Evening Star Newspaper, January 21, 1923, Page 35

EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL: ‘PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES | Part 2—16 Pages FIGHT BEGUN TO LOWER 'BARS TO FOREIGN LABOR House Committee Hears Advocates of Greater Immigration—Senate Commit- tee Favors Admitting Armenians. BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. TREMENDOUS drive on the ~part of employers of labor to 4 break down the stringent re- strictions of the existing 3 per cent {mmigration act, so as to permit of the entry of forelgn labor, 18 under way. That it will be re- sisted by American organized labor follows as naturally as B follows A, The House committee on immigra- tion. only a few days ago held ex- tensive hearings on the subject. Rep- resentatives of the manufacturing in- dustrles and of the farmers appeared before the committes, declaring that there was a shortage of labor that was handicapping the manufacturing and agricultural industries of the country. The steel {ndustry, the mining industry, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National As- sociation of Manufacturers, the Na- tional Associatlon of Merchant Tal- ors, organizations of Jews and others appeared before the committee. Committee Favors More Restriction. But the proponents of greater im< migration were up against a com- mittee whose members for the most part belleve In restriotive measures, ather than in a lowering of the bars. They beliove in admitting some im- mnigrants,” {t is true, provided they can be selected. And the answer of the committee, it is teported, will be the introduction of a bill which will really have the effect of reducing the immigration below the limits now set by the g per cent quota act, which expires in June, 1924. The House committee has held sev- executive meetings in the last week, and it is understood that tt will draft a bill which provides for ro freely admitting the blood re- ations of allens. who have already entered the United States—provided.of course, that the aliens already here becoming good citizens, and pro- iding also that their nelatives seek- nz admission -measurec up to the standards for iImmigrants set by the United States. The bill, however, probably will reduce the percentage quotas allowed the various countries from 3 to 2 per cent, with a fixed number—fifty-——to be admitted from countries which have very smal num- hers of their nationals already in the United States. - eral Shortage ‘of Labor Clalmed. With increasing industrial activity in the United States, the question of immigration has assumed an economic phase of growing importance, it is held by legislators who are inclined 10 be more liberal than members of the House committee. It is admitted that, with the exception of the Jews and the Armentans, the demand for increased immigration into the United States has economic causes behind it. The unemployment fn the United States, which a year ago, was caus- ng much suffering here, apparently has vanlshed like the snows of last vear. The testimony given before the ! same committec by men represent- g a variety of industries, includ- ing agriculture, was to the effect that labor—particularly unskilled labor— is becoming harder and harder to ob- tain In Ameria. The industries are suffering from a lack of labor. This was sald to be true particularly of the steel industry. There are, of course, other ques- tions beside the sconomic involved in immigration, questions of race, of the adaptability of immigrants and tho facllity with which they may be Amerlcanized. At present, however, he economic slde of the issue is dom- inant £o far as those favoring a low- | ering Gt the bars is concerned. Net Immigration. Net many years ago the United States was the “land of the free,” o goal of thousands of men and women in other lands, where there was no such thing as freedom. To- day it is still the land of the free, but there are other-lands also where the people are free. Monarchles and cmplres have;crumbled. matter of fact, And as a| the people drink wjines to a very large extent. the United States is to- day regarded as less free than some others. It is interesting to noy that, un- der the 3 per cent quota law, the countries comprising the northarn and western portions of Europe failed to send their quotas to the United States in the last fis€al year. Furthermore, the nationals of some of the countries of the southern portion of Europe have left the shores of America in numbers well nigh as large as those in which they have entered the United States. The result has been that the net immigration into, this country has been in reality small, far smaller than was provided for in the 3 per cent quota law. Admission of Armenians. At present there is a demand for the entrance of the refugees from Smyrra and the near east, refugees fleeing before the Turk. Although the House committee recently re- fused to report a bill admitting