall be obliged to pay: and they shall enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, immuni- ties and exemptions in trade, naviga- tion and commerce which the sald na- tions do or shall enjoy.” OQur com- mercial treaty with Sweden in 1783 contained the same provision sub- stantially. Our treaties with Prussia in 1785, in 1799 and in 1828 gave mu- 1 \concessions, the last embodying the “most favored nation” clause. Ou: treaty with France in 1800 also con- tained the “most-favovred-nation” registered with the Palestine govern- ment a bank to be known as the Gen- eral Mortgage Bank, with a capital of about $800,000 at current exchange rates. Other smaller private banks of a like nature have been organized on paper and officially registered. The Palestine government is also making plans for organizing a government mortgage bank to receive the funds derived from the liquidation of-the former Ottoman Agricultural Bank. The economic development of Pal- estine is seriously handicapped at the present time by the faot that- only very restricted credit facllities are avallable. There are five agencies of forelgn banks which accept, however, practically no long-term loan busi- neas, or even short-term loans except from merchamts who can offer high- class security. About 80 per cent of the populatiol must depend upon in- country has practically no capital of| plied to the valuation of importa has its own and its resources are negli-| gible. The five banks at present establish- ed in the country make almost exclu- sive use of foreign capital; four of these a'¢ branches of well established and pruperous international banks, which are naturally guided by hard business facts in the capital allotted for employment in Palestine. The Zionists may provide some capital from sentimental reasons, but the new bank for mortgage loans will depend to an important extent upon Ameri- can money. Mortgage loans will receive first consideration by this. new bank, and then will come long-term farm mort- gages. There is no immediate need of industrial credits, as the popula- tion is only 700,000 and consists mostly of the peasant type., been adopted. In plain language, the effect is to establish in the country of import (Canada, for instance), & fictitious valuation of the foreign unit of measure, to prevent a drop in, perhaps a disappearance of, the ad velorem duty. An ad valorem duty of 50 per cent drops almost to nothing when the value of the im- ported article is, for example, 50 cents or $1 in.gold. An effort was made in the House to apply this remedy; but it failed in the Senate. The American plap of val- uation of imported goods was substi- tuted, which, theoretically, will ob- viate any consideration of exchange. A suggested modification of ths American valuation plan bripgs the matter,of exchange out into the open as an important matter. Now that it seems likely that a so- what the “most favored nation” clause means; (3) what is the relation be- tween “foreign exchange” .and the tariff; (4) what bearing these histori- cal matters have on the present com- & mercial situation and the framing o,!anored nation.” Our -treaty with 2 new tariff bill to meet present con- |France in 1803 concluding the pur- Iclause in these-words: “The two par- tties shall enjoy in the.ports of eack iother, in regard to commerce and navigation, the privileges of the most tion in a position as advantageous as that accorded to any other nation, and that it shall not subsequently be put in a less advantageous position In the event that greater favors ‘or vrivileges are granted to a third state. In the course of time there have developed two schools of interpreta- tion. The American interpretation in- sists on maintaining a distinction be- tween favors given gratuitiously and concessions granted expressly in re- turn for present and recognized com- pensation. The old Interpretations have eliminated this distinction, and insisted that the “most favored na- tion” treatment must be accorded whether there s a reciprocal conces- sion or not. The so-called American Interpreta- tion has come down to us from John Jay in 1787, then Secretary of the De- partment of Forelgn Affairs. Mr. Jay then sald, in substance, that he gratuitiously and granted recipro- cally. The same question was de- clded by John Quincy Adams In 1817, and again in 1821, by President Mon- roe. The American doctrine was es- tablished, that to claim a privile, under the “most favored nation™ clause, the nation asking for it must grant an equivalent. Mr. Clay and Mr. Van Buren, as Secretaries of State, maintained the views of their predecessors. Becretary of State Fre- linghuysen followed the same prece- dents in 1884. The American inter- pretation has been established by de- cisions covering more than a cen- tury and & quarter. * x % ¥ The courts have interpreted this “most favored nation” clause in the same way. In the famous case aris- ing out of the United States-H: wallan treaty of reciprocity, the court sald “the treaty with the Hawalian Islands is reciprocal, and no violation of ,the treaty with Denmark; the United States is not bound to extend to Denmark, without compensation, distingulshed between favors ‘rlntedl diiions. ychase of the Louisiana territory. said that “the ships of France shall be ‘treated upon thé same footing of the most favored nations in the ports above mentioned.” Our treaty with Great ' Britain in 1816 provided .for “most favored nation treatment.” * k k% : For many decades no single feature of modern commercial treaties has occasioned more or greater difficul- ties of interpretation than the pledge known as the “most favored nation” clause. Obviously its