Evening Star Newspaper, December 8, 1922, Page 1

WEATHER. Rain tonight, probably morrow morning: at 2 p.m. today: today: lowest, 36, u/A Full report on | ended { 2w yesterd; warmer tonight {| much colder tomorrow night. | Temperature for twenty-four hours { Highest, 51, at clearing te at 10:30 p.m. page 23. | | ! Closing N. Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 28 No. 28,711, Yntered as second-class matte! post officeWashington, D. C. T ¢ Foening Star. WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1922—FIFTY-TWO PAGES. as the papers “From Press to Home Within the Hour™ ‘The Star’s carrier system covers city block and the regular editi delivered to Washington homes as fast edition e e Yesterday’s Circulation, 92,81 7 TWO CENTS. TRANSPORTATION VITAL ISSUE BEFORE U. S. NOW, | PRESIDENT DECLARES Asks Reforms|Text of President’s Address in Congress Message. SEES SCANDAL IN DRY LAWS Prop(;ses Steps to Enforce Prohibi- ° tion Aect. Stressing the problem of transporta- 1ion as of exceeding importance, Pres- ident Harding, in his address to Con- s today. outlined a plan of far- -hing legislation dealing with the railroads. The message, which dealt with near- Iy a score of subjects, emphasized wrohibition, farm credits, child labor and immigration. More Power Asked For. Tie proposed that the railroad Labor Roard be given power to enforce its decisions, both upon the railroads and upen the employes. e proposed, too, that®the labor Board te made a division in the In- terstate Commerce Commission. A< an alternative to the latter propo- Railroad Labor Board is a separate tribunal. the ntinued L if o be o the President recommended that the make-up of the hoard be changed so 1hat partisan membership may be ished. through the elimination of three members nominated by the em- ploves and three by the railway man- agers. Further, he proposed that the Railway Labor Board have its head- auarters in Washingt where it vould be in ¢ contact with the rate-making v. the Interstate Com- merce Commission. Merger of Lines Suggested. a4 means of bringing about more emical operation. the President suggested the merger of railroad lines into systems. ax provided in the trans- ation operation.” said the ssing the transporta- tion situation, “doesn’s afford the cure. It was government bperation“witich Trought us to the very order of things which we now rebel, and we 11 liquidating the cost of that supreme folly.” Necessity of prompt action to aid the American farmers through addi- tional credit facilities, was impressed upon Congress by the President. He declared, however, that while increas- ed credit facilities would help to solve the problems of the farmer, per- nanent agricultural good fortune de- pended upon better and cheaper trans- portation. To Enforce Dry Act The President announced his inten- € inviting the governors of the tes and territories to a conference with the federal authorities on enforcement of the prohibition His proposal, he said, is to bring bout a better understanding and bet- ter co-operation between the state d federal authorities in this matter. ‘onditions surrounding the enforce- ment of prohibition must be bettered, he said. “In plain speaking.” said the Presi- dent, “there are conditions relating to its enforcement which savor of na- tion-wide scandal. It is the most demoralizing factor in our public Jife e President declared that the day is unlikely to come when the eight- eenth amendment to the Constitution As here the will be repealed. He added, however, that if the prohibition enforcement act provisions are contrary to delib- «rate public o] "W 1 do not helieve. the ri s and literal en forcement will co trate public af tention on any requisite modification. Would Abolish Child Labor. utional amendment provid- ing for the abolition of child labor and prohibiting the issue of tax- exempt the President. At the close of his message the President discussed foreign relations, pointing to the treaties growing out of the Washington conference on limitation of armaments and declar- ing that the four-power Pacific treaty has brought new confidence in .a maintained peace. “I can well believe it might be made a model for like assurances wherever in interests are concerned.” Against Internationalism. The President said that although the United States had expressed hos- tlity to a_“supergovernment,” “after all, there is less difference about the part this great republic shall play in furthering peace and advancing humanity than in the manner of playing it. We ask