Evening Star Newspaper, January 7, 1923, Page 39

FRENCH PLAN TO BRING - TRYING EUROPEAN HOURS Enforcement of San tain to Bring Dangerous Upheavals in. Germany and Elsewhere. BY OLIVER OWEN KUHY HERE'S a goose in Europe that is suspected of ability to lay golden eggs. At least. it is expected to. England would feed it, then gently | shoo it into quietude where it might perform its mission unmolested. | France would grab the emaciated fow! by the tail feathers, hang on, and demand that gdlden fruits posited in extended hand. instanter. Respective merits of the two plans again have thrown FEurope into & quandry. It has become the issue that has separated England dind France to pursue respective policie: Entire nations may continue to be torn by the question. and nations vet may crumble, for it would appear that Poincare is going to worry the 5008e and keep tail feathers, if noth- ing else. Bonar Law, back in London defeat- *d in his efforts to pursue more moderate courses, almost can be heard 10 mumble: nd, that's all you will get.” Period of Anxiety at Hand. Tn other words, Germany, the goose, is 1n for trying times. France is in for a period of anxiety while enfor Ing sanctions against Germany which may alienate the sympathies of prac- tically all of the larger powers and cause tremendous upheavals through- out Germany which may bring sventual economic and financial col- lapse, not alone for other continental countries, but herself as well, The reparations conference hetween the premiers of allied countries in Paris during the past week was no more fruitful of than the many that have been held since the first Paris Deace conference. which was ushered in early in 1913. Since the BT tréaty was signed at Versailles the reparations problem has been & run- ning sor | Various premiers have at- tempted 0 approach the question with the hope of establishing some definits plan through which disor- ganized Germany misht pay her just obligations to the allies. The most recent parley was less productive :hln 11_1 others, and left the allies n position of pursuing their ra- Spective wavs in 5o far as strictly continental policies are concerned.. It was not s6 much a question as to how much Germany both nremiers practically that §0,000,000,000 gold mar! be a fair mark to shoot at. British plan for extended moratorium and tho absence of respective guar- antees on Germany wrecked the con- ference. for Poincare. following in line of his oft-repeated assertions. and backed by the general demands n'f the French people. insisted that the hour had come for France to stand firm for tangible guarantees In other words, he took the stand | that the allies should show their teeth and prevent further German procrastination—that if the allies could not do this in accord, then France would be forced to proceed With the task of showing Garmany she meant business. adopting her own methods to. the procedure. i Bonar Law Plan Flouted. The British plan presented by Bonar Law, and prepared after ex. tensive consideration, involving as 1t 4l4 a chance for Germany ta mere auickly revise her financial and eeo. nomie system, was flouted by the Freneh. and, naturally, Bonar Law had little else to do than to pick up his bawkage and move back ta Lon. don, with the admonition th would take i Tkt Ak othe whole responsibility onar Law's forsaking § the general propositions of ‘enfovced $ollection of German reparations, pute Polncare and France at the orasy England stands not alone iy belleving that if the French perpet- uate their tenure in the Rhineland through economic or financial com. missions designed to colicet. through customs systems, moneys owed hy g;;ma;;\'-, or (Should she seize the r. France is Jett i e ing herself in for Many distinguished French leaders are of the same opinion. Pojmesrs | evidently will try to compromise be. tween the military influences demand. ing out-and-out military oeoupation, and that group which would sancs tion ne more than customs collections from German industries and natural resources. Poincare has insisted that N0 more troops will be used than are necsssary to protect French collection agencies. When Crisis Will Come. But the crisls will not «come with the immediate application of French will, no matter how the methoa is applied. It will come when the Ger. mans immedlately settle down to or. =anized resistance to French dictates, This will come a8 surely as the sun rises and sets. Already high German officials have declared that Germany will resist to the last through under-production and sabotage, Everywherc the French will find that the Germans are pro- ducing little or nothing. Tn addition to this failure to collect the sums which it has been estimated by the French as capable of collec- tion, any French incursion after the fifteenth of January will completely wreck the German financial system. Germany's whole financial fabric is worn -#o thin that it may be torn asunder at any moment. Printing presses are working day and night adding to the tremendous heaps of almost worthless currency turned out. Tt can be Imagined to what lowly dopths the mark will sink when the French apply their sanctions. The whole of Germany will be.as a sham bles, economically and financially speaking. Tndusiries unable to obtain raw ma- terials abroad, owing to the decline of :he mark, wili be forced to cloge. Go- ing industries able to create export| surpluses are the naturalymeans of creating funds to pay the total rep- arations figures. With the close of industries in Germany will come gen- eral social chaos with possible rev- olutionary steps as have been planned by both the parties of the right and agreeing ks might Communities have been ever ready t6 take advantage of any upheaval and distress such-as it is believed will .be ushered in as the result of French occupation of further Germany terri tory or the imposition of control over Germany's taxation methods. The old junker school likewise has been ready 1o leap into the breach at any mo- ment. When Cuno has been unable to Trustrate French incursions and when the whole bottom drops out of the na- tional . economic and financial situa- tion, some new government may be expected at once. Doubt Ability to Collect. France might deal with a Germany advancing reasonably well toward re- ) expected that the French plans will not be de- | should pay. | . but the | {the United ctions Believed Cer- time since 'the war ended.