these refugees, the Senate immigration com- mittee has reported a measure which in effect admits to the United States the refugees from Armenia only who have relatives in the United States who have been naturalized or who have declared their intention of be- coming citizens of the United States. The Senate committee also has placed in the bill a proviso to admit orphan children from Armenia, where pro- vislon {s made for their care in this ‘country, so that they will not be- come charges of the government. In limiting the admission of refugees to Armenians the committee had in mind {the fact that the Armentans have no country of their own—as have the Greeks and Ttallans. Its position was that Greeks and Italians who might be refugees could go to Greece or Italy, 4 An effort will be made In the Senate to have the bill passed and sent to the House, where, it is hoped, the very restricted provisions for the admls- sion of Armenian refugees will meet with approval alse. In view of the short time inter- vening before the adjournment of the present Congress it 18 not believed that any other immigration legisla- tian can be enacted into law. But theré is a growing belief that as soon as the next Congress assembles the immigration question will be tackled and an effort made to put through permanent law to take the place of the present temporary S per cent quota law. Claims and Counter Claims. The complaint of the manufactur- ing industries is that American boys and the sons of immigrants born in this country refuss to engage in what is known as common labor—In dig- ging ditches, wielding pick and shovel, etc. They are not going into the eheet steel mills. The system of education in this country, witnesses have charged, prepares boys for col- lege and for “white collar” jobs; that it 1s educating the boys away from the skilled trades, even, not to men- tion common labor. Unless this labor is -obtained by immigration there is golng to be a great lacik, it 1s sald. Opponents of the proposal to lower the bars to immigrants, on the other hand, charge that the employers want to obtain cheap labor. They say that American labor is now well employed, and they do not want to “rock the boat” by permitting the entry of a mass of foreign labor. In the century extending from 1820 :ln 1920 some 34,760,000 immigrants | came into the United States. It was | during these vears that transporta- tion systems and the great industries of the country were buflt up. With- out immigration the development of the country could not have been ac- complished, say the advocates of fur- ther immigration. They contend that without additional immigration it will in countries where 'should. |not be possible for the country to continue its development as it ’ Railroads Planning to Spend A Billion Dollars This Year BY HARDEN COLFAX. Buying plans of the rallroads for 1923, revealed throush applications to the Interstate Commerce Commis sion, and budget announcements by the roads themselves, indicate that the carriers will spend approximately $1,000,000,000 during the year Lof new -ars and locomotives and for addi- tions to terminal and trackage facil- ities. Some of the leading carriers already have launched their pro- grams, which look toward the fol- lowing developments: 1. A material increase in the vol- ume of frelght transported over 1922, the second highest year on record. During last November, for instance, trafo increased, in ton miles, the unit of measurement, approximately B1 per cent over November, 1921. A further increase {s anticipated. 2. Elimination, so fan as possible, of the distressing shdrtagesof freight cars and molive power which perfod- jcally have hampered the growth of business and curtailed the earning power of the roads themselves. 3. The addition of 1,000 miles or more of main line to existing systems. For nearly ten years the railroads have virtually ceased to grow. The ohief carriers now belleve that the fime has come to extend thelr lines and add to their trackage. The toovement will be cautious at first #n@ semewhat in the nature of an experiment - It the experiment pays, further extensions may be expected. 4. Upbuiling, as rapidly as possi- ble, of the run-down motive power equipment of the roads, at present slowly emerging trom its lowest con- dition, and intensive repair work on disabled cars, placing a maximum number of frelght cars in service to meet the rush of business expected With the reopening of the building boom and other activities in the spring. In line with the foregoing program, ‘'nine of the leading rallroads of the country have either ordered this year, or expréssed their intention of ordering shortly, 37,400 freight cars. These roads operate about 35,000 miles of mein line, or one-seventh of all in the country. The same roads and two others, operating 43,000 miles, or little more than one-fourth of the country's rail. systems, hayp.