no one to assume responsibility for us—we assume no responsibility which others must bear for themselves, unless national- ity is hopelessly swallowed up in in- ternationalism.” Galleries Packed. eldom have the galleries been more closely packed than today. while ually a joint orous applause than he re- ceived today. When he came to the Capitol at the opening of the third and extraordinary session of the pres- ent Congress to deliver his ship sub- sidy message it was received in a manner which approached coolness. The applause which greeted his pres- ence today was in distinct contrast. On the floor members of the cabinet and members of the Senate occupled the two frogt rows and were led in by Senators Lodge and Underwood. Members of the diplomatic corps Wwere escorted to a block of seats on the republican side of the House by Chairman Porter and other members f the foreign affairs committee, act- = as a reception committee. The iplomatic gallery was filled with wives and other woman members of the official representatives of foreign governments, ted Assemblage. Seldom has there been a larger num- ber of persons in the President’s own gallery than today. Among these were Mrs. William H. Taft, wife of the Chief Justice; Mrs. Wallace, wife of the Secretary of Agriculture; Mrs. Fall, wife of the Secretary of the In- ior; Mrs. Work. wife of the ’ost- ster General; Mrs. F. W. Upham of Chicago. Mrs. Scobey. wife of the di- securities were proposed by the world any common ! Members of the Congress: So many problems are calling for solution that a recital of all of them, in the face of the known | limitations of a short session of Congress, would seem to lack sin- cerity of purpose. It is four years since the world war ended, but the inevitable readjustment of the so- cial and economic order is not more than barely begun. There is no ac- ceptance of pre-war conditions anywhere in the world. In & very general way humanity harbors in- dividual wishes to go on with war- | time compensations for production, with pre-war requirements in ex- penditure. In short, every onme, | speaking broadly. craves readjust- ment for everybody except himself, while there can be no just and per- manent readjustment except when all participate. The civilization which measured its strength of genius and the power of science and the resources of industries, in addition to test- ing the limits of man power and the endurance and heroism of men and women—that same civil- ization is brought to its severest test in restoring a tranquil order and committing humanity to the stable ways of peace. ! Old. Order Hax Vanished. | If the sober and deliberate ap- | praisai of pre-war civitization makes it seem a worth-while in- | heritance, then with patience and | &00d courage it will be preserved. There never again will be pre- cisely the old order; indeed, T know of no one who thinks it to be de- sirable. For out of the old order came the war itself, and the new order, established and made secure, never will permit its recurrence. 1t is no figure of speech to say | we have come to the test of our civilization. The world has been ! passing—is today passing—through PRESIDENT COVERS | | ALLMAJOR ISSUES Address to Congress Gives Complete Account of Na- tion’s Problems. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. | President Harding has taken com- | plete cognizance in his message to Congress today of the major prob- lems which made the electorate so restless this year and brought such a confused result in the elections just a month ago yesterday. The President says something on nearly every subject which might have had anything to do with the balloting, or which might affect the course of affairs in the next na- | tional referendum in 1924. Members | | of both parties will agree that, fr-| respective of the merit of Mr. Hard- | ing’s proposals. whether they con stitute & cure for the ills or a plea in avoidange, the President has. nevertheless Ly his recitation of; problems given a comptehensive ac- count of “the state of the Union.” | Revolt Among Farmers. Much of what Mr. Harding has recommended does not come as a surprise, but, until the executive speaks, until the leader of the dom- fnant political party puts his words | formally on record, there is never the |same weight given or the same at- tention paid to the recommendations. | _Agriculture_stands first and fore- most_in Mr. Harding's thought. He pknows that the revolt in the middle west, indeed, the friction inside the republican party, has at its