-and if it is | true. as the French say, but the British deny, that Germany is honeycombed with well-armed military organizations | of one kind or another, then it may be be carried to their conclusion in a peace- able manner. In which case France | | would find that her policy had not only { inltiated German chaos, but a period of disorgunization which may spread to France itself, Then France will find herself acting alone in any emergency | unless Belgium should come to her as- | sistance. 1 _ The <ituation is fraught with great {danger for France and undoubtedly | | Poincare will proceed with some degree | jof moderation in order to prevent the ! fulles: possible ovil results from the | i French action. but even then Poincare will be in position of having by insist- | ence unon the Frenci thesis of having ilost what Germany can never give to | France—the open and aboveboard friendship of the British peoples. Break May Be Camoufiaged. The break at Paris may be camou- iflaged as a friendly one. Bonar Law | and Poingare botii may reasscrt pledges lof fealty in other fields of endeavor. | They may go far in attempting to make { the French and British peoples feel that | { after all allied accord has not been mar- | {red. but as a matter of fact persons ac- quainted with conditions know that if France proceeds upon her present the- { sis, England as a nation forever will be | distrustful of French alliances. Most will France obtain little need in adjustment of the per- | i plexing interallied debts question. | England, it declared, is so certain that ere will be chaos as the result of French action, that she will ap- proach the American government urg- { {Ing a strong Anglo-American eco- | nomic union be formed at once to pre- vent the evil consequences of com- | plete German collapse—which may in- volve France—from spreading to other nations. Sir Stanley Baldwin, it is intimated, may approach the gen- eral question during consideration of | ihe funding of Britain's debts to the United States during his stay fin Washingion. As the United States and Great Britain control practically three-fourths of the raw products of the world, it is believed in London that they ecan dictate to other nations through cconomic measures, no mat- ter how stronz the military strength tof other powers may be. England never has cradicated hec disirust of the tremendous French military forces which still are extant, and believes that some ugreement with the United States looking toward economic union &nd consequent wiclding of the eco- Inomic club upon the head of recalei- trancy. will do more toward placing the world on its feet again than any {other meas . | “Undoubtedly such a union would %have far-reaching effect upon France, 3(d open hints from the United Stat before the 15th of January that such on of the British proposal w Iy considered might be the eleventh-liour deterent to the carry ing out of the French plan. On tie other hand, Poincare has announced during the past ten dwys that he would not be secure in any piedges of American and British to guarantee France against Germanic incursion. As a matter of fact, inasmuch as the whole French budget Is based on reparations payments, France must collect to restore financial balance. As a consequence: the French attitude is based on_ financial as well as eco- nomic and political grounds. Could Prevent Collapse. But there is every belief that in case States and Great Britain should come to definite understanding { in regard to economic union they will have it within their power to prevent | the collapse of Germany in the face of French endeavor and prevent con- sequent collapse of Europe. hould there be no such agreement the French have reason to be fear- ful of the ougeome of the British de- cision to withdraw from the whole reparations enforcement tangle. Though French political influence has been hroadened over the conti- nent. it nevertheless remains a fact that certain aid rendered by the Eng- lish to Germany in their hour of need | might eventually lead to a rap- prochement between Germany and England in future years, to the dis- advantage of France. Such a friendly union could not be discounte ed politically or in any other fashion at any juncture. Immediately. however, attention naturally will be diverted to the other remaining parley, that at Lausanne. It is confidently believed in Europe that the break between the allles in Paris will be taken ad- vantage of by the Turks and that there will be Increasing difficulty in reaching an agreement there tend- ing toward the settlement of the whole great near eastern problem. Question as to Future Work. There is question is to whether the French and British will continue to work together in the showdown cer- tain to be demanded of the Turk Both Bonar Law and Poincare have stated that no matter what happened in Parls, the Lausanne deliberations would not be affected, but how this could be after the open manner in which the French flouted the :British in Paris is not conceivable. Further- more, the British arc hardly likely to continue to seek French support and permit the French to share in the advantages to be gained in any set- tlement with the Turks when the French =o flagrantly have violated English desires in the settlement of problems nearer at home. As ||‘|l> French showed a strong poliey in regard to the reparations upon . themselves to dictate what shall be done in the near east. And most certainly British interests and not French will be considered in the final analysis. particularly in case the British are forced to use military effort to compel the Turks to bow to their dictates. If the Turks have been adamant in their support of nationalistic theo- riés in the past, they may be expect- ed to be more So in the future, and the situation is of such gravity as to cause serious concern not oniy in Burope. but the United States as well. War Heroes May Wear Medals as They May Choose The War Department yesterday disclaimed jurisdiction over the man- ner and the times when former soldiers shall wear medals or other decorations which they won while in the Army. A paragraph was added to Army regulations stat- ing specifically that Army rules were not to be construed as pro- hibiting civilians entitled to mili- tary decorations from wearing construction, but there are grave doubts in London and even in Washington that Prance can cotlect