Evening Star Newspaper, March 26, 1922, Page 33

EDITORI AL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIA L ARTICLES £ 23 . EDITORIAL SECTION Sindiy Stav FEAR U. S. NAVAL STRENGTH| MAY BE CUT BELOW RATIO Supporters of Limitation Treaty Con- cerned Over Disposition in House to Impair Effectiveness of Fleet. BY N. 0. MESSENGER. RESIDENT HARDING received without exultation but with profound satisfaction the an- nouncement of the ratification by the Senate of the four-power treaty, the keystone of the admirable structure for humanity's welfar erected by the arms and far eastern conference. Secretary Hughes, Sen- ator Lodge, Senator Underwood and Mr. Root must have entertained feel- ings of deep gratification that the judgment of sixty-seven senators of both parties had confirmed the con- struction placed upon the treaty by its framers and had rejected t... con- tentions raised against it. Once before had the Senate's ac- tion upon a foreign question been approved by the public—the rejec- tion of the Versailles treaty and the league of nations, sustained by the answer at the polls in 1920. It is predicted by statesmen at the Capi- tol that the affirmative action of the Senate last Friday will be upheld by public opinion to & degree that will give gratification in the years to come to every senator who assisted by his voice and vote in effectuating this feature of the work of the Wash- ington conference. It may reasonably be expected. it is sald, that the other treaties still pending, a part of the constructive work of the conference, will be rati- fied with less delay. PROGRAM OF HOUSE NOT IN LINE WITH TREATY. The neoxt question'is whether the House will be allowed to play at cross purposes with the treaty-mak- ing and treaty-ratifying branches of the government by rendering nugatory the naval limita- tion agreemont by cutting down the appropriations for the Navy to a de- gree which will destroy the ratio of | the signatory na-| strength among tions and place the United States way below the point of effectiveness agreed upon among the nations. It is assumed that the Senate will in the end heed the appeal of the executive branch and restore the ‘ap- propriations to the rational amount, and that the House, after making a play for a record of economy, will yield. It is unthinkable to the Presi- dent and to senators who are intent upon completing the work of the great conference that the Navy can be scuttled by its own crew, so to, speak. CLOSE WATCH TO BE KEPT ON STRIKE SITUATION. President Harding found last Fri- day presenting both satisfaction and anxiety. At the cabinet meeting, which was in session while the Sen- ate was concluding action on the; treaty, it was sorrowfully recognized that there was little hope of belng able to avert the coal strike, and that the government's next efforts must: be directed to protecting the public. What they will be is not disclosed at this time, but Attorney General Daugherty has glven assurance that the government will use Its powers ‘to an extent never exerted before if circumstances warrant. HOLD OUT THE PROMISE OF BENEFIT TO PUBRLIC, Intimations are thrown out by the operators that the public may bene- fit in the end by the strike through reduced prices to be paid for coal in the future. Everybody is aware of the protests which have increased in volume and strength over the soar- ing prices of coal. Frank admission: insisting upon ! {has been made from time to time by operators that the public .-was being required to pay too much, but the claim was put forward that the ex- cesslve charge was due to clrcum- stances other than those within the control of the operators, rallroad rates being one of them. All news reports up to the hour forecast the coming struggle be- tween the miners and operators as likely to be one of the gregtest labor contests the country has 'ever wit- nessed. The outcome may largely depend upon a question of endur- ance—who can hold out longest, the users of coal or the miners and their ipossible sympathizing afiiliated workers. The union organizers will make a last effort to bring the non-union miners to strike, and If that can be done the situation will unquestion- {ably become exceedingly grave, war- ranting the government in taking whatever steps may be necessary to assure production. GOVERNMENT HAS WIDE POWERS FOR ACTION. The government's policy is to re- gard the production and transporta- tion of coal as a necessity of the na- | tion's life, comparable to the main- tenance of railway transportation. That policy is fixed and has been offi- j clally announced. Proceeding uponi that principle, the government, it u| 1 said, will find broad latitude in the field of action necessary to carry it out. The crisis may not come for many weeks, it is said in coal circles, as! immense reserve stocks of fuel have been accumulated by industries and dealers, while current needs will he} | partially supplied by the non-union | miners as long as they refrain from joining the strike, | Back of the entire situation looms one specter which majority public j sentiment in this country abhors— the possibility