- elther ordered or contemplate ordering 804 locomotives, These roads and their equipment or? ders are: Pennsylvania, 300 locomo- tives; Baltimore and Ohio, 8,000 cars and 52 locomotives; Mobile and Ohto, 850 cars and 9 locomotives; Minneap- olis. St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie, 1,250 cars and 6 locomotives; Western Pacific, 2,100 cirs; Norfolk and West- ern, 8,000 camy and 46 locomotives; Illinels Central, 7,700 cars and 190 locomotives: Chicago, Rock . Island EDITORIAL 'SECTION. The Sundy S WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 21, 71923, Demo crats Talk Pr esiden tial Candi ates | W]I'l.ile“Bryan and McAdoo Are in Capital 1 BY N. 0. MESSENGER. in democratic presidential politics was aroused by the presence of William J. Bryan and William G. Mc- Adoo in Washington during the week NTEREST and “the resulting conferences wows among leading democratic politicians It falls out < that many of the most active and influential -'men in the democratic national organization who are found in Congress. are also high in the legislative their party, so that the capital is sense the national democracy. Some of the conferences no doubt were of a castal and non-constructive " and by the same token others are expected to bear fruit. ¥ ok ok % - political consequence. a big pinch of salt, realizing that ent time. ko and Pacific, 2,500 cars and 40 loco- motives; Union Pacific, 3,000 cars and 80 locomotives; Atlantic Coast Line, 4,000 cars and 45 locomotives, and Central of New Jersey, 36 locomotives. The current year leads all predecessors within the past decade in the volume of new and prospective orders for rallroad equipment at this period. The budgets of some of the chiet roads for 1923 include the fol- lowing sums for railroad equipment and improvements: 3 o LS S B Pennsylvania, $55,000,00 Ceitteal, about $30,000,000 (carried over from 1922); Illinols Central, $42.- 000,000; Norfolk & Western, $32,000,- 000 Unlon Pacific, $20,000,000; Louts- ville & Nashville, $20,000,000. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe ex- pects to construct M7 miles of sec- ond track during the vear, the Great Northern about 35 miles of new line, the Atlantio Coast Line, 45 miles; the Union Pacific, 63 miles; the Illinois Central, 48 miles, the Pere Marquette, 16 miles, and the New York Central, fn & cut-oft near Albany, about 20 miles. Including the foregoing, new trackage to the extent of more than 400 miles has been announced thus far in January as part of the 1923 construction program. Since January 1 the Interstate Com- merce Commission has received appli- cations for or approved the lssuance of about $30,000,000 in rallroad se- curities to finance the purchase of new equipment. This does not in- clude the anticipated application of the Pennsylvania railroad to cover finencing of its order for 300 locomo- tives, estimated to cost between $20,- 000,000 and $30,000,000. Due largely to the Intensive cam- paign to repair bad-order cars, as well a8 to the seasonal decline In de- mand, the railroads have succeeded in cutting down the car shortage to a net 53,000 cars since November 1 last, when the net shortage reached 175,000 cars. At the present time, the Ameri- can Railway Assoclation states, the number of bad-order cars in the United States is 216,000 or 9.5 per cent of the total. Last summer bad- order cars totaled about 350,000. The volume of traffic continues un- usually heavy, the association an- nounces. Figures just made public place the number of loaded cars hand- led by the roads during the first week of January at 770,308, an increase of 170,800, or 28 per cent, over the cor- responding week last year. Final figures for 1922 earnings, now in the making, are expected to show a return of little more than 4 per cent|to go to hell and be quick about it, | Ship. “The lante duck is an asset, not on railroad investment, taking the| After all, it was for that sweet boon | 2 11ability, in politics, and our rejec- carriers as a whole. TOOTHBRUSH RARE AMONG KENTUCKY HILL CHILDREN Three-fourths .of. the children ex- amined in a mountain gounty in Kentucky by experts of the children’s bureau of. the Labor Department were headquarters of When Mr. McAdoo came he plausibly pooh-poohed the idea that his visit was of He must have had his fingers crossed when he did so. good-natured incredulity all the politicians at the Capitol received- the disclaimer with has at least as much license as a poet, and is not bound to disclose his hand. Mr. McAdoo is recognized as not only an active aspirant for the democratic nomi- nation for the presidency, but as probably occupying the lead in that race at the pres- On this subject, one of the men high up in the democratic national commit- tee, and who is_not committed to Mr. Mc- Adoo’s candidacy, said to the writer yes- terday: “There can be no discounting the fact that in the possession of political as- sets the accumulation of past efforts, Mr. McAdoo 1s