Evening Star Newspaper, January 15, 1923, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sunday Morning Editlon. WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY......January 15, 1823 THEODORE W. NOYES...Editor The Evening Star Newspaper Company Office, 11th §t. and Pennsylvania Ave, ew York Office; 150 Nassa : Tower Bulldl Chicago Office Buropess Office : 16 Regent St., London, Englasd. The Evening Star, with the Sunday moralag +dition, s dellvered by carriers within the city 88 80 cents fer month: daily only, 43 centa per menth: Sunday only, 20 cents per moath. Of- ders A he sent by or telephone Main 5000. Coliection s made by carriers at the ead of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Dafly and Sunda Dally only. Sunday on All Other States. Daily and Sunday..1 yr., $10.00; 1 mo., 85c Dcll’;.o’:fly R ‘37 1 mon 60c ®unday only Member of the Assoclated Press. The Assoclated Press {s exclusively entitled the use for republication of all news dis- tehes credited to it or not otherwise credited this paper and also the local news pub- 1ished her All rights of publication of clal dispatches herein are also reserved. ——e e ‘Washington's Plea to the Senate. ‘Washington hopes that the Senate appropriations committee and the Sen- ate itself will view as the House's real proposal of District appropriations for the next fiscal year the bill as it came from the House appropriations com- mittee with increases or decreases of items on their merit by the House, and not the bill as it actually came to the Senate, suffering point-of-order mutilation in the loss of between half a million and a million dollars. These omitted items represented the dellb- erate judgment of the House appro- priations committee, and, as the action of the House on similar items shows, would have been unanimously ap- proved by the House but for the inter- vention of the point of order. ‘The habit of District appropriations procedure gives practical point to this suggestion and appeal to the Senate. First the boards (like the school board, Public Librarv board, etc.) whose ap- propriations are carried in the District bill, and the heads of the District bullding departments make careful " itemized estimates of the money need- ed to meet the maintenance and de- wvelopment expenses of thelr respective branches of municipal administration. Then the Commissioners cut and co- ordinate these aggregated estimates, apportioning the money thought to be available among municipal functions in accordance with their relative needs. ‘Then the budget bureau cuts millions from the estimates, not because mu- nicipal needs do not demand the full appropriations, but because Uncle Sam as & quasi capital taxpayer cannot spare at this time his share of the money required to meet adequately vital municipal needs. Then the House appropriations committee and the ‘House invariably cut a milllon or two millions or three millions from the al- ready twice-mutllated estimates. Then the Senate is in the habit of adding two or three millions to the House bill. And finally in conference the two houses compromise upon and enact into law District appropriations about midway between the sum proposed by the House and that proposed by the Senate. ‘Washington urges that the Senate's customary two or three millions of proposed increase to meet more ade- quately obvious municipal needs should not be reduced by inclusion in 1t of the nearly three-quarter miliions of dollars representing the real pro- posal of the House in its fullness, but cut from the formal bill by the techni- cality of the point of order. Excluding items of speclfic demerit in the Sen- ate's opinion these point-of-order items should, Washington suggests, be auto- matically restored to the District bill as part of the House's real proposal, and the Senate's customary increases 3hould be over and above this enlarged House District bill. The urgent need of the immediate expenditure of miilions to remedy as far as possible war-time neglects in respect to schools, streets, water sup- ply, etc., justifies Washington in urg- ing the Senate to make the absolute maximum of wholesome helpful in- creases in the District appropriations. 1f the Senate should restore to the Dis- trict bill every one of the House's point-of-order items its customary role | railroads now is golng into the tax- free securities of states and their political subdivisions. The outstanding total of such securities has practically doubled during the last five years, is- sues since the wrmistice being esti- mated at between four billion and five billion dollars. Thus is created a finan- clal and economic phenomenon threat- ening consequences of the most seri- ous kind. If the money derived from sale of these tax-free securities was being wisely expended the situation still would be serlous because of the resultant starving of Industry, but much of it is being expended unwisely and wastefully, and will be & burden and a curse to future generations. The country cannot continue to take a bil- llon dollars a year of its savings from reproductive enterprises and put it into enterprises which are not repro- ductive without the certainty of dis- aster. The time would come when there would be no savings to put into any kind of enterprises. Before a remedy for the situation can be found the people must get it out of their minds that when the rail- roads are hurt the rallroads suffer alone. The plight in which the rall- roads find themselves is the plight of the whole American people—of every manufacturer, every industrial worker, every farmer and every professional man. The rallroads cannot be starved without every other interest feeling the pinch of hunger. Russia and the German Crisis. A significant protest has been emit- ted from Moscow against the French invasion of the Ruhr, addressed by the soviet government to the peoples of the world. This protest, which is a sort of broadcasted expression rather than a specific message to any power or organization, scores French im-. perialism and equally the attitude of other nations, especlally England, for standing by and letting the French “destroy the bases of European