of the necessity of nationalizing the coal mines. Soviet sentiment probably cherishes the ne-l cret hope that such a thing can be brought about. Let it be understood now and most cmphatically that thisadministration | has no such idea, and will see to it | that other means are found to hlndlel | the question without resort to that I plan. , ' RETREAT BY THE HOUSE |AVERTS A CONFLICT. | The House, after asserting its right 1o exercise a power and then refrain- ing froh exercising it, removed a possible cause of further friction be- tween the executive and Congress. The Army appropriation bill, as re- ported, carried a provision, which, by lmiting the use of funds, would amount virtually to the Congress dlctating to the President as to the : location of troops. | Inasmuch as the Constitution of ! the United States declares the Presi- jdent Is the cammander-in-chief of {the Army and Navy, the executive branch of the government insisted that such action by Congress would be an Invasion of the President’s pre- rogative. There was every prospect of a locking of horns which would have made things uncomfortable for all concerned, but the House dropped out the committee provision. It is sald at the Capitol that further | efforts will be made from now on to bring about a better understanding between the legisiative and executive branches. It is found that friction is not paylng as a political asset. Wants All Federal Departments Housed in Their Own Buildings Erection of gaevernment-owned buildings for every federal depart- ment, and for such independent es- tablishments as need them, so that Uncle Sam's entire workshop can be housed in its own units, systematical- 1y located and co-ordinated, is advo- cated by Representative John W. Lang- Jey of Kentucky, chairman of the House committee on public buildings and grounds. This chain of government buildings ehould be built as fast as possible, and he is working toward that end, Mr. Langley says. He believes that a definite building program should be adopted, which would result in estab- lishment of permanent homes for all government activities, which would stop the rental of many privately owned buildings, many of which are fire- traps, he says, insanitary and not well adapted to the uses required. This would not only effect a saving on rental charges, but would eafe- guard vital records of the depart- ments which are now constantly sub- Jjected to fire hazards, and should re- sult in greater economies and effi- clency within each ~ brlnr.‘!l of the federal service. In this ambition Representative Langley has the support of the Pub- lic Bulldings Commission, which has now been in existence for three years, and which has persistently been urg- ing Congress to authorize it to make an investigation of the present and prospective needs for government ‘bufldings and report a definite pro- gram for construction. Two reasons advaiced by Repre- sentative Langley for such 4 govern- ment building program are increased economy by getting all the activities of each department, or related serv- ices, under one roof or in a group of bulldings near together, and a big saving through getting out of rented buildings. Te record of the Public Bulldings Commission support these reasons. There it is shown that the Departriient of Agriculture, for ex- ample, is now scattered all over the city in at least twenty-five buildings, fifteen of which are rented and ten government owned. Representative Langley, as another example, points to the Department of Labor, because a lease for the building occupied by the administrative offices is just being renewed, at a rental of $24,000, and the Labor Department, relatively one of the smallest in the entire federal establishment, is located in three buildings. The Treasury Department is a third fllustration, being scattered in six rented buildings, for which a total rental of $99,286 is paid. The rgeords of the public buildings commission show . that at present Uncle Sam is paying $500,000 a year rent for privately owned buildings, whereas on March 1, 1919, he was pay- ing $1,500,000. This big reduction has been effected by the commission at relatively small- expense. The com- mission three years ago was given $10,000, and it still has $1,500 left, which, in itself, is a record for any government commission. Representative Langley’s bullding program would also include the clear- ing away of all war-work bulldings which have outlived their usefulness or which are not adapted for peace- time needs of the departments, and he would erect on the same sites modern office buildings. He is op- posed to buying sites for new build- ings as the program develops, but argues that the government already owns an abundance of land properly located for any buildings that may be erected for at least ten years to come. He thinks trat Uncle Sam should get out of the hotel business, and that all government employes should be but on the same footing. WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, Some Measures Now Pending in Congress RCH 26, 1922, In Which Women Have a Special Interest BY WINIFRED MALLON. IME