intent is to as- sure to each party signing the:treaty. that 1 Modern commercial treaties cover a variety of subjects. The present treat- ment will be confined to trade, cus- toms laws and regulations. All these early treaties were treaties of “amity and commerce.” The first American treaty, made with France in 1778, con- tained this article: “The Most Chris- tian King and the United States en- gage mutually not to grant any par- tiular favor to other nations, in re- spect of commerce and navigation, which shall not immediately become common to the other party, who shall epjoy..the .same .fayor, . freely,. if .the Ve t bas been put by.the other na-' . privileges conceded to Hawall, in ex- change for valuable concessions.” The tari® law of 1897 made reciprocal agreements with four European countries, and.’the court held the same as in the Hawailan case. On these rulings and decisions is based the time-honored American in- terpretation of the “most favored na- tion” clausg, which is, that it is not applicable "to reciprocity treaties. Thus, when the United States grants concessions to another state in re- turn for gpompensating. concessions, (Continued on Third Page.) cation with all parts of the earth. The first public radio broadcasting Station In the world's history is now being prepared for the public, to han- dle the distribution of news, music and other programs on a commercial basis. A permit has been granted for the erection of a wireless telarhone broadcasting station by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company on the roof of the Walker-Lispenard building, New York city. This will be the first practical step taken to quiet the much disturbed ether, now in a general turmoil through indiscriminate use of wire- less broadcasting, which prompted President Harding to direct Secretary Hoover to call a natlonal conference of slentists and radio experts and traffic managers of communication services, * * % % The granting of a franchise for the use of certain wave lengths to pub- lic service corporations, whi would lestnbll!h public radio telephone pay | stations for the conveniance of Lus:- ness men, is a probable result of the Hoover onference, which will con- vene here tomorrow. Such a solution of the existing mud- dled situation, created by general broadcasting, which has resulted in making it practically impossible for any one to get important business transacted by radio, was in ths mind l | | l i RADIO PAY STATION SOON TO BE A FACT IRapid Development of Wireless Communi- cation Stresses Need of Federal Reg- ulation of Wave Lengths. purpose they may use them.” H- peints out that the broadcasting that station, where any one can|has been done by a number of co cerns has interfered with the use of the air for other purposes. * ¥ ¥ x “Somehow this problem must be || Worked out,” Representative White says. “We must lodge in one of the de- bartments of the federal government plenary powers with respect to the whole matter. “We must delegate tc some govern- mental authority the right to clase- ity stations—transcontinental, trane- oceanic, ship-to-shore, amateurs, etc We must give this federal agency authority to assign wave lengths to these different classes of stations. We must give this agency author- ity, if necessary, to assign portion- of the day to these classes of stat and limit the kinds of use to wh the wave lengths may be put. * x x % “This is not,” he explained, cause of any theory, but to meet a i sical condition that cannot be over come. Unless the wave lengths are a located to classes of service, none BOIng to get any service. “We see a sharp conflict now,” he Pointed out, “between the branches of the government and private users, and 2 controversy between the branches of Bovernment itself. At the present tim- the Navy Department is a very large user of radio and is aggressive in iis effort to extend its facilities and field of operations. The Post Office Depart- ment is anxious to develop radio, re-" garding it as a legitimate function of communications, over which the Post Office Department contends it should have complete jurisdiction i) all hs phases. The War Departmert has its of Secretary Hoover when he hrough: | F2dio feature and is taking a decy in- the question up at a cabinst meeting several weeks ago and found the President in a very sympatheti= frame of mind. An application for the use of a con- terest in the question. “Some one has to put each of the conflicting interests within the proper limits, TUndoubtedly we must have leg- islation to cover it. The question comes venient wave length for strictly com- jUP a8 to whether the control of radio, mercial business is already before the Department of Commerce. It is under- stood the application is made by one of the large public service companies which has hundred of clfents clamor- ing for the use of ublic radio pay station.” A convention of radio ama- teurs and scientists held in Wash- ington last week voted to recommend to the Department of Commerce titat commercial radio broadcasting be as- signed definitely to the 1,000-1,500 meter wave length class, and that amateurs be allowed the 200-300 meter waves. * % X *x That the allocation of certain wave-lengths to reliable concerns which will operate them for the use of the public, under strict regu- lation by some civil branch of the government, is the real solution of the present general turmoll in the ether, is the opinion of Representa- tive Wallace H. White, jr., of Maine, who is preparing to introduce a new radlio-control bill, based on the con- clusjons of the radio conference here this week. Representative White is the father of a radio bill now pending