econ- omy" without action. It is belleved at Moscow that this note is designed not to effect a stay of proceedings in Ger- many, but to impress the German peo- ple. As one interpreter puts it, the Russians are “speaking over the head of the German government to the Ger- man people.” Evidently the belief prevails at Mos- cow that the French occupation of the Ruhr {e really inspired by the hope in Paris that Germany will be dismem- bered in consequence by soclal cleav- age or class war rather than a desire to make Germany pay. It is, indeed, belleved elsewhere than in Russia that the French move is not economic, but politieal, and that it is the resuilt rather of fear of possible German mili- tary reaction in the near future in- stead of a wish to hasten reparations. Intimation is direct in the Moscow dispatches that Russia would not de- plore such a reaction in Germany as either a monarchical or a communist revolution. Already the communists are manifesting. Yesterday at Berlin a mob attacked the French embassy composed of the elements that par- ticipated in the Sparticide movement of 1920, and singularly enough also active in the demonstration were some who were involved in the Kapp “putsch’ of 1921. A communist Germany would be greatly to Russia’s liking. A military- monarchist Germany would be a step toward the same end, it is believed at Moscow. Anything for & change from the present republic. Anything to dis- turb existing conditions, to make for unrest, turmoil, even fighting. There is evidence that Moscow is communicating directly with Berlin. The German ambassador, Count Brock- dort-Rantzau, left the Russian capital suddenly Friday night for home. Doubtless he is carrying some sort of communication, too important to be trusted even to a courier. Events in Europe are unquestionably “march- ing,” as the French say. Building goes on at a repld rate, and every new house has a garage. The parking problem will grow with the passing years to proportions that will compel serfous sclentific consideration. In addition to occupying the Ruhr region France is compelled to consider the co-operation of expert workmen who make it the scene of their occupa- tion. . Statistics in relation to stock swin- dles show there is still & great deal of foolish money that the bootleggers do of benefactor by wise increases over the House proposals would not be end- ed, but would only just be beginning. Many a community has fame thrust upon it by @ murder mystery in & ‘manner that compels it to realize that the widest publicity is not necessarily the best advertising. Should Uncle Bam become ambitious to participate in foreign entangle- ments, Europe can always be relied on to produce one at a day’s notice. The moratorium becomes almost a matter of necessity when a debtor is flat broke and can prove it. The Plight of the Railroads. An abundance of food for werious thinking 18 to be found in the report submitted to the United States Coal Commission by & special committee representing the American Railway Asgoclation. While the report deals primarily with the difficulties of trans- porting coal in times of unusual de- mand, it goes much deeper than that and touches fundamental {lls in the American transportation system. If transportation is to be provided adequate to meet the growing needs of the country, says the report, the attitude of the public and of the fed- oral and state governments toward the raflroads must be such as to en- able them to earn a falr return on in- vested capital, otherwise the new capi- tal absolutely necessary to expansion cannot be obtained. Transportation is inadequate and defective today be- cause the rallroads cannot earn suf- ficlent return to make thelr securities an attractive investment. Despite the better showing made In the last calen- dar year, railroad loans still are aim- cult to float on advantageous term: ‘While the point is not specifically rouched upon in the committee's re- port, it is & well known fact that money which ordinarily could be ex- pected to seek investment with fho A not get. The difficulties at the coal mines have been adjusted, the arrangement providing as usual that the consumer shall pay the costs. Germany has had little to hope for except 'slays, and has thus far been remarkably successful in securing them. Recalling the troops ends complica- tions with Mars, but not the entangle- ments which Cupid has been weaving. A Cannon Memorial. From Danville, Ill,, the home of Mr. Cannon: Plans were announced today by the chamber of commerce for & memorial for "“Uncle Joe” Cannon. It is pro- posed that the city donate the land and raise part of the money, although donations will be accepted from all over the country. Outside contributions are certain to be made, and doubtless in generous amounts. Five DNlinoisians stand out-prom- inently in the history of the past sixty years. Mr. Lincoln is, of course, at their head. A great figure, worthy a place and holding a place among world fig- ures of any time. Judge Douglas, for years a rival in Tllinois politics and toward the end in national politics, comes next. A man who did not reach the highest place, but had & large following of devoted friends. John A. Logan was easily the most picturesque, and probably the most capable and successtul, soldier on the Union side in the civil war recruited from clvil life. He was likewise highly successful in politics, and for years after the war was conspicuous on the national stage. John W. Palmer was a strong force in both war and politics, and closed e notable career as the leader of the democratic protest against Mr. Bryan's THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, silver policy. He will be longest re- membered for that service. In this company Joseph G. Cannon rightfully belongs. He has run a long and distinguished course, and is re- tiring voluntarily from the stage at a time when he is personally, taking both parties into account, the most popular man on it. He is well entitled to the memorial his old neighbors are preparing in his honor. Speed Reclassification. The government employes will be heartened by the news that there is a prospect that a compromise