an infinitesimal frac- fion of the amounts which Poincare de- clares are colleotable as the result of enforoed sanctions. t the DD I 2 them “on all appropriate occa- sfons” nor as indicating how deco- rations should be worn with civilian clothing. In a statement the department said it considered it very desir- able ‘that authorized medals and decorations be worn on every ap. propriate occasion with any.kind . of civilian clothess- = - THE SUNDAY' STAR, _ WASHINGTON, D. C, JANUARY 7, 1923—PART 2. ‘The Story the Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following' is a brief summary of the most fmportant news of the world for the seven days ended January 6, 1923: The Lausanne Conferemce—The conference is more tightly deadlocked than ever. Not only has Ismet made no concessions during the week, but he is said to have withdrawn all those previously made. He is grown par- ticularly cocky since the smashup at Paris, expecting that France in dudgeon therefore will swing over to Turkey's side. Tt is averred, however, that the “irreconcilable differences of opinfon™ on reparations will not affect allled relations at Lausanne. Perhaps not; but to expect that they will not, at least indirectly, do so. is to expect a good deal of human nature. The ‘allied delegates are preparing a treaty to be handed to the Turks to sign. They are tired of higgling and niggling. The Turks are preparing.a treaty to hand to the allles to sign. They are tired of higgling and niggling. Tt is a jolly party. S ‘The Paris Conferemce.—In the following 1 attempt to present the essential features of a most complicated matter as lucldly as possible and in a spirit of neutrality: Premiers Bonar Law of Great Britain, Poin. care of France and Theunis of Belgium, and the Marquis Della Torretta (representing Premier Mussolini of Ttaly) met at Paris Tues- day. Bomar Law submitted a Britlsh and Poincare a French plan for a reparations set- tlement. These plans (however cloudy and roundabout the language) substantially agree in proposing cancellation of the C bonds of the 1921 London schedule and annuiment of the interallled war debts (except the Russian). Otherwise the two plans differ greatly. The British plan proposes cancellation of the A and B bonds as well as the C bonds, and issue of two new series in place of them. It pro- poses a complete moratorium for four vears, except for certain deliveries in kind, as of coke to France and coal to Italy: payment of two billion gold marks yearly during the suc- ceeding four vears: payment of two and one- half billion gold marks yearly during the fol- lowing two vears, and payment, after ten vears. of not less than two and one-half billion marks and not more than three and one-half billion marks vearly until the total (discoy- ered by an elaborate calculation to be approxi- mately of the present value of fifty billion gold marks) is paid. The British plan pro- poses also a forelgn finance council, with its seat at Berlin, to which should be transferred practically all of the powers of the present reparations commission and committee of guarantees and which should include not only representatives of Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium, but also an American representa- tive and a representative of a neutral Euro- pean government. and finally, the German finance minister as ex-officio chairman. The last stated provision (however, calculated to save the face of the German government) seems awkward in itself and it naturally gave great offense to the French, though associa- tion of the finance minister with the council in its ordinary proceedings would seem essen- tfal. The British plan requires the German government to stabilize the mark and to bal- ance the budget within time limits to be pre- scribed (six months is suggested for stabiliza- tion and two years for budget reform) and to agree to submit (in case the foreign finance council should find that Germany had. through her own fault, falled to carry out the above- named reforms as prescribed) to any measures the allled powers should unanimously decide to be necessary, including “forcible seizure of German revenues and assets and the taking over of German fiscal machinery and milftary occupation of German territory outside the treaty occupation aren. essential to.reparations payments and which recovery in the Britlsh view is not possible without a lot moratorium as to deliveries in kind as well as to cash payments, without easy terms of payment when payments are resumed, or without an allled supervision and oontrol as little vexatious and as free of obvious pres- sure as possible. The French, however, sus- pect (without imputing too much blame to Britain, whose necessities are different from those of France) that the British solicitude for the recovery of German credit has in view the restoration to British of her German mar- ket more than payment of reparations. To the French (and the Belgians and Itallans go heartily with them), the British plan deserves condemnation, not 8o much for what it pro- poses as for what it omits—namely, sure Ruarantees of payment, “productive guaran- ties.” They believe that unless they seize cer- tain rich sources of revenue and hold the whip hand of the great German industrialists, these revenues will not be applied in the first in- stance to the rehabllitation of the German finances and the recovery of German credit and thereafter to reparations payments. They propose, therefore, to collect these revenues themselves and to see that they are vroperly applied, using as little but also as much military force as. may be found neces- sary. The French (and I understand that the Italians and Belgians accept all the essential features of Poincare’s plan) believe that the moratorium should be for only two years, and at that should be only partial: that the Ger- mans should make very considerable deljveries in kind during the moratorium perfod; that they should pay the costs of occupation dur- ing that period: that the Germans are not nearly so poor as they would have the world believe. The French feel that they propose the ex- treme limit of sacrifice in consenting to a two- vear partial moratorfum on condition of can- cellation of interallied debts, They see no reason for substitution of a forelgn finance council for the reparations commission and the committee of guarantee; they would increase the powers of the latter. To them the “productive guarantees’ are all-essential; to the British they are anathema. Thus the differences of opinion between the British on the one part and the French, Bel- gians and Jtallans on the other having been found, as Bonar Law said, “irreconcilable.” and the British plan having been definitely rejected by the premiers of France and Belgium and the representative of Premier Mussollinf on the evening of the 4th, after afirming the friend- #hip of the British government and people for the French government and people (which sentiment Poincare warmly reciprocated on be- half of his country), Bonar Law withdrew from thé conference. What now? It is well to discount the wild rumors abroad (as that France is preparing to push in force into the Ruhr valley) and to wait and see. * k %k % United States of Ameriea.