root a dissatisfaction with America’s imper- fect system of financing the farmer. Enlargement of the powers of the farm loan bureau, together with the permanent establishment of a system that will do at all times what the War Finance Corporation did in an emer- gency is what Mr. Harding proposes. The details are being worked out in congressional committees now. But credits alone aren't sufficient. Freight rates have been a bugaboo, and with that problem the President links the poor transportation. Mr. HardIng makes a plea for more use of the motor truck, better highways and | a co-ordination of motor facilities to move crops. He openly cirticizes the ! railroads for saying their motive | power is good when it isn’t, and he | deplores the poor service they have i given in regions of the country where Porishable crops nad o be moved: He | refers particularly to the Pacific cnlsl.l The Labor Dispute. Yet as the President tackles the railroad problem, he realizes in his speech that the railroad strike was not an accident, but that back of it all is the perennial dispute about la- bor. The most important recom- mendation he makes is the abolition of the United States Railroad Labor Board, or rather its complete revision. As has been pointed out agaln and again in these dispatches, the weak-! ness of the board has been its divis- jon into three groups, labor, employer and public. This lack in arbitration tribunals only means that the real burden is placed on the neutral mem- bers. Mr. Harding proposes a board to be composed of all neutral mem- bers. Thinking also that the Labor Board is an ill-fated institution with- out power to enforce its decrees, the President thrusts forward the idea of making a new subdiWision of the Interstate Commerce Commission to| concentrate on labor disputes. This provision probably will be bitterly lo\lfht by labor, for it means that the arbitrary rules of a fair return on (Cuntinued on Fage 2, Column ¥.4. T «Continued on Fage & Couma Zl . Before Members of Congress a great cri he conduct of war itself is not more difficult than the solution of the problems which necessarily follow. I am not speak- ing at this moment of the problem in its wider aspect of world re- habilitation or of international re- lationships. The ‘reference is toy our own social, financial and eco- nomic problems at home. These things are not to be considered solely as problems apart from all international relationship, but every nation must be able to carry on for itself, else its international relationship will have scant im- portance. Doubtless our own people have emerged from the world war tu- mult less impaired than most bel- ligerent powers; probably we have made larger progress toward re- construction. Surely we have been fortunate in diminishing unem- ployment, and our industrial and business activities, which are the lifeblood of our material exist- ence, have been restored as in no other reconstruction period of like length in the history of the world. Had we escaped the coal and rail- way strikes, which had no excusq for their beginning and less justi- fication for their delayed settle- ment. we should have done infin- itely better. But labor was Insist- ent on holding to the war heights, and heedless forces of reaction sought the pre-war levels, and both were wrong. In the folly of conflict our progress was hindered, and the heavy cost has not yet been fully ‘estimated. There can be neither adjustment nor the pen- alty of the failure to readjust in which all do not somehow partici- pate. The Railway Strike. The railway strike accentuated the difficulty of the American (Continued on Page nn ) PRESIDENT'S VOICE WAFTED OVER L. . Largest Audience in History of World Hears Address Before Congress. President Harding today. in deliver- ing his address on the state of the Union to Congress in joint session, the first time any Congress has met in a fourth session, addressed direct- 1y a larger audience than any man's voice ever reached before in the his- tory of the world. For the first time the President, speaking in the House, had his voice transmitted by radio telephone to peo- ple In all parts of the country. Mrs. Harding in the library of the White House listened word by word as the President spoke to Congress on what he believes to he the most pressing legislative needs of the American gov- ernment. Similarly, in farmhouses. in schools, in public gatherings, the President's words were listened to by | citizens’in every state in the Union. ‘The broadcasting of the speech