reclassi- fleation bill will be brought forward in the hope of securing this long-needed legislation before this Congress ad- journs. Inasmuch as the leaders of Congress are committed to a continu- ance for another year of the unsatis. factory bonus, if the reclassification legislation fails, all concerned should now get together and secure the pas- sage of a reclassification bill. A perfect blll, one that will please everybody, is not to be expected. The interests concerned are many and di- vergent, the time is short and the pressure increases as the session draws to a close. Speed is necessary in order that the bill may not be caught in the end-of-the-session legis- lative jam. ‘The proposal appears to be that the classification features shall follow the Sterling-Lehlbach bill, while in its ad- ministrative features the new law shall establish a classification board, com- posed of the director of the budget, a member of the Civil Service Commis- sion and the chief of the bureau of ef- ficiency. By this plan the proposals carried in all of the various competing bills are combined, and the compro- mise seems @ reasonable one. The de- tails ought now to be promptly ‘whipped {nto shape and the bill passed. Any defects due to haste can later be ironed out. Better a present reclassification measure on the statute books, even if it lacks something of perfection, than the present chaotic condition of gov- ernment employment. Reclassification legislation ought not to be allowed to fail. Mexico. Mexican newspapers are not serving Mexico well or doing themselves any credit in their present attacks on the United States. Moreover, they are re- hashing old stuff—stuff which when new and fresh did not carry convic- tion, and which as indulged in today testifies only to biliousness and ill-will. TUncle Bam is not now and never has been a tyrant. He is not now meditat- ing and never has meditated the sub- jugation of any portion of Latin America. As the principal figure in the western hemisphere he has wished for and tried to advance the interests of both North and South America, and the record shows that he has rendered some notable services in that line. Mexico should be able to find geveral reasons for remembering the fact. His was the principal Influence that frus- trated Louis Napoleon's designs on that country in the '60s; and it was American capital, invited into the country and encouraged and protected by Diaz, that started Mexico on the road to the development and pros-| perity she enjoyed until she deposed him and drove him away to die. The present relations between Mexico and the United States ere re- grettable, but not beyond remedy. In fact, they lie so close to remedy, and 8o much of good to Mexico would fol- low the application of the remedy, the wonder is that she has so far re- Jected it. One of the housing problems is that of securing a system of bullding in- spection which will guarantee that a bullding after being put up will stay up. Developments in Europe indicate that Uncle Sam was right in regarding the game as too rough to encourage an attempt to act as a long-distance referee, . ‘Washington has had some bracing weather, but nothing as yet to detract from her growing reputation as a ‘world winter resort. In taking over Essen industries the French may have to consider the pos- sibilitles of & new kind of strike prob- lem. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Peace Dove. The dove of peace is & courageous bird, As we have heard. He secks a gently influential life, Avolding strife. And when to other birds the wish oceurs 'To put on spurs, He views the battle scene before him set ‘With deep regret. He says, “What 1 possess of simple fare, ‘With all I share. But in your combats, please do mot ask me To referee. Entanglements. “We must avold entangling eal- liances.” “It isn't always so easy,” replied Senator Sorghum. “When a boy goes fishing it's very seldom that he catches an eel on purpose.” Jud Tunkins says publicity doesn’t necessarily please the public. Nobody enjoys the magician’s tricks after learning how they are done. Mausings of a Motor Cop. Hortense Magee sped on her way And would not mind the stops. She's fitvving better every day, But can’t convince.the cops. “Whet's the idea of all you boys ‘wearing the latest fashions in clothes?” “Tired of bein’ stared at,” answered Cactus Joe. “Every stranger thought ‘we was a group of motion picture ac- tor: “It's easier to start an argument, €ald Uncle Eben, “dan it is to stop it it’s lasted too long.) i : 1 i Washington BY FREDERIC On this observer's library shelf re- clines a little book, written seven years ago, called “Makers of New Francg.” The author is Charles Daw- barn, who also wrote “France and the French.” It opens with a sketch of Raymond Poincare, man of the hour in fevered Europe, that might well have had the expedition to the Ruhr in mind: “Raymond Poincare is the embodi- ment of New France, the France which says ‘ves' or ‘nay’ boldly, with no tremor of the eyelids, no quaking of the limbs. As a small boy he saw the Prussians arrive in his native town of Bar-le-duc. His young brain was stamped with images of the invasion. As he sat on a stone bench by the river. overlooking a wide prospect of hill and vale, cov- ered with the somber pine charac- teristic of eastern France, he was filled with a_resolve to serve his country, to efface the impressions of those “scenes by creating other: warm and generous, in which Fran should find her prestige again.” * % ok % One of the unrecorded social oc- caslons of =a brilliant season in Washington was the “welcome home" dinner party given the other night in honor of Joseph P. Tumulty. The hosts were newspaper men who sei ed the opportunity of Mr. Tumulty's recent return from Europe, whither an errand of mercy to his daughter's bed of distress took him. to show that Woodrow Wilson's alter ego re- tains a warm place in the affections of local seribes. It was an evening of mighty reminiscence. Tol al history that never will see the light of day was spun by the yard, Tumuity never played partisan fa vorites at the White House. His con- fidences were equally at the