was, and not 5o very long ago, When women generally looked to Congress for prohibition and for suffrage, but for little else. They wanted, greatly wanted, both, and they came to Washington for them. Now, in thg light of the experience gained while traveling that long, hard road, they find tie calendars of both the Senatq and Housp well sprinkled with bills of immense and personal and direct interest to them, with still others pending ir committee, and the subject of hearings, which they attend numerously and with enthusiasm, Much of the legislation considered, defeated and enacted in times past wa¥ of equally great concern to women, if they had only known it. They know it now. They have taken on the job of being citizens. That Congress also knows it is amply evidenced by the Increaged attentlon which now is devoted to measures which, while not specifically “women’s bills,” are nevertheless bilis in walch'women take & speclal interest. * k %k % p Among them are the Austrian credits bill, referred to by relief organizations as the “chils dren's bill,” extending for twenty-five years the period within which Austria may pay for the flour purchased from the United States Grain Corporation, and use in the meantime her asséts as a basis for the restabllization of her currency ; bills giving Congress power to enact uniform marriage and divorce laws; the Towner-Sterling bill to create a department of education; the Fess-Capper bill for the promotion of physical education; the Sterling-Lehlbach reclassification bill; biils providing for the separate naturaliza- tion of women and the retention of their citizen- ship by American women marrying aliens: a bill proposing a constitutional amendment giving Con- gress power to regulate the employment of women under twenty-one years of age, and scores of other meabures, ranging all the way from the Ladd bill for the stabilization of prices of farm products, which is backed with enthuslasm by farm women's organizations, to a bill introduced by Representative Peterson of New York to make August 23, the anniversary of the adoption of the federal woman suffrage amendment, a national holiday. The “maternity bill,” introduced by Miss Jeannette Rankin of Montana in the Sixty-fifth Congress, behind which women generally con- centrated, became a law last November, and thirty-five states, through their governors and state legislatures, already have accepted the terms on which, under the provisions of tae act, they may benefit by the appropriation for fed- eral ald in caring for mothers and children, and, it Is hoped, reduce the appallingly high record of infant mortality in this country. * % X * In addition to the lump sum to be used in carrying out the act, the children's bureau has been granted by tals Congress an increase of $40.000 over the $80,000 allowed it last year for child welfare work, its total appropriation for the next fiscal year amounting to $311%040, out of which all expenses for salaries and administra- tion of the bureau must be met. Congress has also increased from eight to twelve the number of positions paying $2,000 or more, thereby per- mitting the bureau to retain the services of ex- perts it would otherwise have lost. ‘Tae new appropriation for the women's bureau, also in the Department.of La®urr per- mits an increase from three to eight in the number of positions paying $1,800 and pyer, the total appropriation being $100,000, as against 475,000 1ast year. Only three positigns at 32,000 were authorized last year, in spite of the high professional value of the work required. This year's appropriation, which will become available July 1, gives the bureau three assistants at $2,200, one at $2,600 and one at $3,000. In the case of bota bureaus the increases were recommended by the budget bureau under Gen. Dawes, reduced by the House, restored by the Senate and finally agreed to in conference. \ * ok k% ‘When it was realized that one out of every four Americans drafted for service in the world war was flliterate, that 75 per cent of the boys on arrival in camp were found to have physical defects that might have been removed, and that surveys regarding health conditions of sciool children revealed not more than 25 per cent of them physically fit, men and women dlike were shocked, and bills to promoie education, health, Americanization and other welfare measures - were introduced in rapid succession in both houses. There are today literally hundreds of such bills pending before committees. The Towner-Sterling bill, providing for the creation of a.department of education, with federal appropriations amounting to $100,000.000 10 ald the etates In dealing with the problems of illiteracy, the education and Americanization of aliens, and for the partial payment of teachers’ salaries to provide better instruction and extended school terms, especially in rural schools and schools in sparsely settled localities, no money to be apportioned to' any state which fails to pro- vide an equal sum for the same purpose, is the best known and most widely approved of all the education bills. As the Smith-Towner bill, it was favorably