in the House was sent out on 412-meter wave length by the naval air station in Anacostia. Newspapers and broad- casting _stations morth, south, east and weést, most of them B stations in the 400-meter class, picked up the Presldent’s address and rebroadcasted it several hundred miles further on its way to the awaiting public. Received in Western Citles. The Pittsburgh Post, through KDKA: the icago New: the De troit New through WWJ: the 1In dianapolis News. the St. Louis Post Dispatch. the Kansas City Star and the Denver Post spread the message westward across the continent, with the Los Angeles Times waiting to pick up the message. Toward the north the big broadcast- ing stations in Philadelphia spread the message through the ether; the West- inghouse plant at Newark, N. J., spread it still further, and in New York the American Telegraph and Telephone sta- tion put it within the reach of every ear in the northeastern section of the coun- try. Toward the south many papers which have installed_broadcasting sta- tions picked up and rebroadcast the message, with the Louisville Courier Journal and Times making it generally audible throughout the south. Radio in Sick Room. Mrs. Harding’s ability to hear the message was nmade possible by the radiophone recently set up in her room, ‘which received, distinctly, every word read by the President from the rostrum of the House of Representatives. Mrs. Harding was deljghted when she learned that radio connections had been made to ‘broadcast Mr. Harding’s message, and the radio recelving set, which only last week was installed in the White House, was yesterday put in shape to receive it. Mrs. Harding’s radiophone is the same as used in the Marine Corps and has a capacity of a 500-meter wave length. Until her illness Mrs. Harding has accompanied the President to the Capi- tol on every occasion he addressed a joint session of Congress, and the fact that she was prevented from being present the last time he read his mes- sage was a source of great disappeint- ment to her. GEN. PERSHING RETURNS. Gen. Pershing, chief of staff of the Army, today returned to this city after a_speech-making tour of the west. He met M, Clemenceau, the former French premier, on his ar- rival at New York and again in Chi- cago. but probably will call on him peaa i wl'elly, ROy i | | 1 WHY 'TWO IRISH REBEL ' CHIEFS EXECUTED iLiam Mellowes and Rory 0’Connor Victims of Free State Reprisal. TWO OTHERS ALSO HUNG Further Assassinations of Parlia- ment Members Feared—Ulster Plans for Secession. By the Associated Press. LONDON, December 8 —The Dube lin correspondent of the Evealng Standard reports that a party of men today entered the Mercers Hospital and shot a Free State sol- dier lying in one of the beds, in re- prisal for the executions of Roy ©O'Connor and Liam Mellowes. DUBLIN, December 8.—Rory O'Con- nor and Liam Mellowes. together { with two other Irish rebels, were !executed in Mountjoy prison this ! morning. it was officially announced. {The two other men executed were Joseph McKelvey and Richard Bar- rett, both prominent republicans. The prisoners were tried by a mili- tary court-martial during the night, found guilty and sentenced to death. The death sentence was carried out at 9:20 o'clock this morning. Three priests were present. The prisoners, blindfolded, were marched to the place of execution. O'Connor had to be assisted to the scaffold. Executions Are Reprisals. An official army report states that ! the four men were executed as a re- i prisal for the assassination of Sean | Hales, the deputy shot vesterday, and ias a solemn warning to those asso- | ciated with them “in the conspiracy of assassination against the repre- Sentatives of the lrish people. The risk to members of the parlia- | ment is serious, and even the mem bers for Trinity College have recelv ed threatening letters. They have not, however, sought the shelter of the government building. Two of them reside in the college and two in their homes. The members can gain access to the parllament cham- Ber without appearing on the street. The Museum of Natural History joins up the College of Science, which is now the government building, with Leinster house, in the theater of which parliament sits. ARRESTED MANY TIMES. Connor and Mellowes Both Prom-' inent Among Insurgents. | Both Rory O'Connor and Liam Mel- lowes had figured prominently in in- surgent activities, and had been ar- rested a number of times. Mellowes, who had barely passed his twenty-seventh birthday when exe- cuted, had the more