—Senator Borah having withdrawn his proposed amendment Jo the naval appropriation bill, the Senate pro- ceeded to reject Senator King's amendment, which proposed that the President invite “the governments with which the United States has diplomatic relations, to send representatives to a conference in Washington with & view to a general international agreement by which armament for war, either land or sea. shall be effsctually reduced.” Finally, on December 30 the.Senate passed the naval bill, including the clause requesting the President to “enter into negotiations with the zovernments of Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan with the view of reaching an understanding or agreement relative to limiting the construction of all types and sizes of surface and submarine craft of 10,000 tons displacement or less, and of aireraft. In his famous New Haven speech. Secretary Hughes said: “While the three great naval powers are not under an agreement as to limitation upon the total tonnage of auxiliary fighting aircraft. Probably he was silent be- cause he belleved, as he believed at the time of the Washington conference, that because of the casy convertibility of commercial aircraft into fighting afrcraft, limitation on the latter would be futile without such limitations on the for- mer, as it would stifie the development of air navigation. A bill has been introduced in Congress carry- ing an appropriation to cover the cost of mod- ernizing our pre-Jutland ships, 80 as to provide protection against attacks by submarines and aircraft (bulges and arrangements for increas- ing elevation), following the British example. T told last week of the suggestion made by our government to forelgn governments, through “conversations” and through Secretary Hughes' New Haven speech, of a commission of financial experts to determine the amount of reparations Germany can pay and to devide “a plan for working out the payments. the commission to be “free from responsibility to forelgn offices and from any duty to obey political instructions.” It does not appear that any official response to the suggestion, formal or informal, has been received, though it seems to have made a generally favorable impression in England. Whether in view of the critical situatfon created by the disassoclation of the British from the other allied governments with respect to the matter of German reparations, our government will proceed further with its good offices, is a question whereon I shall not venture an opinion. i Senator Robinson is, so to speak. keeping the ball rolling by his proposal of a joint reso- Jution authorizing the President, “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to ap- point a person or persons to represent the United States on reparations commission.” That is to represent our government officially for, as all the world knows, we are unofficially ably represented on the commission. The reader will remember that the Senate resolu- tion ratifying the treaty with Germany forbade such representation without an enabling act of Congress. Senator Reed of Missouri has offered a reso- lution the tendency af which is the opposite of Senator Robinson's, requesting the Presi- dent to withdraw our troops from the Rhine. A conference (the latest of a series) in Chi- cago of representatives of operators and min- ers of fifteen bituminous coal fields looking to & new basic agreement to govern wages throughout the bituminous industry ended on the 5th without result. The agreement now in force lapses March 31. A strike this spring would be even more disastrous than the strike last year, as reserve stocks are, and for a con- siderable time, bound to be'slight. It is ex- pected that a new conference, but probably on a small scale, will be held in New York commencing January 17 Senator Bursum of New Mexico has intro- duced a bill authorizing a loan of $1.000.000 to Germany for purchase of foodstuffs and raw materials in the United States. Germany whbuld be allowed to avail herself of credits up to $50,000.000 per month, or $350,000,000 in single vear. Mr. Fail is to resign as Secretary of the In- terior, his resignation to take effect March 4 * ¥ ¥ is reported that German infallible Miseellancons.—Tt chemists have discovered an for “sleeping sickness.” In an ebony box in the recently discovered tomb of King Tutankhamen of Egypt was found a plentiful supply of fine linen under- wear, There is a report of mobilization of all able- bodied mer in Turkish territory. On January 5, Mohammed VI left Malta o1 a British warship. bound for Jeddah, the port of Mecca, on the Red sea, to accept King Hussein's invitation to make his home in Mec in_the kingdom of the Hedjaz. Tt is said that an organization. called the Archaeological Institute of Yucatun, backed by many wealthy Americans, has been formed to investigate the remarkable ruins of the Maya civilization in Yucatan. The Mayas arc by Mo means extinct and the Mayas language is still spoken. The ancient Mayas had a good calendar and were strong on architecture and cure I work The text of the Bri orate and only what seems A Bit of History Death of Sculptor Recalls Ar- senal Explosion in 1864. In recent articles on the death of Lot Flannery, sculptor of the first Lincoln statue, which again stands near its original place before the courthouse, it was written that he was also the sculptor of the monu- ment to the arsenal explosion victims The decision of the Washington Lin coln monument committee to award the carving of the Lincoln statue to Mr. Flannery was largely influenced by his acceptable work in designing and cutting” the arsenal victims' monument. 