disposal of democratic and republican corre- spondents. Though he now dabhles professionally in the law, “Joe's” first love Is his last, and he revels in his natural element when talking politics. * % k X Although, colossus-like, he bestrides some $500,000,000 worth of German assets still held by the United States, Col. Thomas W. Miller, alien property custodian, maintains cordial relations with the German ambas- sador. At a diplomatic reception of recent date Col. Miller saw Dr. and Frau Wiedfeldt in the offing near the buffet table and with consum- mate gallantry offered to provide them with a snack. Suiting action to the thought. he forthwith reap- peared with plates of salad and sandwiches and. tendering them to their German excellencies, remarked: “I hope this isn't all Germany is golng to get from the alien prop- erty custodian.” * % %k ¥ M. Albert Thomas, the French poli- tician who is concluding a fruitful week In Washington on behalf of the international labor office, was asked by many for information as to the activities of Kerensky, over- thrower of czarism. Thomas was sent to Russia by the allled govern- ments in 1917, when bolshevism was rearing its head, in the hope that a trusted French labor leader help to thwart the red movement. It appears that Kerensky spends his time between London, Paris and Prague, sleeplessiy working on be- half of the constitutional Russian democracy that hopes to be. He has established a Russian newspaper at Prague for propagation of his views. Thomas avers Kerensky is almost the only one of his exiled group who EDITORIAL DIGEST Organized Manufacturers Clash With Labor Over Immigration. What the Indianapolis News sees as “a strong probability that the post-war immigration law will be changed during the year” grows out of the program presented by the Na- tional Association of Manufacturers for a radical modification of the present 3 per cent law to meet what manufacturers and farmers are con- tending is a serious shortage of com- mon labor. Against the organized manufacturers are aligned the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, which in- sists upon a further trial of the law as it stands, and the American Legion, which is advocating complete exclusion for a period of five years. Editorial opinion on the whole is backing the position of the Amer- jcan Federation of Labor, while ex- pressing sympathy for certain points in the program of the National Asso- ciation of Manufacturers. The essential features of that pro- gram include a change in the pres ent quota arrangement which will take emigration into consideration, a provision empowering the Secre- tary of Labor to increase quotas to meet shortages of laber in given in- dustries or localities, and to permit common or “rough” labor to enter, irrespective of literacy tests or citizen qualifications. It is the last- mentioned proposal which draws most of the editorial fire. Many writers agree with the New York Times when It declares that “the present immigration law has not functioned satisfactorily, al- though Congress spared neither labor nor pains upon the original bilL.” It was clearly an emergency measure, many feel, and it has now been in operation long enough so that its de- fects are manifest. One of them lies in basing quotas on gross immigra- tion from & given country, without taking Into consideration what por- tion of that gross amount has since emigrated to the original country, a defect which the National Manufac- turers’ Association Is now seeking to correct. Instancing this difficulty, the Cleveland Plain Dealer refers “to a natlon whose quota under the pres- ent method of administration last year was 40,000, but 53,000 of whose citizens emigrated during the same time.” Since there was thus created “an actual deficit,” the law operated to contribute to the labor shortage. Accordingly the Plain Dealer can find “no reasonable objection to the use of net immigration figures” on which to base quotas. York Post goes so far as to suggest permitting immigrants to take the places of emigrants, over and above the 3 per cent quota. This strikes the New York Tribune as “an In- genlous device for nulifying the ef- fectiveness of the immigration law,’ since it means, In effect, “the more that go out the more that may come in," and, moreover, places “a pre- mium on those races which are the least inclined to settle permanently in_this country.” “there must be a full quota of ' worker: Memphis Commercial-Appeal “4f the country is to go forward and make and if natives cannot sup= -qoulft 1t wo ' However, ny the proper too. | could | The New. D. ¢, MONDAY, J Observations WILLIAM WILE. maintains the fight on the soviet from outside with vigor and unflag- ging hope. Boris Bakhmeteff, the accomplished “Kerensky ambassa- dor,” who was a storm-center In Washington last year, has returned to the United States ‘and is now a consulting engineer in New York city. * ok ¥ ¥ An American banker, James E. Dun- ning of London, is financing the glant project of the Krupps for the agricul- tural development of the Don river region in Russia. After serving as chief European representative of the National City Bank and purchasing agent of the A. E. F. in England dur- ing the war, Dunning founded ths British and Koreign Mercantile Bank in London. He is a Maine man, for- merly edited a newspaper at Bangor, and was consul at Havre and Milan before becoming a consul general-at- large in 1912 with jurisdiction over all Europe. * K ok ¥ Col. Edward M. House has given his annual interview in his native Texas. It is a longer interview than the colo- nel usually vouchsafes, even when the salubrious air of the Lone Star state loosens his tongue. No one has been able to discover that it consisted of more than the fifteen words necessary to opinc that “the democrats will win in 1924 if they don't make fools of them- selves in 1923." Like a good many public men with a reputation for taci turnity, Col. House can be communi- cativeness personificd when he wants His most during morning constitution: ong Park avenue fn New York with a chosen confidant. Until recently pros- | trated, Herman H. Kohlsaat was an unfailing _companion on those occa- ons. Calvin Coolidge s another American_undeservedly famed for con- versational niggardliness. He opens up like a rosebud {n the morning sun when the occasion arises and the company is good. * K kX Richard Linthicum, democratic pub- liclty Impresurio, lles awake nights devising ways and means for making life a burden for republican politi- clans. Representative Mondell is one of Linthicum's pet aversions. Apro- pos that distinguished Wyoming lame duck’s reputed aspiration to succeed cretary Fall, ‘Linthicum has disin- terred_a reference to him in Theo dore Roosevelt's biography. Speak ing of the conservation asure in- troduced at his instigation by the late Senator Newlands of Nevada, Roosevelt wrote: “The draft of the bill was worked over by me and others at several co fer s and _rev! 1 in important particulars. My active interference was necessary to prevent it being made unworkable by an undue in- sistence upon state rights in_ ac- cordance with the efforts of Mr. Mon- dell and other congressmen, who con- fought for local and private interests against the interests of the s a whole. Am® eminent member of Congress was recently married. His principal | wedding present to his bride was a solemn promise one day to lead her| into the White House as the first! |lady of the land. | * ¥k One of cur distinguished strangers | from abroad, lately within the capital | zate, was anxious to meet Senators | Borah and Johnson. He communed with both. Afterwards he defined Johnson as “interesting., obstinate | and superficial” and Borah as minded, resourceful and eage the part of wisdom for the leaders of the nation to make some other | provisions,” since, as the Florida | Times-Union (Jacksonville) predicts, | the need of unskilled labor w soon be felt much more keenly than it is felt now.” s the Jacksonville | paper sees if, “a continuation of the | present laws would halt the develop ment of the south,” since “the south | under present conditions must sup. ply the common labor that under more intelligent management would come from Europe” even -though “nowhere in the country is labor as greatly needed as it is in the south.” jOn the other hand, another southern paper, the Nashville Banner, is skep- tical of the gain to agriculture in letting down immigration bars, for ‘cheap labor has inevitably drifted to industrial centers. As a general thing, cheap labor is worth no more than the name would indicate and| has cost heavily in other ways than wages That cheap labor is the objective of the organized manufacturers fs the view held by many editors. “The importation of cheap goods from abroad may shock them,” the Lincoln (Neb.) State Journal suggests; “the transportation of cheap labor does not shock them a bit. They are as ing for it and the Aberdeen (S. D.) World agrees that “the real point is that the farmers and the manufac- turers regard the present wage scale as too high. What they want is a surplus of workers so that wages can be reduced.” Another “almost incredibly short- ighted” proposal of the National As- sociation of Manufacturers, which the New Haven Register points out, is that “whereby any industry short of unskilled labor can provide itself from the Kuropean reservoir by merely laying the situation before the Secretary of Labor * * ¢ re- gardless of quotas” What is this, the paper asks, “but a return to the old and perniclous contract system of importing labor under the tive guise of new name?" system, combined with the ‘“super- vigion"” idea, would result in a con- ition in which the alien would be registered, classified, told where to go and where to stay, educated and periodically tested for political and moral impurities,” a program which the St. Paul Pioneer-Press regards as “alluring,” lacking only “uniforms and serial numbers to make the poor pilgrim in search of American lib- erty perfectly miserable.” There is some support for the abrogation of the literacy test which the Manufacturers’ Association sug- gests. The Newark News, for one, declares that “literacy tests are utter failures as determinants of character. They weed out potentially good citi- zens because of their lack of early opportunities and frequently let the cunning ~and the crooked _=lip through.” Moreover, the New York Herald holds, “when the immigrant alien comes to apply for citizenship it is time enough to insist that he read and write. We do not want for scholars and voters. We need labor —men who will do the work that our own people refuse to do.” Nevertheless, this country, the Oregon Journal (Portland) contends, “should admit for permanent resi- ANUARY 15, | delays {am sure some of our people will be ! dence only those who purpose to be- come citizens” and who can become voters, and the Ohio State Journal (Columbus) agrees that “citizenship is the only goal.” In advocating the admission of “a laboring class” that is fit for “rough labor” but not “fit for naturalization” or citizenship, the New York World suggests that the manufacturers are seeking to estab- lish labor “as a commodity used in manufacturing, * * * one of _the raw materials of industry which should be put on a free-trade basis,” thereby “creating in the United States a class of proletarian robots who are to be registered, distributed, educated and otherwise supervised by the government.” Congress has not, the paper believes, “wandered o far into the jungle of class lopt any such 1923. A Word for France Charge of Imperialism Is Denied in Letter to The Star. To the Editor of The Star: . It seems to me that it is time that some one spoke a word for France, not only on account of the present situation, but because of the criti- cism of France which has been rife for months, “France is militaristic.” Well, If we had as malignant and treacherous an enemy on our frontier as France has; if we bad been in- vaded by that same enemy on an average of every fifty years since near the beginning of the Christian era, perhaps we might develop a bit of militarism ourselves—enough to make us hesitate about reducing our army too far. My opinion is that were we In the position of France, every man In the country capable of bearing