romantic career of the two. Even when in his ‘teens he was an indefatigable worker for the republican cause. He organized {the Fiannah-Eireann, a body of boys iwho pledged their llives for a free ! Ireland, and made a bicycle tour of i the country to complete this work. | 915 he was arrested by the Brit: o Bt escaped: and a price of £1.000 | \eas put on his head. ~Finally his hid- ing place was discovered and sur- roanded, but he broke through the Jines disguised as a nun, and reached the seacoast, where he shipped as a Hoker, and, after a Stormy voyage, arrived in America. During the later Says of the world war he lived in the United States, but in 1919 returned to Ireland to engage again in the fight ublic. for e S Gonnor was educated to be an engineer, completing a course in Bublin University, after which he re- teived an_appointment in western Canada. The possibility of entering | the Irish fight for freedom lppflrenllyl hever entered his mind until the out- Devek of the world war, when he sud- | genly left his lonely camp in Canada, | erossea the ocean and became one of the central figures in the famous Easter rebellion of 1916. He was cap- tured, but later released under the amnesty. 2 Seises Four Courts. For many months Fie took an active part in the guerilla warfare that scourged Ireldfnd, but it was as the leader of the republican force that seized the Four Courts building in Dublin that he first came into inter- ~ (Continued on Page 2, Column-2.) NOT AN AIR SAFETY Couzens Denied Post on Senate C. Committee Hopes of residents of Washington to obtain aid in solving the capi- tal's street railway problem from Senator Couzens of Michigan, father and admisistrator of the municipal street railways of De- troit, were blasted today with an- nouncement of the new Michigan senator's committee assignment. Soon after the appointment of Senator (‘ouzens to succeed Tru- man H. Newberry a movement was started by civic associations of Washington to obtain the assign- ment of Mr. Couzens to the trict of C'olumbia committee of the Senate. This committee, however. was found to have no vacancy u) Senator ("ouzens today was assign- rd to the banking, naval and labor and mines i mittees. pointed ous in connection Ll L RS AR i ment there is nothing to preclude his appointment to the District of Columbia committee in the future, should a vacancy occur. OREGONFIRELOSS IDTO MILLONS Business Section of Astoria Swept, With 27 Blocks in Path of Havoc. By the Associated Press. ASTORITA, Ore.,, December 8.—Much of the business district was wiped out, with property damage estimated at between $10.000.000 and $15.000.000, by a fire which broke out shortly after 3 o'clock this morning. Firemen, aid- ed by forces from the Portland de- partment, dynamited buildings in an effort to check the flames. At 8 o'clock the fire had swept over twenty-seven blocks. the flames had eaten under the pavement on Com. mercial street, burning the piling on which the city had been built. and ! firemen were unable to cope with this development. Auto Dealer Drops Dead. One lite was lost in the fire, accord- ing to reports available at 8 o'clock. Norris Staples, automobile dealer and president of the Astoria Bank of Commerce, dropped dead. Two other business men, who were missing and believed dead, later were accounted for. The buildings destroyed included the leading hotel, the principal stores and all the banks. Patients were removed from St. Mary's Hospital, all the windows of | which were shattered by explosions of dynamite or gasoline tanks. Christmas Shopping The Star is a veritable shop- ping guide for your Christ- mas shopping. Nearly every day Washington merchants carry more of their “store news” in The Star than in all other Washington newspapers combined. Yesterday’s Advertising Local Dispiay. 5 Lines. SHAT 4 e 03.902) 2d newspaper .........27,850 3d newspaper..........13,223 4th newspaper ........ 3,999 5th newspaper . ... 