0Old residents remember the arsenal explosion as a tragedy which pro- foundly grieved the population of the little old town of Washington. The time of that tragedy was a few min- utes before noon on Friday, June 17. 1864. The Evening Star issued an extra at 2:30, from which the fol- lowing is taken: At ten minutes to 12 o'clock today a terrible catastrophe occurred at the arsenal which has cast a gloom over the whole community and rendered sad many a heart that was buoyant a few moments previous. While 108 girls were at work in the main labo- ratory making cartridges for small arms a quantity of fireworks which had been placed outside of the build- ing became ignited, and a plece of fuse fiying into one of the rooms in which were seated about twenty-nine young women set the cartridges on fire and caused an instantaneous ex- plosion. The “fireworks” were star shells used in military operations at night, and the cartridges were paper car- tridges into which the powder had been poured and into which the balls had not been put. One gathers from the news of that day that all the s in the room were killed and ldentification in most cases could not be made. The news flashed over the city as only tragic news can. Multi- tudes walked to the arsenal. Fire calls brought out the Columbia. Perseverance, Anacostia and Franklin fire companies' and the government steam fire engines Rucker, Meigs and Hibernia. There was danger that the fire would spread to other parts of the arsenal plant. The powder maga- zine was not far away. Funerals of 13. On the west face of the monu- ment in Congressional cemetery is this inscription: “Erected by Public Contribution by the Citizens of Wash- ington, D. C., June 17, 1865 On the uth face of the monument is this: Killed by an Explosion at the United Statés Arsenal, Washington, D. C., June 17, 1864." The east and west faces are inscribéd with the nam of the dead. Comrades of the Air. The hazards of fiying develop a strong feeling of comradeship among the pilots. No effort is too great to lend assistance to a féllow aviator in|Bankhead has a isB plan is most. clab- to. me xalient features are set forth above. throughout an extreme solicitude for the re- covery of German credit, which recovery is | combatant craft, it most 1t shows is noticeable. however, HREE United States senators from the same family is the unusual, and not altogether it ought to be possible to ar- range a modus vivendi which would preclude a wasteful and unnecessary competition." nothing about agreement 'BANKHEAD FAMILY MAY GET UNIQUE DISTINCTION| Third of That Name May Be United States Senator if Alabama Political Seers Figure Correctly. unwelcome, situation faced by | the people of Alabama, according to many astute politicians of that state. That Bankhead family, of which one member already has served several terms in the Senate and another now is serving in the House of Repre- sentatives, is referred to. John Hollis Bankhead, sr, was chosen as alternate senator from Ala- bama together with Joseph Forney Johnston, a former governor, during the lifetime of Senators Morgan and Pettus, both of whom were in poor health at the time of the election. When this was done, senators were still being elected by the legislatures. But the democratic pafty wished to provide against any contingency, and the state committee decided upon the course of nominating alternate sena- tors. As was feared, both Senators Mor- gan and Pettus died in midterm, and Bankhead and Johnston took ‘their places, according to the wishes of the voters of the state. Semator's Som Elected. When the democratic Congress under President Wilson passed the reapportionment bill Alabama found one more representative allotted to Rer. The state was redistricted, after one term with a representative large, and Willlam B. Bankhead, son of Senator Bankhead, was chosen to represent that district. He fs still problem. so may the British take jt|the victims were held Sunday, June|doing so and is regarded as one of the foremost statesmen Alabama has ever produced. That he has a greater future before him even his political enemies concede. If he has any per- sonal enemies they have not shown themselves since he has been in pub- lic life. In 1924 Alabama must elect a sen- ator_to fill the place now occupied by Sénator J. Thomas Heflin. . That Senator Heflin will be a candidate for re-election is a foregone con- elusion. But already from the south- e state are coming cumblings (o the effect that John Hollis Bankhead, jr., will seek to go to the body his august father so ably represented for many years. Advices reaching here from Alabama indicate that Mr. large following distrees or to locate a missing ma-| which will do its utmost to put him chine when it fails to arrive at its destination. An instance is the case of a Salt Lake mail pilot who was forced to descend in a. blinding blizzard on the snowy plains of Wyoming. When he failed to report, every mail ‘| pilot in the territory’ tributaiy “to Salt Lake was ordered from his route to take up the hunt. "Moving in great circles, the mail machines examined every foot of the ground on the miss- ing pilot's route. Finally, he was found comfortably -ensconced in =z anch house, where he had sought shelte Save for a few frost bites he was unaffected by his somewhat thrlliing experlence. s e ng dangers brings men than the bonds of brotherhood. Know- ing that a comrade is dependable and stanchly loyal in the hour of pe establishes ties that can be broken only by death. This feeling s what makes ct;n?-néu. Q;g iments or air patrole efcient.’ “com usually good soldlers.