arms would be enrolled, sub- Ject to call, and every boy would be undergoing military training. “France is imperialistic.” How &0? She took back her own, in Alsace and Lorraine. She asks 't her just debts be paid. If we had seen our fairest states lald waste, our centers of industry destroyed, our women ravished, it fs just possible that we might feel inclined to insist on rep- aration as far as reparation was pos- sible. For the worst losses it is im- possible. We might even try to com- el payment if there seemed no other way fo securs it. How long is it since the statement that “the only argument which Germany under- stands I8 the argument of force,” was accepted as axiomatic? Everybody knows that Germany never will pay, never intended to pay, unless com- pelled. And, meantime, French wid- ows have thelr pitiful little pensions cut down because Germany hasn't paid. And Germany can pay. Make no mistake about that. Witness the ac- count In The Star last night of the thriving industries of the Ruhr val- ley, even surpassing pre-war produc- tion; witness the expansion of her shipbuilding industries; witness the 2,000 per day paid to Wilhelm Hohen- zollern. Her land is undevastated by war, her mines and factories are un- damaged. Why are we etill hood- winked by her propaganda? Now we withdraw from France the tiny shred of moral support repre- sented by our handful of men on the Rhine. What do we want France to do? She has submitted to reduc- tion after reduction in the German debt. Do we want her to permit Germany to continue to default and to use the money and materials thus saved in preparation for another war? For most certainly that is what she will do. There 18 another angle from which to view the question. What would Germany do were the situation re- versed? To ask the question if to nswer it. We read in the book of ooks: “He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy,” And when did Germany ever how ‘mercy? 1 am not advocating any merciless visitation on Germany, but I am weary of talk of policies and and fruitless magnanimity, and 1 do plead for simple justice to France, whose brave blue line was the hope of civilization not so many years ago. ISABELLA CAMPBELL. i Square Deal to Britain Debt Plan Suggested to Conform With Responsibility. To the Editor of The Star: The press of our land seems to be 4 unit in commending the straight- forward and businesslike manner in which the British debt commission has thus far comported itself. For- merly there had been much beating about the cancellation bush. Perhaps | this talk had received encouragement from high places. Be that as it may, I think the time opportune, and I much interested if I throw a lttle! light on this all-important subject. | An editorial in The Washington Star. January 10, remarks: “The money this | government loaned (to Britaln) was| money for which the American people | had worked and saved.” This is mis-| leading fn the sense that actually| there was no money loaned at all| Britain received notes and not cash. | he people’s money remained here | nd was handed over in payment for | nilitary supplies to some of the ! sreatest profiteers and grafters the | world has ever known. And, if there | had been no profiteers and grafters, the prices paid for supplies were ‘war prices,” and we all know what | that means. And mnote. Out of this transaction our government profited two blllions of dollars war taxes. 1f money had been loaned, the debt would not have been haif as much as it is, for then the allies could have | purchased elsewhere at half the fig- | ure. { Another extremely interesting item ! is this: After we declared war on April 6, 1917, while we got “over there” as fast 'as we could, the fact is almost one vear elapsed before we &ot on the job. It was during this time—while we had declared war, and were @ partner in the war, and while ‘we were contributing nothing toward its success—it was during this time, that the debt transaction came about. In this, now our war, we sent guns] and ammunition (mind you, we did not contribute them to the common cause), we sent them as part of the above 'debt; and with these supplies the allies held the foe, our foe, at} bay, and lost 1,000,000 men killed and { 1,000,000 men wounded (compare this | 10ss with the loan), and when our troops arrived part of these supplies were used by them also. Thus thou- sands of our own soldiers’ lives were saved by guns and ammunition fur- nished by the allies, and which were a part of the debt which we are so sternly demanding Britain shall pay. To my mind, the above explains the talk for cancellation. Now, sir, if you will permit me, 1 will say: First, the money spent for guns and ammunition on the strength of those notes after we had declared war and it became our war, ought not to call for one cent of interest from Britain; second, the equivalent in money for the guns and ammuni- tion used by our troops before we could fully supply them ourselves should be reduced from the loan and canceled; third, the Interest on the $2,000,000,000 which accrued to our government as war tax profit on pur- chases on the strength of the notes should be canceled. If the above is dome it will look more like a square deal REV, W. CLEWS. Necklace of Queen May Reveal Oil Field Another oil fleld awaits discovery, its existence euriously indicated by the necklace of an Egyptian queen who died more than 3,000 years ago. The necklace was among the articles revealed upon breaking into a beauti- ful box in the first chamber of the re- cently opened tomb of King Tut- Ankhamen. The contents revealed robes of his queen, slippers, sandals and much jewelry, this treasure being a splendid find if there were nothing else in the tomb. Apart from intrinsic or archeglogical value, however, the most interesting of the rellcs was the necklace of beads of black amber. It is sald that black amber is found only in districts where ofl deposits have oozed through the soil. Their kue is accounted for by this blacken- ing saturation. Amber was greatly esteemed for ornamental purposes by the anclents, and very likely the black variety was reserved exclusively for royalty. The evidence brought down to us through the centuries is that there is an ofl fleld not far from the tombs of Luxor. The ancients con- tented themselves with digging for beads. The moderns would drill for oil. The queen’s necklace is a romantic link between a period of antiquity and the new age of petroleum.