reported with amendments by tae House committee on education and Senate com- mittee on education and labor in the last Con- gress, and, as still further revised, was intro- duced last April by Representative Towner of Jowa and Senator Sterling of South Dakota. Action in committee was halted by the introduc- tion of bills providing for a public welfare depart- ment, which would include education as one of its four divisions, a plan strongly opposed by those regarding education as a major and not a minor conslderation. Action on both bills is now awaiting the report of the joint congressional committee for the reorganization of the govern- ment departments, which is in the hands of the President, but has not yet been made public. * %k %k X In the mean time, the Towner-Sterling bill, which 1s indorsed by the National Education As- soclation, the American Council on Eduéation. the American Federation of Labor, the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teachers Assoclation, the National League of Women Voters, the Woman's Christlan Temperance Union, the Women's Re- lief Corps and the American Library Association, and other national organizations, was brought to the attention of President Harding in a petition presented on October 31, 1921, by a group of prominent men and women, including Mrs. Thomas G. Winter, president of the General Fed- eration of Women's Clubs, who on the following day received her appointment by the President as one of the foyr woman members of the ad- visory committee to tHe American delegation at the arms conference. The public welfare department bill, on which 8 joint congressional hearing was held last May, ‘was introduced. by Senator Kenyon of Iowa and Representative Fess of Ohio, both of whom were at the same time friendly toward the Towner- Sterling bill. The retirement of Senator Kenyon leaves Serator Borah of Idaho at the head of the Senate committee on education and labor, with Senator Sterling as the ranking republican mem- ber. * X ¥ * The Fess-Capper bill for the promotion of physical education, which was introduced in 1920 and reintroduced early in the present Congress with revisions, including the elimination of the provision for compulsory physical examination of achool children, which was opposed In hearings held in May, 1920, and January and February, 1921, fs also pending befcre the House commit- tee on education and the Senate committee on edu- cation and labor. It provides for the creation of a division of physical education,in the bureau of “education which shall co-operate with the states in furthering physical education and training, the appropriation authorized being $10,000,000 for the first fiscal year, and for each subsequent year an amount sufficient to allot $1 per child of school age to each state accepting the terms of the act. As provided in the Towner-Sterling bill, no money shall be apportioned to any state failing to pro- vide an equal sum for the same purpose. Approximately $100,000,000 was lost last year in the public schools through absence of enrolled children because of ill health, waile young peo- ple in Industry, under the age of nineteen, lost through i1l health a total of $71,250,000, according to Senator Capper, who estimates that If these amounts can be reduced by even 10 per cent more will have been saved than the entire cost involved in the proposed legislation. *x ¥ % X ' An omnibus bill introduced March 11 by Rep- resentative Joanson of Washington, chairman of the House committee on immigration and natural- ization, provides for the transformation of the bureau of naturalization of the Labor Depart- ment into a bureau of citizenship with greatly in- creased powers, Tevises the naturalization laws, and estiblishes an elaborate system for the regis- tration and education of aliens, the costs to be defrayed from a fund to be derived from the an- nual fees of $5 required of registrants over twen- ty-one, and $3 from registrants between eighteen and twenty-one (no fee to be collected for a wife registered by her husband) expended, with the ap- proval of the Secretary of Labor, by the director of the bureau of citizenship, who Is charged, under the Secretary, with the administration of the act, the offices of commissioner of naturalization and deputy commissioner of naturalization being abolished. In this bill are incorporated provisions for the separate naturalization and citizenship of married women, separate bills exclusively provid- ing for which have previously been introduced by Representative Rogers of Massacausetts and Rep- Tesentative Raker of California. * Xk Xk ok The Johnson bill greatly improves the present condition of American women marrying or who have married aliens by permitting any woman . living in the United States who has lost her citi- zenship by reason of her marriage immediately to regain it on application to an authorized court official, and by permitting any American woman who may hereafter marry an alien to retain her citizenship during residence in the United States, and during residence abroad provided she reg- isters at stated intervals, recording