3234 Total 4 combined,is,——m Star’s excess, 15,596 Circulation. Yesterday ...92817 Same day last year....91,237 Gain The latest newspaper cen- sus shows that the circulation of The Star, daily and Sun- day, in the Homes of Wash- ington is practically double that of its nearest cotempo- rary. __ : W | | | ! EEK? CITES GREAT NEEDS, | INFEDERAL SERVICE, : Commissioner Wales Urges s Reclassification at Reform League Meeting. T0 HELP EMPLOYES Opfiortunities ‘Would Be Broader | and Efficiency Higher, Says Speaker. ! An appeal for proper reclassifica- tion of the government service w. made by George R. Wales of the Civil Service Commission in an address at this afternoon’s session of the Na- tional Civil Service Reform League. which is holding its forty-second an- nual meeting at the Hotel Washing- ton. “The federal service is in a state of {constant chanze: new duties develop, old ones cease. specifications are ,ahrred‘ Commissioner Wales de- {clared. “Complete reclassification can- {not be written on the statute books. iThe plan should be outlined, broad I classes defined. grades established and | salaries fixed by legislation. “The detail must be filled in by the exccutive branch of the service,” Mr. Wales continued. “The form of this legislation should be such that it will furnish a foundation for the develop- ment of uniform standards of duties and qualifications and a basis for uni form terminology in designating the: duties which will constitute a com- mon language by means of which all concerned may speak in understand- able terms. 1 Major Purposes Unsolved. | | “Whatever agency may be desig-! [ nated to put the plan into effect should | {pe given the power to review and harmonize, so that when brought to completion reclassification may not only serve to equalize pay, but also provide the means of accomplishing the other major purposes so impor- tant to effective and economical ad- ministration.” H Commissioner Wales said that the dinosaur of prehistoric times had two brains, one for his head and the other to control his hind legs. Inability to properly co-ordinate the impulses from these two brains made him un- wieldy. and, despite his size, he suc- cumbed to his single-brained enemies. “I do not wish to draw a parallel ( between this ancient lizard and ! personnel management in the go: ernment. but it illustrates m point.” Commissioner Wales con- j tinued. “Greater effectiveness in per- | sonnel administration can be secured { by a more central control, by the sub- stitution of one uniform policy for many variable or conflicting policies. “The needs of the present situation are primarily. snore adequate control of personnel, more equitable treat- ment of employes, improved selection of new material and elimination of inefficients, with a net result of bet- ter and_more economical service to the public.” Increase of Opportunities. The speaker pointed out that equal- ization of pay is not the only thing to be accomplished by reclassific: tion. Opportunities for advancement ! will be increased and better selec-| tion of new material made possible. “Maintenance of suitable perform- ance records should operate to point (Continued on Page 2, Column 2.) | By the Associated Press. DETROIT, December 8.—A sister's faith in her brother that led her to frequent’ the haunts of the Detroit underworld In an effort to free him i from a life sentence he Is serving at; Marquette prison, is likely to win for I%o Ssuerman a new trial, local authorities sald today, after checking up what they describe as one of the most amasing cases in Michigan crim- inal history. E The sister is Mrs. Helen Bowman of Detroit. After Sauerman had been convicted here in October of being implicated in the slaying last Janu- ary of Alex Dombrowski, a farmer U.S. Scout Planes! To Seek Officers Loston Air Tour By the Associated Press. SAN DIEGO, Calif., December §. —Army aviation officers at Rock- well Field here were ready today to send a squadron of scout planes to search for Col. Francis C. Mar- shall, attached to the staff of the chiev of cavalry in Washington, and Lieut. C. L. Weber of the air service, who left San Diego at 9:15 o'clock yesterday morning in flight for Fort Huachuca, near Tucson, Ariz. and had nmot been heard of early today. Fear was felt for the safety of the two offi- cers, and the Rockwell Field offi- cers planned to canvass the coun- try in southern California and Ari- zona. The officers were expected to reach their destination within five hours after they took off. Lieut. Weber, an experienced cross-cou try pilot, was instructed to T port by wire on arrival at Fort Huachuca. Col. Marshall has been on an in- spection tour of cavalry camps throughout the countcy and has used planes extensively on this mission. He commanded a brigade o fthe 1st Division in France during the world war. TURKISHPROPOSALS FOR STRAITS MEET MANY ALLIED VIEWS Complete Agreement Believ- ed Not Difficult in Face of Counter Plan. B the Assaciated Press. LAUSANNE, December S—Turkey presented to the near east confer- ence today counter suggestions con- erning control of the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. The