tne most formidable candidate for the nomination in the field.” Mr. Bryan's political activities in Wa ington and elsewhere relate more to poli- cies than to candidac though of course he and pow- i 9 now being engineere: New York democrats, offer. councils of Mr. Bryan, it is bel in a double the didate. * % chstacter- “Woodrow Wilson pirant for the democr: nation whom he openly assails,” was another statement made by Many politicians Mr. Wilson’s attitud With son-in-law, Mr. is believed by the po a candidate by the time the act his own row.” * % by “vote—will carry House.” This is the statem card sent out from W. Robbins, proposi poses to repeat the write 9,000,000 people. “Do the admonition concludes. * % Henry Ford's can “AS1IS By William Note.—In publishing this ar- ticle the brilliant editor of the Bmiporia Gazette, The Star does not necessarily indorse the views hq expresses, But Mr. White brings to the discussion of current events a fertile mind and an entertaining style, and a discriminating pubifc will place its own valuation upon the opinions he advances. ET us consider for a moment the “lame duck,” Americanus, 2 dear but not a rare old bird. Of all the national birds, Santa Clausg at Christmas, the turkey at Thanksgiving and the screaming eagle at the Fourth of July, the lame duck probably represents us best as a mbol of our democracy. Generally speaking, the public servant in other parliaments, senates and assemblies than ours has independent means of support. But America's governing classes all work for a living, so when a man quits his job in the shop, on the farm, in the office or in the store to govern a sovereign people for a decade or two he comes back from politics a wreck for all the purposes of our ruthless civillzation. Change has pauperized him. His trade has gone ahead of him or his farm has grown to weeds; his clients have found other counselors, his cus- tomers other marts of trade; which Is really not the worst of it. For the emeritus statesman finds himself un- fitted for any other calling than statesmanship—even poor as it is. Fowi x Every American—excepting the pol- fticlan—has wide arcas of life in which he can tell people generally whers to head In. Tt is the special pride of our countrymen that they have impudent eyes. The difference between an American crowd and any other crowd In the world lies in the gorgeous air of easy impertinence which Americans assume. More deep. 1y than we prize our doliars, our lib ertles or the social distinction of Sunday chicken and mashed potatoes, do we prize our royal American privi- lege of telling the whole wide world that our fathers died. In this large and sumptuous right to rail rau- cously at the cosmos inhers all that is essential in “the pllgrim’s pride.” And yet when a man goes into American politics he becomes a pub- lic utility. He wears the word “wel- come” painted on his back where peo- ple may wipe their feet. If he en- dures long in public life, hd has been kicked so hard and so often that he must put corn plasters inside of his in found to be either poorly or only|coat tails whenever he sits down fairly well nourished, according to #rjcomfort. A long and useful political report just made public. The survey was made at the re- quest of the -Kentucky board of health to determine “why a state famous the world -over for its pros- perity should -turn out so large a peroen! of - physically. defective men. as the draft records showed.” Only, 18 per cent of the /children studied in this section were-of fami- lies “able to provide the modest re- quirements of adequate.living,” and improvement of the soll and farming methods, with edugation of mothers in special requirements of children, was Tecommended. I = Four-fifths of the children examin: ‘were sald not to own a toothbru& and 91 out of 104 between six eloven . years of age had decayl toeth, while 50 per cent of-the to wers found to have enlarged or dis- eased m‘h and m adenoids. Only ut one. had clothing' adequate to give protection from the weather. 5 ok "f";"f e career makes of the free-born ‘snort- er & piping voiced eunuch! He has to listen to the grass roots until his lear @evelops asinine proportions. He has to truckle to the noble aspira- tions for just laws on behalf of & part of his constituency, and he has to serve the baser desires-for office in another on of a free people until his knees are so limber that they flop baokwards as well as for- ward, * oKk K And all for what? For fame! For fleeting foolish pow- ers; for a place in a plug hat on the ipside. of nothing in particular; for having his mail addressed “Hon.”; for the scant garbing of a little brief suthority. For these baubles ..an American citizen cuts his entrails out and fills up with east wind, prunes and soft soap! For the empty joy of _a passing ambitipus title the political ’ his say in the framing of the platform, al- predilections_ as to candidates. and progressivism are