with an Amer- ican consul her desire and intention in good faith to retain her citizenship. On the other hand, it makes it considerably harder than at present under certain conditions for other American women now married to alien husbands. At present an American woman who is either the widow of or divorced from & for- elgner may, if living abroad, regain her citizen- ship by registering before an American consul, or automatically by returning to tne Uhnited States. TUnder the proposed law she must, im- mediately preceding the filing pf her petition, live continuously for at least five years in the United (Continued on Third Page.) Better Care for Disabled World War Service Men Provided in Bill House Is Likely to Pass This Week BY WILL P. KENNEDY. ICK soldiers first and then the wecll soldiers,” is the slogan with which Repre- sentative John W. Langley of the House committee on public buildings and grounds and Senator Fernald of Maine, chairman of the rresponding Senate committee, Went to the White House last week urging the administration to get be- hind’them in their efforts to &§¢ the hospitalization bill through Uefore the so-called soldiers’ bonus. The bill which is awaiting action carries $17,000,000 for new hospitals for ex:service men and makes a total of more than $38,000,000 which Chair- man Langley has fathered for hospitall- zation facilities. Early Action Promised. ‘With the bonus bill passed in the House, Representative Langley has been promised that his bill will be put through under a special rule making it immediately in order fol- lowing the Army appropriation bill. This means that the Langley hos- pitalization bill probably will be be- fore the House on Tuesday. Senator Fernald is going to try to have it passed by the Senate ahead of the soldier bonus bill. £ Members of Congress have bunl unanimous in the general policy—no | request of the hospitalization board. then headed by Dr. Willlam Charles ‘White, supplemental legislation was passed which made this money avalil- able for new construction or for re- pairs, improvements and extensions. There has been some complaint about how this money was used, es- peclally regarding several institu- tions on which considerable money was expended, such as at Fox Hills, N. J., which has just been closed; at Perryville, Md.,, and at Fort McKen- zle, Wyo. . The net result was that the Amer!- can Legion estimated that at least $16,000,000 additional would be needed, chiefly for new construction. Chairman Langley promptly intro- duced a bill for that amount. New Commission Named. President Harding then appointed a new commission, headed by Brig. Gen. Charles E. Sawyer, his personal representative; Col. C. R. Forbes, director of the United States Veterans’ Bureau; Maj. Gen. M. W. Ireland, sur- geon general of the Army; Rear Ad- miral E. R. Stitt, chief of the bureau of medicine and surgery of the Navy; Asst. Surg. Gen. C. C. Plerce, for the public health service; Dr. Willlam A. White, superintendent of. St. Eliza- beth’s Hospital, as an authority on neuropsychriatic cases, and Charles March 14, and is coming up for ac- tion early this week. This report points qut that there is urgent need for additional beds for sick and dis- abled ex-service men, especially those suffering from tubercular and mental and nervous diseases. ‘There were in hospitals—govern- ment, private and contract—on Feb- ruary 23, 1922, a total of 30,879 pa- tients.. Of this number 21,772 were in government institutions. Of these 12,274 were victims of tuberculosis, 9,069 neuropsychriatic and 9,636 gen- eral medical and surgical cases. It appears that the hospital situa- tion has grown steadily worse for the Teason that a far greater number of men have applied for ‘treatment than was anticipated, and consequently the government has been forced to use buildings of a temporary charac- ter, non-fireproof and unsuitable for, hospital purposes. Today there are more than 4,000 neuropsychriatic pa- tients in contract institutions rece!v-' ing inadequate care. In spite of the disadvantages of contract care, it has been absolutely necessary to continue | hospitals where Langley bill has been that in the past Uncle Sam generally has done his building under the jurisdiction of the supervising architect of the Treasury. In the hearings, however, it was shown that this has not always been true, and cases were cited where the Army, Navy and Interior Department have done emergency or special con- struction work. This started a really bitter fight in the committee. Assistant Secretary Clifford of the Treasury Department, in charge of public health work, con- tended that there ought not to be diyided building jurisdiction. At one of the livellest interchanges that ever occurred before a committee of Congress Mr. Clifford and Col. Forbes had a set-to. Col. Forbes contended that there ought not to be two juris- dictions over the hospital work, and inasmuch as section 9 of the Sweet bill co-ordinated all of the sol- dier work into the Veterans' Bu- reau, making that agency entirely vesponsible for hospitalization, he ought to have authority to locate the