— Providence Journal. 1 i Chief Watson CAPITAL KEYNOTES BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Stole liquor! That's not stealing any- thing, for liquor is not property. Broke in a door! That's housebreaking, and calls for two years in the penitentiary, although what he did it for was to get at the liquor—‘“nothing.” That. is the law. Flew a kite in Washington! Awful! This lawlessness must be stopped. The law stopped nefarious flying of Kkites away back in July, 1892. Three years ago some modern reformer started to amend that law by introducing a bill in Congress, but the committée to which the bill was referred has not con- cluded its hearings on it yet. Since the kite-flying was stopped the flying machine and the horseless wagon and the wireless telephone and wireless method of sending pictures through the ether, and prohibition, and everything, have changed, but it is still a mis- demeanor to fly a kite in Washington, The little boys who were naughty and flew their Kites just before the law and the bluecoats stopped them are now thinking of retiring from active business and letting their grandsons have a chance. And the grandsons think this is bully weather to let their kids fly kites—if it were not criminal. Law is the application of common sense—sometimes. * x x % What is all the talk about a con- gressman’s being immune from arrest during a session of Congress, and yet because a member started some- thing and then changed his mind about it and wanted to quit the House threat- ens to put him in lingo until the ses- slon expires? The Constitution declares that senators and representatives *shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective hou Yet they want to arrest a now for refusing to talk. Bless then Why not arrest some for talking? This is as heinous a crime as flying a kite 1t worse than stealing booze. If this be treason—to refuse to talk—let amend the Constitution. Thi even put amplifiers into the House, which magnifies the talk, until the verlest whisper can be heard in Hono- lulu. When will they install magni- fiers of silen But when is it that in Congress “Silence. like a poultice, comes to heal the blows of sound”? Can vou empty a vacuum, or cool an “absolute _zero,” or amplify ~dead silence? All that they intend to try is to put a_sphinx into a donjon and throw the key down the weil u it's over, over there, on Capitol Hill. w R emiby There is absolutely no heroism so | Few are the innately modest modesty. are not brave as heroes whi and self-effacing. So we hail to the chiet—Chiet George S. Watson of the Washington fire department, who re- fuses to accept a hero medal con- ferred on him by the District Com- missioners on account of efficient service in directing the rescue of the survivors of the Knickerbocker Theater disaster, last winter, when the whole audlence was trapped and crushed beneath the collapsed roof. cannot see that h did any more than all of his men the duty before them. 'Perhaps that is true. It is seldom indeed that an herofe actlon is consciously take because it is herole. It is no detrac tion from the merit of the men who obeyed orders and obeved the in- stincts of their own bravery, when hey rushed into the scene of ninety seven deaths, and risked the threat- ened further collapse of the for distinzuished honor to be pal their leader. It is always impos to award full measure of just recog- nition to all individuals in such a crisis. The officer who leads his men into a_desperate fight is often pro- aimed a hero, while the men are not known by name and receive no spe- cial honors. . in another sense, they do share - honor that is bestowed upon their leader. For them to look at the medal upon their leader's breast adds glory to every man's own con sciousness, when he says to himself “I, too, was there!” The leader" honors are alwa vicarious—he stands for all who shared his her ism. Chief Watson! Chief Wat men Your cit; salut true man- hood, which did not flinch. ok o x The cheapest of ail “arguments” is a hiss. The story that a hiss once ved Rome is a myth. At all events, a hiss, whether from the same kind of birds or any kind, will never de- stroy home. “Aunt Alice” does not pretend to be a statesman, but her unassuming recognition that there are vet sacred ties for womankind, outside of the halls of parliament and shops of toil, does her honor, de- serving the respect and sisterly sym- pathy of even the worthy women in convention assembled. Quite aside from party alignment, she has won the respect of her associates in Con- “Wets” Sent Him to Congre It is not just to them. | 8Tess, and now that she is about to retire from public life, her eulogiums of home speak her womanly instincts Were her sent:ments so different * from those of the honorable Secre- tary of Labor, who deprecated the statistics which thow that one mar ried woman in every ten is employed for wages, when, he added, thev ought to be at home caring for their children? “Was tnat statement from a cabinet official hissed? Does the great mass of the American sent ment hiss the hore? Are wo not, Americans, rather proud of our homes? Are we not sorry for thoss nationalities whose language fails 1., contain the word “home’ word that is its equivalent? don’t hiss—bless Instead. loves home. America * k ¥ * Shades of democracy! Now comes the owner of Monticello, the home of the late Thomas Jefferson, offering - to sell the place to the government for a summer homa for the Presi- dents. The price asked for the farm, including its improvements, is $500,- 000, and the argument is offered th the Leakin bequest of $200,000 for “White House" within fifty miles from Washington could applied as first payment, leaving the balance of $300.000 to come *as convenient.” The offerer forgets that the Leakin’ bequest stipulat. that the house must be a replica of th and be within fifty