his two hobbies. will fight the wet movement in the party ism he has more planks than enough to mentioned aforegoing. McAdoo, and whether he will give him his active support, which, it toward being the making of Mr. McAdoo whether he will merely leave him “to hoe “The Borah chain—link by President in 1924 as a progressive. He pro- ten post cards and thereby dential nomination on the democratic ticket Allen W hite. ies. He wants to have will have his personal Prohibition He d by New Jersey and A , and as to progressiv- might show is worrying some of the conservative lead- ers in the party, especially in view of the expected extension of the list of states which within the next year will have pro~ vided for the selection of delegates to na- tional conventions at the primaries. pational convention made up largely of deltgates chosen directly by the voters aformidable array for Mr. Ford, they realize. lieved, will not attempt to repeat his performance at the Baltimore convention«in destroying a potential can- Tuesday a ki the United can annihilate any as- securities. atic presidential nomi- ers of the democratic leader all taxes, are wondering what e will be toward his ing another liticigns, would go far ual contest opens, or be that the * nk and vote o him into the White Dty opinion, is ent on a printed post &M San Diego by Marcus ng Senator Borah ‘for thought every day, to reach not break the chair figure that ers at the be long in didacy i session. EE IT.” 1 | American quenches the fire in his eve, weakens the snap fn his jaw, rus !the iron in his blood and dampens the gimp in his backbone—on the theory that he must please the people or lose his job. And when the blow comes—behold the lame duck. Look at htm-—dazed, hurt, disillu- sloned, impotent; a middle-aged man or old, out of touch with life; useless in the struggle for existence, a bust- ed community crossed with a motion to quash! ook % And we have made him. He is our handiwork, fellow citizens. We have taken what once was a man—a free visioned, high-purposed man wearing two-plece underwear, possibly red; adorned with suspenders in the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom; and from that proud crea- ture a little lower than the angels we have made this poor, lame, duck. We have shriveled his soul. We have | made him squat and ugly With a cautious waddle where once was an honest manly stride. We nave created this futile dub in our own image and have sot him up against the wall of oblivion to dry. We, who have con- jured the lame duck out of the soul of a man, should take care of our child. The lame duck should be cherished. He 18 all we have to show for the man we rulned. He cannot function l1n 11te outside of politics. He should | be supported in the style to which he is accustomed. The cruelest rule of to make ithard to give the lame duck | an appolntive job. But he has learned the trade of public service. He knows something -of public-affalrs, He is more or less -sensitive to popular opinlon—even if he does call it “clamor.” He. realizes Tather acutely that public administration cannot be jammed through to succass by cross- uts “as private ~administration is jammed. The public servant who has devoted a life-time to a constituency may have just the degreo of scorn tempered with fearful respect for vox popull that e meed”for statesman- : tion of him:1s more than cruel. It is wasteful! We bave trained him. Why not use him? TN A In the meantime, we must not for- get that if the men in power are afrald of the lame duck and treat him like a pest the people ultimately may regain faith in him. We have made Presidents out of our lame ducks time In the House of Representatives proposed amendment to the Constitution of have to remain | around. things, fending money to the farmers American politics is that which seems | x Kk K next battle will be staged over the \ States relating to tax-exempt It will be a contest mainly bes tween state rights advocates and uphold- the proposal power should be given Congress to control even those which states and mu- nicipalities now exempt. Before the Senate committee there is pend- that constitutionat proposed amendment to the Con- stitution which would prevent the ratifica- tion of a submitted amendmént until after new legislatures have been elected. sponsored by both democrats and republi- cans and the necessity for it is claimed to 1t action of some of the states on the eighteenth amendment and also on the suffrage amendment too hasty judgment, in the face of public showed that possible under the existing sys— In support df the conténtian ‘that “the -} * country needs a- rest from Congress” it is set forth that Congress-has been in session three-fourths of the-time since 1913, When, March 4 arrives the accountants Congress will have been in ses- sion 2,742 days out of 3620. Many observ- Capitol predict that it will not the fiture unmtil Congress will in practically continuous