they were most to employ it until the needed govern-|needed and could do the best work, ment facilities are made available. Million Dollars Added. In the committee consideration of the Langley bill attention was called to the fact that Col. Forbes had indi- matter whether they were for or H. Burke, commissioner of Indian|cated he might need a few hundred against the bonus—to do all that can be done for the human wreckage of the war—the maimed and sick, espe- clally those whose minds and nerves were- disordered in the maelstrom of the war or who are suffering from the living death of tubercular af- filction. The Américan Legion has always put the proper care of the sick and injured ahead of any other legislation, and the service men, one and all, have urged from the start that the nation “take care of the wounded and sick first.” So there Is little doubt but that the new hos- pital bill will be rushed through, and that the bonus legislation will in no way interfere with the plans of Un-| cle Sam for providing adequate hos- pital facilities for those who are suffering in mind and body. Fund' About Exhausted. The Langley hospitalisation bill in the Bixty-sixth Congress oarried, as amended, '$18,600,000. All of that has been expended except a small emer- gency balance on improvements, re- pairs and extensions of existing in- stitutions, including the taking over of three Army posts. This fund was originally avallable for new hospital construction, but’ at thd affairs. After conferences, this committee approved the Langley bill for new hospital construction, which provided that the director of the Veterans' Bureau, undér the approval of the President, ‘should have control not only over the location of hospitals, but of the money authorized by the bill. This new hospitalization com- mission unanimoqusly approved the Langley bill, with provisions regard- ing the authority of the President to use construction engineers and all experts and equipment of any branch of the federal service to aid him in this work. A provision in this bill that not to exceed $500,000 should . be spent on the hospital in Washington known as Mount Alto was stricken out, on the contention that this should be left to the discretion of the director, the same as all other projects. This re- port of the committee was approve and . signed personally by the Presi- dent. ~ Modified Bill Introduced, Representative Langley then intro- ducéd a modified bjll to meet the rec- ommendations oc the commission, which bill was favorably reported on thousand dollars more than the $16,- 000,000 estimated. *“What's the use of splitting up a few hundred thousand dollars where the care of the injured soldiers is concerned?” sald Chairman Langley. “Let’s make it $17,000,000 and do the job right,” and that passed the committee with cheers.. The passage of this bill means that $38,000,000 for hospitalization facili- ties will have been fathered by Rep- resentative Langley, including an ad- ditional half million he got for the Speedway Hospital, Chicago, and three-quarters of a million for Daw- son Springs, Ky. The committee authorized an amendment to be offered by Chair- man Langley, on the floor which would make all of the facilities of these hospitals available for Span- ish war veterans. The commander- in-chief of the Spanish War Veterans appeared before the committee and contended that while the old soldiers’ homes are now avallable to the Span- ish war veterans, there are many tubercular, nervous and mental cases among’them which the facili- ties of the soldiers’ home hospitals are not capable of handling properly. Conflict as to Jurisdiction. A cause of contention over the new and should have charge of their con- #truction to be assured that they were properly fitted for the work. This has been practically the only contro- versy. 5 JIndorsed by: the President. A conference was held at the White House last Sunday, in which the President again gave hearty indorse- ment to the Langley bill. This swas reaffirmed on Wednesday, when Chairmen Langley of the House and Senator Fernald of the Senate committee again conferred with the President. In conferences with his colleagues Chairman Langley has emphasized that this controversy over building jurisdiction and the decision in the Langley bill does not change the government policy. When an omni- bus public building bill goes through again—and he expects it will not be long—they supervising architect's of- fice will again be in charge. As Brig. Gen. Sawyer said in explaining the decision to give this construction work over to Col.