before Congress, action on which was post- poned during the International con- ference on limitation of armaments for fear that it might muddy the waters of the far eastern questions. Representative White has drafted a new radio bill, which he intends to introduce at the.close of the national radio conference, of which he is a member. v “We will have to grant exolusive right to certain wave-lengths, just as we grant franchises to public serv- [ice corporations” Mr. White says. “These must be revocable, because we cannot give absolute property rights Lo the ether, which is the com- mon property of all the people, but we must give certain concerns the right to use certain wave lengths within the limit of a federal permit or license.” It is large corporations backed by private capital which must be relled upon to develop the great new means of communication, Representative ‘White recognis: and he belleves that the government should encour- age such development and make it certain by making it possible for such corporations to give reliable service to the public. This they will be unable to do, he says, unless they have assurance of uninterrupted use of the air on a wave-length all thelr own. *x % ok X Representative White h: been giving close study to the radio prob- lem. “All' is confusion now,” he says, In describing existing condi- tions which must be improved. “There are physical limitations to the indiscriminate use of the air for radio communication,” he continued. “When we get too many persons try- ing to use wave lengths of nearly the same lengtb it just messes the ether all up and nobody can com- murlicate. “As far as transoceanic communica- tion is concerned there are only a limited number of wave lengths, and as a result of international agreement a certain number of these wave lengths are assigned to this country. There has to be some regulation of this limited number of wave lengths. Say there are forty of these wave lengths, for an illustration, you cannot have 400 concerns undertaking simultane- ously to use them. 80, when we come down to thg shorter wave lengths, there is a physi- cal limit to the use of them. “It is inevitable,” Mr. White says, ‘that there must be exercised some- where most rigid control of the alr, ? 50 far as the government may control it and the use of radio by the government shall be by one of the military or by ome of the civil agencles. Personally, 1 believe that there is a great future for radio communication. Properly it is a handmaid of commerce, and contro! houid be Jodged in the civil rather thun in the military brancl - i anch of the govern “If I could have my way, T would give the Department of Commerce very m‘u:fl, larger authority over the general sub.- Ject than it now has, and, in fact, mai« the Department of Commerce the agen-v for regulating this new means of com- munication.” *x % Representative White points out and emphasizes that “radio communicaticr !s undergoing very rapid changes. It is impossible to lay down by legislation rules which will be appropriate for any length of time. We might wake up the next morning and find that overnight improvements or discoveries had entirely revolutionized the art. i “The situation with Tespect to radio develepment is such,” he says, “that control of it must be delegated in some- what general terms to a body that can change Its regulations from time to time as changes come in the art. We must provide flexibility. That can be done only by giving the control to a de- partment or body that can change quick- ly as changes come about in radio sclence. We must give very general and - very comprehensive authority to some body or to some Individual to act, and not make it necessary to wait for Representative White pointedout that if a private concern proposes to bulld & shore wireless tower costing $3,000,000 or’ $4,000,000, it has every right to come to the government and ask for guar- anteed use of a certain wave length. “It ought to have a guarantee that it will be able to operate, and that guar- antee can only be given by licensing to it a certain wave length which it can use without interference,” he says. He insists that the difficulty now is caused by the fact that there are “too many sawing in, all the time. HUDSON RIVER TUNNEL MEANS JOBS FOR MANY Clifford M. Holland, chief engineer of the new Hudson river vehicular tunnel, has notified Col. Arthur Woods of the President's conference on un- employment that the contract for the construction of the subaqueous por- tion of the great roadway, which s to connect the states of New York and New Jersey bepeath the Hudson river at New York city, will be awarded next week by the two state commjs. sions. When in full operation this great tunnel, to be the longest of its kind in the world, will give immediate work to thousands of men for several years to come, and, indirectly, to more all over the country. The project calls for the largest sin- gle contract ever undertaken by elther of the states or by the city of New York. The lowest bid received was $19,300,000. Mr. Holland writes to ‘Washington: “As this work will require a great amount of materials, including 105,000 tons of finished castings, many thou- sands of barrels of cement and con- struction plants of all kinds, it can be readily seen that with the placing of this contract a great stimulus will be given to industry.” ORDERED TO DUTY HERE. . Commander Ormond L. Cox, inspector of machinery ‘at Pittsburgh, Pa., has and some one must have authority to ; been ordered to this city for duty in the. say who may use the lengths, ‘when they can use them, and for what l 1 l ' bureau of engineering, Navy Depdrt- ment. . 5