it 1s that measures as well as men have their resurrection. Lame .ducks come back Into power: discarded {leas return into vogue. The stone that the bufldérs rejected o oftéh becomes the arch of the temple. Nothing illustrates the revival of the lame duck idea-so well 3s the recrudescence of the old populisf subtreasury scheme, which is now practically an administration measure. Thirty years ago the populists ap- peared with strange wild schemes for making the wheelg of the world go They advocated, among other upon warehouse recelpts for the farm- er's crops, and for extending him credit upon his Yve stock. Naturally this money would have 1o be issued by the government, and the wealth of the peo- ple would have to be the basis of the currency {ssue. “The scheme was denounced as stark mad. How the Wall street papers hdoted! With wirit jibes the metro- politan press attacked the subtreasury scheme. What a box of monkeys was turned looss upon the poor old pops to bedevil them to death. And what a death of ignominy the popullsts died because they could not get their ideas into the hearts of the people. Peffer, Jeérry Simpson, Bloody Bridles Waite of Colorado, Pettigrew and Mrs. Lease! What capers they cut before high reaven with their talk of lifting peo- ple up by thelr own bootstraps, lend- ing the farmer money on his crops, with the wealth of the crops' as the basts of the currency issue. Yet what real difference is there be- tween that idea and the idea df the Capper bill,. which .Secretary Mellon, the hard-boiled financial egg of the Harding administration, has indorsed. The lame duck may limp, but he often itves, which 1s political vernacular for the saying, “Truth crushed to earth will rise again.” s Tt is just as well never to laugh to ribaldry at anything just because it happens to be new. |MORE EFFICIENCY SOUGHT FOR U. S. FOREIGN SERVICE Allowances and More Pay Proposed in ‘Bill Reported to House~Closer Co- operation on Economic Problem BY WILL P. KENNEDY, EORGANIZATION of the State | &nd attractive to a tho; Department to meet the future | &Ny men as can now e needs of the foreign service, putting it on a business and demoncratic basis, is to be the admin- istration's first accomplishment toward fulfilment of the promise to reorganize the entire administrative branch of the government on an efficient-economy baste, President Harding and Secretary Hughes have been counseling with Congress on the needs for this reor- should be done. Leaders in both the House and the Senate have promised to Pyt through the desired legislation. This has been drafted into a bill fathered by Representative John J. Rogers of Mas- sachusetts, on which the House com- mittee on foreign affairs made a favor- able report Friday. It is the intention of the administration that this bill shall be epacted Into law before the close of the present Congress. Handling Economic Problen The idea behind the prospective re- | organization is to fit the foreign service of the United States to handle the economlc problems of today and the future as between this and foreign gov- ernments; to give the State Department | a stronger organization with which to | get and held America’s share of busi- | ness throughout the world, and wh in no way encroaching ap any function {of the Department of. Commerce, to jenable the State Department botter to co-operate with both the Department of Commerca‘and the business_interests in { this country. The future of diplomacy ig fiot to deal with pink teas and social affairs, but with economic problems as between vis- a-vis governments. The question of oil | supplies, of reparation®, and in fact all problems foremost in internaitonal rela- tions today are every last one of them —economic. The United States does not want any one else's territors, but it does want its share of trade, and it wants the most efficient organization { it can bring to work not only to get that trade but to hold It. That means pro- tecting in the foreign” country evers right that Americans obtain. To do that we have to have afn organizdtion at least as efficlent as our chlef com- | petitors possess. | Yo intrusion on the fleld of the Department of Commerce is contem- plated. The Department of Commerce is gathering information everywhere, keeping business men informed, and [1s studying multifarious questions in relation to business. But the Depart- fment of Commerce is not the agency | through which the United States gov- | ernment deals with other govern- ments. The preservatlon of equal op- portunity. in trade and the removal of discriminations and obstructions have to be dealt with between the United States and the governmeénts of forelgn countries, and that is the function of the State Department, Teamwork Sought. Then the foreign service has te do teamwork, with one strong organiza- tion. It cannot have the consular service shut off as by a Chinese wall from the diplomatic service as it has Deen in