-Forbes now, “high- power specialized hospitals are needed”. so as to give specialized treatnient. Under the Langley bill, it is the purpose_of the Veterans' Bureau to erect seven or elght new hospitals at s not yet announced, except that Forbes and Brig. Gen. Sawyer are agreed that one of these should be in the National Capital for the care-of speclal e‘lm g FATE OF POTASH INDUSTRY INVOLVED IN TARIFF BILL Plants Erected During War Now Closed Because They Cannot Compete With German and French Producers. BY G. GOULD LINCOLN, NE industry, at least, in the United States is anxiously awaiting the enactment of the permanent tarift bill into law—the potash industry. This industry came into being when the war cut off the supply of German potash, an essential in the fertilizers used by American farmers, particularly in the Atlantic coast states. Approximately $30,000,000 were invested in the new industry and plants established in many parts of the country. But when German potash became available again and at prices far be- low the prices for which the Ameri- can' concerns could sell their product land live, the American plants shut down. They are shut down today, and the only American potash being turned out now is in the by-products obtained in the manufacture of other materials. Even that is not being sold. H SLIDING SCALE OF DUTIES FOR FIVE-YEAR PERIOD. In the permanent tariff bill—the Fordney bill—passed by the House, potash is carrled in the free list, but with an important proviso. This proviso fixes a duty on potash for the next five years, on a sliding scale. The first year the duty is 213 cents per pound actual potash imported. The second year the duty is 2 cents a pound; the third vear, 1% cents: the fourth year, 1 cent, and the fifth year, 3 cent. It is about this provision that the contest between the American potash producers on the one hand and the fertilizer manufacturers and the Ger- ! man syndicate on the other is now centering. The American producers insist that if they are given this amount of protection during the com- ing five years they will be able to meet on even terms thereafter, with- out duty, the German and French producers of potash. The French now Possess the potash mines of Alsace, formerly owned by the Germans. The Senate fianance committee is now struggling with the tariff bill, and hopes to be able to report it to the Senate by April 1, or soon there- after. So far the details of the meas- ure have not been made public. But the belief prevails that the com- mittee will retain in the measure a provision similar to that in the House bill~giving protection to the Ameri- can potash Industry. FARMERS AND CONSUMERS HAVE THE CHIEF STAKE. ‘The American farmet, and after him the consumer of farm products in the United States, after all, have the chief interest in this contest. For practically all the potash used in this country is used in fertilizers by the farmers and used to increase the crops. ‘The question seems to frame itself this way: Are the American farmers willing for the next five years to pay more for the potash needed for fertilizer than they would pay if there were no duty on potash, in order that there may be built up an American source of supply that will make this country independent in the future of the Ger- man and French monopolies? When the war with Germany broke out, long before the United States entered that conflict, the importations of German potash soon ceased. The American farmer could not get pot- ash for his lands after the stocks already In this country had been ex- hausted. Under the urgent solicita- tion of the government, Americans entered the field of producing potash. In 1915 the domestic production of potash was 1,090 tons. The importa- tion of potash was not entirely cut off during the war, and 48,867 tons were imported in 1915. But the average annual consumption of potash in the TUnited States prior to the war was 250,000 tons. It is easy to see that the American farmers suffered in 1915 from lack of potash. PRODUCTION OF POTASH DURING AND SINGE WAR. In 1916 the production of American potash. increased ‘o 9,720 .tons and the Iimportation decreased to 7,885 tons; in 1917 the American production was 32,573 tons and importation 8,100 tons; in 1918 the American produc- tion was 54,803 tons end the impor- tation 7,957 tons; in 1919 the Ameri- can production was 30,845 tons and the importation 39,619 tons; in 1920 the American production was 48,684 tons and the importation 223,000 tons. The foreign potash was sold here at prices less than the cost of pro- duction in this country. Not un- naturally, the American plants closed down in rapid succession. Two questions naturally present themselves in the consideration’ of this matter of a tariff on potash. The first is How much more is it going to cost the American farmers, and, after them, the consumers of foodstuffs, ‘with the tariff in effect? The second is Are there sufficient supplies of potash to be found in the United States’ and accessible, to meet a great part of the requirements of the American farmers? ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF FERTILIZER CONTENT. Potash is not used by the farmers “Just so.” It is mixed in fertilizers containing a certain percentage of phosphoric acld, ammonia and potash. The content of the fertilizer varles according to the use which is to be made of it. For instance, the “2-8-2" formula is used to a great extent In the growing of cotton in the south. This formula calls for 2 per cent of ammonla, containing the nitrogen needed; 8 per cent of phosphoric acld and 2 per cent of potash, the residue being dirt. A ton of fertilizer, there. fore, does not contain very great farmer uses only from 40 to 60 pounds of potash to the ton of fertilizer. With a duty of 2% cents per pound, s proposed for the first year, the cost of potash per ton of fertilizer then would be increased by from $1 to $1.50. ‘The proponents of the tariff duty asserted before the Senate flnance committee that the cotton farmers us- ing fertilizer would have their cost increased by only 30 cents per acre. They contend that this could not in- crease the price of cotton In this country. With reference to tobacco, the supporters of the tariff say that it could not increase the ice of to- bacco more than 3-10ths offa cent per pound. WHAT IT WOULD ADD TO COST OF POTATOES. A witness appearing against the tarift asserted that, if levied, it would cost the farmers producing potatoes in New Jersey, where they use a great deal of potash in fertilizer, about 2 cents per bushel of potaces raised. These increases in costs due to the proposed duty on potash do not ap- pear to be excessive. But the farmer in this country has been hard hit by the fall in prices, and it is not un- likely that he would object to any increase in his costs, no matter how small. On the other hand, the Ameri- can farmer has felt the pinch due to the failure of the German potash supply during the war and the very high prices for potash which were recorded here during the period when a very limited supply was to ‘be had. If a big American produc- tion can be bullt up within five years, as the producers claim, sufficient to meet practically all the needs of the farmers, and at the end of that time the American-made potash csn be sold for as low prices as the German, then the American farmer may be willing to see this plan carrie1 ougt. At present the German and French potash is sold here for about 64 cents per unit of potash, which means, In plain English, 20 pounds of potash, a unit being 1 per cent of a short ton. The American producers figure that they can produce and sell it at $1.15 per unit. The 2% cents per pound tariff duty will bring the price of the imported article up to that figure, they say. AMPLE AMERICAN SUPPLY AT END OF FIVE YEARS. The claim of the American pr. jducers {s that within the next five vears they will have developed meth- ods of production to such an extent that potash can be produced as cheaply here as in Germany. In Ger- many the potash is obtained from mines deep under the surface. In the United States large supplles of potash are found in the brine of lakes in California, Nebraska and Utah, as well as in the rock in other states and In the sands extending from New Jersey down part of the Atlantic coast. The geological survey has es- i timated tke supplies of potash in the United States undeveloped as vast and capable of caring for all the needs of this country for many hun- dreds of years to come. For instance, in Searles Lake, Calif, it is* esti- 20,000,000 tons of potash, enough to meet the normal demands of this country for nearly 100 years. Three thousand lakes and ponds in Nebraska, varying in size from an acre to 600 or mare acres, are estimated to contain enough potash to meet all the coun- try’s needs for twenty years. In Wyoming, the geological survey es- timates, there are 200,000,000 tons of leucite rock, containing 11 per*cent pure potash, or enough §o supply the country’s demands for upward of Q)O years. mated there are CHARGES OF A CONSPIRACY AGAINST U. S. INDUSTRY. The American producers are faced with the opposition of the German potash syndicate and a similar syn- dicate operating the French Alsace potash mines. The American pro- ducers Insist that these foreign pro- ducers gre “dumping” cheap potash into the United States In violation of the anti-dumping laws of Con- gress. They charge there is a con- spiracy to run them out of business, leaving the Germans and French to dominate the world so far as potash is concerned. Under & contract signed with the German syndicate by thirty-four American concerng dealing In potash, including the big manufacturers of fertilizer, it was agreed to take from llhe German syndicate 75 per cent of the requirements of these American concerns. Not long after the signing of this contract the same American concerns made a contract with the French syndicate for 25 per cent of their needs. These contracts run un- til April 30. The American producers claim that they were frozen out. They say they offered to sell large. quantities of their potash as low as the Germans offered it, just to get rid of it. But they had no success. Huerta Here Soon On Fiscal Errand Adolfe de la Huerta, minister of the treasury of Mexico, is expected to ar- rive in this cougtry In a short time to confer with federal officials and busi- ness men regarding plans for an adjust- ment of Mexico's financial and oil In- terests. X ‘While no official information has been received here regarding the time or purpose of his visit, it is said at thy ‘White House that he would be recelved amount of potash. As a matter of |by President Harding or Secretary fact, it has beem estimated that a|Hughes should he request an audience.