Turks ask: Guarantees against surprise attacks from land or sea threatening the security of the straits, of Constanti- nople or of the Sea of Marmora. Limitation of naval forces bound for the Black sea o that they will not constitute a danger to the zone extending between the two straits to | the Black sea (Turkey expresses the view that these forces might be com- posed of light warships. employed for | the protection of international com- merce.) Liberty of Pasaage. Interdiction upon the maintenance of warships in the Black sea, and liberty of passage for merchantmen in time of peace and of war. The Turkish position on the ques- tion of the straits was presented by Ismet Pasha, who gave a historical sketch of the problem of the straits. declaring Turkey never had acted contrary to international treaties concerning that waterway. Ismet mentioned certain points in | the interallied proposals which he con-! sidered particularly harmful to Tu k. Of these the first was the inclu- sion of the Sea of Marmora in the definition of the straits, because prep- arations fcr defense of the shores of this sea weare necessary for the de- fence of Anatolia and Thrace, and vet would not affect the liberty of pas- sage for vessels. Opposes Demilitarisation. Anolher point he made was that it was needless to have a demilitarized zone around the Bosporus. It was sufficient, he considered, to indicate that there would be no fortifications, either land or naval, on either shore. His third point was in connection with the allied suggestion that in the j demilitarized zones there should be| no movement of troops. He thought that such movement should be per- mitted because the zones in question connect the two parts of the country. Again, he contended that in order to defend the shores of the Sea of Mar- mora by a fleet, Turkey would have to {keep arsenals and other naval equip- in__Constantinople and the straits. He thought also that the limits of the demilitarized zones were too great, and contended that the four islands in the straits should be recog- nized as under Turkish sovereignty. As to the Gallipoli peninsula he thought 2 minimum means of defense ought to be assured to preserve it against surprise attack. Delegates Are Hopef: After hearing Ismet Pasha's address the conference took a recess until ment Some of the European delegates ex- pressed the opinion that the points raised by the Turks should not make a final accord difficult. During the session Foreign Minister Tchitcherin of Russia again insisted that the straits should be closed to all except Turkish warships. He be- lieved, he sald, that the setting up of bufter states like Turkey would prevent future clashes in the east. Russians Warn Rumania. ‘Hé warned Rumania against accept- ing the allied plan, saying Rumania would meet the same fate as Greece— that is, be a sport of the great pow- ers, only to be abandoned afterward. Former Premier Venizelos of Greece demanded an _explanation of this re- (Continued on Page 2, Column 4.) P ContinueoniarenColmn ity N S o et kAR I R EO WOMAN, GOES INTO UNDERWORLD, GAINS PROOF TO FREE BROTHER near here, and had been sentenced to life imprisonment at Marquette. the woman began her _Investigation: delving into the haunts of bootleg gers until she had obtained evidence that brought about the arrest of Homer Noel and Melvin Brown. These men are alleged to have confessed yes- terday that they were members of the band who killed Dombrowskl in his farmhouse when he refused to pay tribute to the gang, who posed as federal officers charging him with violation of the liquor laws. The two, according to the alleged confessions, exonerated Sauerman. ‘According to the alleged confessions the band extorted thousands of dol- Jars from ‘bootlexgers in Michigan and nearby states by posing as fed- eral officers. ‘FRENEHTUE[INI}EBE {$7flll,llll.lll] K]} INGERMAN AMENDS Willing to Sacrifice Half for International Loan to Get Money at Once. INVASION OF THE RUHR HELD ONLY ALTERNATIVE Agreement by Premiers in London Depends on Proposals by Poincare. | l | | | BY PAUL SCOTT MAWRER. By Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily New< Copyright, 1 PARIS, December 8.