—Seat! i e Sionen. | sussessar of Seastor in the Senate. Underwood May Not Run. On the other hand, according to present indications, Senator Oscar W. Underwood will not be a candidate to succeed himself when his present term of six years expires in 1926. His recent announcement that he ‘will resign the minority floar leadership in the upper chamber is taken as an 1indication by many .who are well versed in.reading the political signs that he will not again offer himself for the office he now occupies. When Senator ‘Underwood completes this term in the Senate he will have been in Congress thirty-two years, having previously served ten terms in the House of Representatives before his first term in the Senate. He is now. ] | sérving his second senatorial term. It has been intimated, although the time i® some distance off, that friends of Representative William B. Bank- vfl., to _be the nderwood. His dores and Tt that Mr. Hughes said to limitations on | | | own wishes in this line are not known. but it is a well accepted fact | in Alabama that the candidacy of the two Bankheads is regarded with gen- eral favor. for they both are held in highest esteem throughout the state. There is only one element which casts any shadow over this outlook, and that is the tentative agreement among the politicians of the state since the death of Morgan and Pettus that one senator shall be from the northern part of the state and one from the southern. Both the Bank- heads are from Jasper, in the north- ern portion of the commonwealth. Senatof Underwood is from Birming- ham, in the northern, and Senator Heflin is from La Fayette, in the south central portion. Rule May Not Apply. It is pointed out, however, that this rule did not apply during the tenure of Morgan and Pettus, both of whom ‘were from Selma, in the western cen- tral part of the state. They were both lifelong friends and lived in the same block in their home city. There- fore it is belleved that if present indications continue this tentative agreement may be set aside in favor of the two brothers. It must not be taken to mean, how- ever. that Alabama would send both brothers to the Senate at the same time just because she would enjoy the distinction of being the first and only state in the Union to do such a thing, and to have both her senators the sons of one of her most dis- tinguished former senators. If they were not able men of the first water they would not be considered for a minute. Both have proved their worth In years gone by and it is believed ::l:g'e would well and ably serve their $78,860,000 NET INCOME OF CLASS ONE RAILROADS Annual Return Rate of 4.46 Per Cent Represented by Figures. A net operating income of $78,860,- 000 “was earned by class 1 rail- roads of the United States during No- vember, according to returns filed With the Interstate Commerce Com- mission complled yesterday by the Asso- clation of Railway Executives. This compares with $66,884,000 during the same month in 1921 and represents, the association calculated, an annual return rdte of 4.46 per cent on the estimated value of property invested in t rtation. Class 1 roads are those with annual gross revenues in excess of & million dollars and are among those, listed lines which con- trol & vast percentage of the coun- try's rail mileage. . 3 Total receipts of ‘the carriérs dur- ing the month amounted to $522,631,- 000, while their expenditures in op- erating amounted to $409,146,000. Both of these items increased over the same figures compiled for De- cémber, 1921, the receipts by 12.2 per cent and the expenditures by 11.2 per cent. For the eleven months of 1922 in- | cluding November the total earnings of class 1 roads amounted to $693,- 134,700, the statement said, compared with $565,974,000 for the same period of 1921 On’ this bisis the ‘ure” iers were shown to be earning 4. r cént on the value of ‘théir thvestment. intensive agriculture. the speeial pains to root out Mava culture and to destroy {ts monuments and manuseripts in the name of trye religion. The Spanish conouista- accompanying clerics were at Story of a Touch. Irishman’s Lic Was Pretty Raw, But Good for $3. Men in public life hear many touch- ing storics. and the account of one such experience told in the Speaker’s lobby the other day by Representative Elliott W. Sproul of Tllinois, describ- ing how he was called upon at the very threshold of his political life to patch up a quarrel between a man and wife over his own candidacy and, incidentally, to repair their front window, is a good example. : “The first time I ran for alderman of Chicago.” began Representative Sproul, “T attended a mass meeting one night and got home about 1:30 am. I had just retired when the door- bell rang. When I answered it in my bath robe T found there a_big Irish- man, who said: ‘Good evening. alder- man: of course, you're not alderman yet, but I want to get used to calling you, that. But that's not the real rea- son I came to you now. You see, my wife is for your opponent, and she went and put his picture up in our front window. So I goes out and gets a big picture of you, and I comes back and takes down Mayhew's pic- ture and puts up yours and carries Mayhew’s out into the kitchen. “"After the meeting tonight I goes home and, being hungry, goes out in the kitchen to get a bite to eat. May- hew’s picture isn't there. but your picture is in the sink. Then I gets dog-gone mad.- I goes in and grabs Mayhew's picture out of the window and tears it up. Then I takés your pleture and 1 gets a hammer and a couple of tacks and I goes back to the window in the front room. I puts the tack through the cardboard and hauls back with my hammer and swats—but I missed the tack and smashed two panes of glass. So I have come to you to ask will you give me $3 to get that window fixed, because my wife will not let me come back into the house till I do.'" Sproul admits that he knew it was all a lie, but it was such a good story and so well done that he contributed the $3. And he found out next day that the Irishman did not even live in his ward and couldn’t vote for him. PANAMA PACT PARLEY. Secretaries Hughes and Weeks ‘Will Discuss Treaty. Secretaries Hughes and Weeks will take up tomorrow the task of agreeing to a treaty to be pro- posed to Panama and covering a wide range of matters affecting the Pana- ma Canal Zone. Col. Morrow, govern- or of the zone, and Francls White, chief of the Latin-American division of the State Department, already have worked out a general agreement be- tween the State and the War depart- ments on all but a few points in the (I’eTlr(')'. " e purpose of the new treaty is to facilitate relations between ~the United States and Panama along the lines which experience has shown to be desirable in the interests of both countries in connection with the Canal Zone. When the two Secretaries have reached final agreement on the form and terms of the proposed pact nego- tiations will be opened with the Pana- ma government. —_— IRISH LEADER TO SPEAK. Sir Horace Plunkett Coming Here for Agriculturists’ Meeting. Sir Horace Plunkett, leader of the Irish agricultural co-operative move- ment, has accepted an invitation to