Ington. Congress migh dom, appropriate the entire but 1t could not so use any Leakin fund. * %ok ¥ Two more great instimtions ars promised to glorify Washington cit One is to be a national headquarters | for the Federation of Womer's Clut [to cost $300.000, of which t third has already been a other is to be a “Temp ture"—a memorial building quarters for the literary « America. This will be under {trol of the National Literary incorporated in the Distr Freer Art Gallery is to be « the coming spring and that w ulate interest in fine art, for there no collection of Oriental Whistlerfan_art anywhere t contpare with the Freer ‘Washington h: been conspicuous for its politics; it is destined to d the world as a center of the finer forms of culture, arly * ¥ % * Veterinarians have to | cense before they are permittcd perform surgery or to dose It is now proposed that tomo “veterinarians” be subjected to same kind of control. All mechar who undertake to repair or adjust | tomobiles would, under such a law | be required to pass a rigid examina tion before licensed to do such work {either as head of a shop or tinkerer Plumbers are so regulated, vet | bungling plumber might do no damage than to leave a fauc ;m::. An incompetent automob 3 t e ble to ¢ secure the automobile repai shop, who is in a position to know what the need and the danger is ve Johy nthracite mining | companies are supplying Canada its L | full normal quota of caal. whils | America is given only 60 per cent of its normal quota. Furthermore, 1l | price in Canada is from §2 to $7 1 ton less t. e grades sell fn {in Amer a_interes: | taver sh . the criti | According | Jacob Rog: . therefor mbarge ‘anadian members of only what we spare as a surplus after our oW normal _demand fully supplied { should be 0 into ex port trade. the flappers : beg immedia | ments. There are | gress who | with " serious short winter approaches. Eig ton! Plus storage, 1 P hingtonians—especialy ont mists—are “gratified” at the | countants’ finding nearly five mil | dollars belonging to the District of locked up in the gover: easury for safe keeping. Now, needed is a Congress th will appropriate it for payment the owners. Then we shall h schools. There will be a great pro ession of school children soon, pro testing against their 50-50 schooling Why not organize a pageant of children’s crusade, to surround t | Treasury and call for it? a w Columbi; ment 7 all that is to > To Stall Activities at Home Probably there is no man in public life today of whom it can be so truly said that “he is e veteran stump speaker” as of Representative Louis “Cramton of Michigan, one of the most active members of the House appropria- tions committee. Representative Cramton is also a| living (and suc- cessful) illustra- tion of that old quip frequently sarcastically made about members of Congress to the effect that their constituents sent them to Wash- ington because they feared they would do too much damage at home. Full credit is given to the “Dig brother” scheme for his notable suc- cess in life. His older brother, now 10UIS C. CRAMTON. & successful business man and prom- | inent figure in Montgomery, Ala.,, he says, is largely responsible for his career both by suggestion and ma- terial aid—being the only contributor he has ever had to his campaign funds. Back in the days mot long follow- ing the civil war, when he was about five years of age, Congressman Cram- ton had his first impressions of public speaking. He lived on a farm in Michigan, where there was a beau- tiful plece of woodland comprising about ten acres. It was the post- war custom of the veterans to hold reunions. The reunion for those in Lapeer county was held in Cramton’s woods in Hadley township. There was a big crowd there; the impression on his youthful mind was such that Representative Cramton re- calls it as the largest gathering he ever saw. The old soldiers made speeches and had a picnic. He stil tains &y very vivid impression of ‘ In preparing for the picnic the ve erans had cut down some trees, and they used one of the largest stumps as a platform from which to make their speeches. “After the crowd had gone, brother frequently took me for a walk up to that old picnic ground Representative Cramton recalls, “and used to stand me on that stump and have me make specches. I used tr; to imitate the grandiloque oratory and flourishing gestures of the old soldiers, and greatly enjoyed | the spectacle.” Representative Cramton never made {but one prepared speech in his life land that he carefully memorized. It | was his “oration” when graduating from high school. He was so scared | he'd forgot it when his turn came jon the program, his tongue jthroat were so parched by fri ithat it was several minutes be: he could say a word’ He tells this story of how he came to_Congress: “While I was serving in the Mich igan state legislature in 1909 the w and dry fight which culminated in the constitutional amendment was just starting. It was beginning to be a state Issu several counties having gone dry under local option 1 became actively connected with the dry end. That vear we enacted stringent_regulations known as the Warner-Cramton liquor law “After that I became a candidate for Congress, and mine was a wet district, and on account of my dry activities 1 was severely handicap- ped. There was ono John Murdock. who lived in Huron county, which | was particularly wet and threatened to defeat my young ambition to help make the nation’s laws. Murdock was a former member of the state legislature and later postmaster of the legislature. He was a clear- headed Scotchman we had be- come great friends. “As Murdock went about the voters would say to him, ‘How about thix fellow Cramton? He's dry and dan- gerous.' To which my good friend Murdock would reply with his canny. dry Scotch humor: ‘Sure. he's dry, ex)& let’s send him to Washington, wher: he can't hurt us any more. We don't want any more Warner-Cram- ton laws passed at Lansing, do we?” This tickled the fancy of the gdod folk in Huron county, who couldit conceive of the possibility of Pr bition ever becoming a national i sue—and they elected me,” councludes v Cramton. my { and