—France ap- parently intends to makgdras(ic con- cessions concerning the reparations at the London meeting Saturday. Its share of the total payments under the existing schedule 1s 52 per cent of the 132,000.000,000 &old marks about 67.000,000,000 gold marks. In London, it seems, France will consent to a reduction of its share to the equivalent of 100,000,000,000 paper francs, which at the present rate of exchange equals $7,000.000,000, or oniy 28,000,000,000 gold marks. Ready to Lose Half. France, therefore, seems to be ready to cut its claim to less than half the present figure. There is, how- ever. a condition, namely. that the first Payments of this sum are to be mad almost immediately available by | international loan. Otherwise France is determined to proceed without furiner delay to th occupation of the Ruhr basin, eith wholly or in part, as a means « forcing Germany to a direct under- standing with France. These sensational revelations we made to the writer from a reliable source. The complete statement follows New Terms Reads. “UPD to a few davs ago the govers- ment seemed to favor a policy « watchful waiting at London. Th French delegates would inform then: selves of the British, Belgian ani | Ttalian views, reserving the fu) French plan for the Brussels confer- .. The motives scemed to Jutif this tendency “First. insufficient knowledge of the real intentions of the new British government. and, second. the hope of finding in Brussels & more favorable jaudience for the KFrench point of view. because of the presence of Ru- mania. Jugoslavia and Czechoklov: kia. whose interests are supposed to be similar to those of France. Demand Broad Exchange. “However. French opinion seems 1o {have opposed this tendencs. demanding {instead a broad. open exchange of views | with the principal allies. Tt is accord- ingly toward this second tendency that Premier Poincare seems now ta be evoly- ling. Generally speaking. it is consid- ered that the Franco-British under- standing is the corner stone of the en- tente. “Neither Belgium nor Italy nor the others wish to be placed in the dilemma of having to choose between France and Great Britain. As both M. Poincare and Benito Museolini have limited the London conversations to two days, the conference referee, therefore. will be obliged to deal with the whole repara- tions problem in this relatively short time, leaving the details to be settled at- Brussels. Basis of Attitude. | “The attitude of the French delega- tion doubtless will be dominated by the ] tottowing: conditions: “Desire for an interallied 1.an that Franes mo longer will be obliged {to finance pensions und material vop- arations from its own Tesou *“To facilitate such a loan France is disposed to reduce its share of the total reparations to the equivalent in gold marks of 100,000,000,000 paper francs, which sum is necessary for fin- Iismng the remainder of the recon- { struction job. Any combination doubtless would satisfy France—for example, the rearrangement of per- centages for the partition of the rep- arations between the allies so as to permit France to receive the amount aforesaid under the reduced total. New Pledges Held Vi “France will not consent moratorium for Germany without the ! afternoon to give the allies time to | seizures of new gages or pledges in { study the Turkish suggestions. the Rhineland and Ruhr Basin. “If a loan is found impossible France, which is unable to forego reparations, must resort to a policy of pressure in the Ruhr district or around the edges of this region. France is reluctant to take such ac- tion save In agreement with the al- lies, but will act alone if necessary. The French budget, with receipts of about 20,000,000,000 francs and dis- bursements of _about 50.000,000,000 francs, no longer can continue to ad- vance money against Germany’s ac- count without the certainty of repay- ment at fixed dates. 14,000,000.000 Francs Deficit. “The deficit in the 1923 budget tains nearly 14.000.000.000 franc: which 3.000.000,000 is for pen France is unable to bear an increase of this burden. It must either sus- pend reparations advances at the risk of revolt on the part of the dev- astated populations or insist that the work of reconstruction must henceforth be wholly at Germany's expense. “The Poincare cabinet. therefore, ix doomed to act if it does not obtain an international loan in London or Brussels. As most financiers seem to consider such a credit operation © a sufficiently large scale impossib at the present time, unavoidable ne- Cessity seems to oblige France to carry out a vigorous policy toward Germany in the Ruhr basin in the near future.” HOPE UP TO POINCARE. a | Agreement Depends on His Pro- posals at Premiers’ Meeting. By the Associated Preas. LONDON, December 8. —Agrecement among the allled premiers upon gues- ~(Continued on Page 2, Column 5.) K 4