address -the annual meeting of th American Agricultural Editors’ Asso- ciation, to be held here during the week of February 26. It was announced by the assoclation that representatives of the agricul- ture departments of Russia, Denmark and Argentina also would attend and that President Harding and Secretary ‘Wallace were on the program for ad: dresses. - b 2l RIVER AND HARBOR WORK AIDS MERCHANT MARINE |Flood Control Plans Are Also Neces- sary Legislation, Says Edward Nelson BY EDWARD NELSON DINGLEY. HEN James Proctor Knott of Kentucky made his mem- orable and historic speech, February 1871, on the bill for the renewal of the St. Croix Land Grant, in which he immortalized Duluth in satire never equalled, he laid the foundation of tke popular notion that an appropriation for rivers and harbors is “pork barrel” legislation. He little dreamed of the subsequent growth of the northwest, especially the very eity which he ridi- culed, and the strides to be made in domestic commerce coming out of that section, due in no smal] measure, to the appropriations by Congress to improve our lakes and rivers. The recent rivers and harbors con- vention in Washington, and the pend- ing effort to have Congress re-enact the flood control law of 1917, bring to the front the importance of the work of making more servieable the rivers, lakes and harbors of the United States. The maintenance and protection of an Amrican Merchant Marine, it is said, is closely connected with available and adequate harbors. Big Improvement Fun Up to date about a billion and six hundred million dollars have been appropriated by Congress for ~the improvement of rivers and harbors. | This policy of fmprovement rivers | for harbors under federal control and | direction began about 1824. Since {then the work has been continuous. { The program now in force contem- | plates the improvement of the more important rivers and harbors of Porto Ricco, Alaska and the Hawailan Islands Of the billion and six million dollars expended, three hundred and | seventy millions' was for sea coast ‘hkrhnrs. fourteen millions for coast- wige channels and approaches, one hyndred and forty-two millions for the Great Lakes. four hundred and forty-three mililons for rivers, and fifty-five millions for flood control. In addition, twenty millions fwere for investigations of v kinds. and another twenty millions for projects abandoned and discon- tinued. The early expenditures were largely on the rivers of the interior. principal harbors then had enough depth for the average vessel of that day, and were enough to accomodate a budding foreign commerce. The rivers were essential routes of do- mestic commerce, and the only routes before the advent of the railroads. About forty-four per cent of the expenditure of public money was for improvement, and about sixty-four per cent for harbors. work on the rivers. except the Ohio and Mississippl, {8 very small. Nearly a century ago, when the Ohio river was the main commerce connection between the east and the west, Congress authorized the deep- ening of the river to nine feet from Pittsburgh to its mouth—100 miles. The Ohio was in the direct line of traffic, and was essential to domestic trade. It was the earliest route of commerce. Its deepening was the be- ginning of federal control over the improvement of rivers and harbors. More River Navigatio Later. when the Pittsburgh district produced more coal than it could con- ne. shipments of coal went down the Ohio and were distributed along “As I See It” (Continued from First Page.) Guy Empeys, the exalted ‘doughboy {of the town. Suppose that the real | hundred per centers in America, the llads who will stand no nonsense, the iplug hats who belleve in “lining ‘em {up against a wall and shooting ‘em.” the sleuths who provoke trouble to prove it exist: the hard-bolled and the cold-nosed among us—suppose they should get control of the gov- ernment, what post would they choose as the symbol of America? Would it be Eddie Guest or Robert W. Service or George Cohen? Surely it would not be the pacifist Whittier, nor the internationalist Longfellow, nor the atheists Emerson, nor Lowell, the mugwump. The truth is that America does not breed poets. Art is exotic here. We chiefly breed statesmen llke Wash- ington and Lincoln, Inventors like Whitney and Ediéon, industrial cap- tains like Rockefeller and Carnegie, men who, in their way, help humani- ty on its pilgrimage to the stars as well as poets. Every people does its part in the world. eW have no right to sniff at the Itallans with their Dante; neither have they much call to elevate their noses about our dollars. Dollars and Dantes are both needed to make @ happy world. But If the Eluxers ever got control of this country, it i interesting to speculate just what America’s bust they will impress upon an admiring world. ntually, Why Not Now? TAVENTUALLY, declares Mr. Gary, in denying the eight-hour day to the steel industry. we shall have to come to eight hours. Mr. Rockefelier, who also makes steel in Colorado, is giving his workmen the eight-hour day and making money under it. But Mr. Gary is afraid. He says in his Statement that the twel e-hour day is ethically and soclally wrong, but that it keeps the steel industry going. That is a good argument. You can't answer it. The truth is that the only thing wrong with murder is its eth- fcal and social obliquity. And the only excuse for rape, larceny and burglary is their temporary expe- O Gary's abiiity to satisty stock- holders and the conscience of busi- ness men with his arguments, -indi- cates how tired the tired business man really is. B RAILWAY FREIGHTS GROW. More in Week Than in Same Period - Previous Years. American railroads are moving more traffic at the present time than has ever been moved at this season, according to reports of the car serv- jce division of the American Rallway Association. For the week ended De- cember 23, the latest period for which data has been compiled, railroads ac- cepted 834591 cars loaded with rev- {enue freight, which was 167,986 cars more than ever handled in the same period of any previous vear. Notwithstanding the usual seasonal falling off from the fall months of heavy crops, a general commodity movement iy taking place.and the to- tal for the week of December 23 was a reduction of 53,491 cars under the total handled the week previous.' ' - interior | rious | The ; At present the | Dingley. | the route to New Orleans. The in- | dustrial development of this sectios | demanded a nine-foot channel. Thix | project, when completed will cost 1$60,000,000, and Pittsburgh interests ask for it. During the past two years inland river navigation has assumed a great |er importance, especially in view of the present condition of rail trans portation, Congress passed the flood contro act of 1917. not only as an aid tr navigation, but a protection to prop- erty. This law provided for the_cx penditure of $45.000,000 on the Mis sissippl river and the Sacramentn river, California. Money is appro | priated from time to time. and will jbe exhausted with this Congress. Ar effort is now being made to re-cnact this law and appropriate $100,000,000 i for flood purposes, The law provides for the construc tion of levies, the levied distriet fur- ishing 50 per cent of the sum appro- ipriated by Congress and furnish th right of way (ground), and defend all damage suits H Obviously it is that thig vast highly importan area be protected against fhe floods. It is impossibl- to estimate with any degree of ac curacy the amount of damage done by the Mississippi floods of recent years, but it rearhes many hundreds of mil- lion dollars. The flood of last vear was one of the most severe, yet thr damage was less because of the levies. The damage is not so mucl {in the loss of crops as in the expens of emergency measures. With the growth in draft of ocean- going vessels it has been necessars to deepen most of our harbors to | make them available. Only two ha: bors in the country, San Francisco {and Seattle, have channels which are {deep and wide enough to accommo- idate the largest merchant ships with {out dredging. Harbor Approaches Deepenca. The main channel and approachs in New York harbor have been deen lened from twenty-three to forty feet lat a cost of $10,000.000. One channe cost $7.000.000. but the commerce jthrough them averages 23,000,000 tons {annually. Philadelphia. on the Dela- | ware river. has been deepened from i seventeen to thirty feet, and traff ! there averages 20,000,000 tons annu ally. An American merchant marine | without adecquate harbors would be fueciess. N |~ There is a gencral impressio ! money for rivers and harbors {ted away. and the public has notion that a river and harbor bi! {is simply a “pork barrel” bill. This iis the impression no longer. The firs: examination of a project is made by | the engincers of the War Department made if the # nd Congress that frit the jthe prcliminary survey project is meritorious, ! authorizes it. 1 As time goes on and domestic com- merce increases, our trunk rivers will me a vastly more important place o than e given them now. The navigable water courses may solve some of our transportation problems While Amerlcan merchandise sent t of the country to foreign cour averages four or five o tries, billig dollars in normal times, the value | merchandise exchanged among our own people is more than sixty or° | seventy billion dollars. The trans- | portation of this vast volume of | domestic merchandise {8 a rail. river and lake problem—the last two of increasing Importance. If we are to take care of our increasing exporl | commerce, if we are to have a gov- ernment alded and protected mer- chant marine, it is essential that our | harbors and ' channels be deepened. | broadened and improved. All this makes a river and harbor bill of vasi i1 and a flood control importance. NTERIOR DEPARTMENT BILL PASSED BY SENATE: Appropriation Increased by $363.~ 000 Over Allowance Made by | ** | { | the House. The Interior Department appropri- jation bill, carrying an increase of $363,000 over the $294.347.000 author- ized by the House, was passed by W& Senate late Friday afternoon. Of the appropriation $253,000,000 was for %K% annual pension roll. . Before the bill was passed, on m tion of Senator King of Utah, demo- crat, the House provision authoriz- ing the purchase of the tract of land on which the government fuel vard stands was stricken out. Senator King declared he was opposed to having the government embark in the coal business and the purchase of lands for the establishment of a permanent fuel yard. He said the matter placed in the bill by the House should be stricken out and then con- sideration of it could go to confer- ence. Senator Smoot of Utah, in charge of the bill, agreed that it should go out and be taken up in conference between the two houses. On motion of Senator Smoot the appropriations for the Columbia T stitution for the Deaf were Increased to conform with the estimates su mitted by the budget burcau. In one case the appropriation was in creased from $95,000 to $100.000, and in anether, from $9.000 to $10,000. Wide-Awake Justice. The original mind discovers the ob- vious before any one clee sees it. Such originality seems to be lodged in the head of Judge Bartiett of Detroit who sits on the cases of violators of the motor vehicle law. Like the resi - of us, the learned judge has frequent 1y heard the term ‘“crazy driver. Judge Bartlett has done the obvious thing with the crazy driver, which is- very surprising. He calls in alienists to examine such cases. At this point the judge cuts loose with another bit of originality. If a speeder fails to measure up fto the mental tests for normality the judge sends him to an institution for im- paired mentality. So that the finging of dementia this-or-that does not set the prisoner at the bar free, as so 3 often happens In murder cases. Ir stead it qualifies the uccused fur tice board in an Insane asylum. Of course, many of those examined are pronounced perfectly sane. U, these the judge passes the maxi penaity aliowed by the statutes. Hix system is to see that every ome geis 4 what is coming to him. More men on the bench of courage * and ingenuity similar to this would revolutlonize automobiling by making -3 it nearly safe.—Boston Globe. ————— . MUSEUM GETS NEW EXHIBIT. * A collection of miniature bronzes, ivory carvings and silver work from . Burma have been placed on exhibition in the Natural History building ef the National Muscum. These urt”’ works were collected by Luwrence P-4 Briggs, former American consul ioa Burma and Indo-China. Considerabls - interest is being taken in Burma in works of art, it was declared, and for a number of jears competitions huye been held among the native workers © to secure’the best examples of their:d skill. > - l I