the past, with no co-ordina- tion, no co-operation, no unity of pur- pose. So a fusing of forces is prot vided for in the Rogers bill. The wall has been broken down and in- terchangability of personnel is pro-| wvided for, making it possible to bring into the embassy the commercial point of ylew. The State Depart- ment wants to have all the members of the forelgn service feel that they are members of one working with a common purpose, just jas the artillery and infantry are part jof the same Army and under one comfhander-in-chief. Representative Rogers considers that the blggest accomplishment under his bill will be to make the Sketch of Memel, New Center Of International Memel now being in the limelight, now being the center of International squabbles, it is interesting to know a little of the type of town it is and of its inhabitants. By its location, be- ing so out of the line of the tourist, Memel does not get the usual public- ity that towns more on the beaten track do. I once told a German that I had lived 1h his fatherland. Where ‘did you.-stay? asked he. “In Memel,” I answered. -“Memel,” then you can never say you have lived in Germany. For Memel is diffsrent from any other part of Germany and the Memel peo- and time again. We took Lincoln after he had dropped out of Congress and had failed to defeat Douglas. We chose Grover Cleveland in '93 after his defeat in '88. We took McKinley in '96 after his defeat in '90. The Bu- preme Court has been a regular duck pen, and the cabinet for a hundred years has furnished a roost for lame ducks innumerable. ‘Mdreover, - they have made good; as good, at least, as thetr associates in court or cabinet who have come fresh from the haunts of men. “ A’ soctety. for -the prevention of cruelty to lame ducks would do more good in America today than most of the defense societles that go gunning for subnormal patriots. Uncle Sam should really cultivate a taste for lame duck. It is cheaper than turkey, and. next year the sky will be black with lame ducks along about the mid- dle of November. This year's flock is big _enough, heaven knows—but next year we can !o.od.th: :orld ‘with ‘em. axjomatic_in politics b e e If anything is ple are different from any others. They are apart—they are unique— they have stayed there the same, while Germany has progressed. And now Memel belongs -to the German nation no longer, but, sup- | posedly _peutral ground, fs being quarrelled over by'the Poles, Lithua- nlans, French and German. And to think it 3was once a Scotch port with its little English chusch endowed by Queen Victoria, for the little colony of Scotch and English traders there. I stayed there in 1906-7, and became steeped in Memel love and tradition. I met the descendents of the Scotch settlers—Pitcairns—Masons, men who declared they were English because 100 years ago or 300 years ago an aneestor came over from FEngland. It was to Memel that in 1808, the beautiful Queen Loulse, wife o Fred- erick William III, fled with her two young sons from Napoleon/ She walk- od through the cornfields up thers with these two buys and she plucked Squabble the blue cornflowers and crowned her young son, whose heritage had seem- ed to have been wrested from him, with a wreath of the blue flowers. He was king of all those vast flelds of yellow wheat and blue cornflowers. Later, when he became the great Emperor William, Memel felt as though she had possession of him, and when I was there, just 100 years later, enjoying the beauty of the blue and golden flelds, I was told the story again and again. A wealthy man named’ Consensius gave up his house to the Queen and as record has it, a Mr. Plaw from England, was requisitioned as tutor to the boys. The hopse of Consensius is now the town hall, and contains the queen’s couch and other pieces of turniture used by her. There is also a large family of Plaws—seven elderly daughters of the last and now defunct Mr. Plaw, and an aged mother (no doubt also defunct by now), who had to play duets with' Mendelssohn when a-young Wwoman. She would st propped up at the an- clent piano and play the “Songs With- played. 3 Scotch settlers, still existed for its wood exports. It was the' collecting station for all the wood along the sawmills were a great sight. Engs 1and got her sleepers for her well laid | Another thing for which the town T (Coutinued on Third Fagey ganization and in detail as to how it| organization | ! | salary—two-thirds | 1 | | ] The town, as.in the timfe of the}9f the serviec. } charged 1l foretgn career available and times as en consider it. Under existing conditions recruit- ing for the foreign diplomatioc ervice is In the hands of a small group willing - to spend private fortunes. This country is ¥o big and our inter- ests abroad are o important that we cannot afford to have any principle of selection other than that of putting the best fitted man in the foreign post To get that a single salary scale ap- plicable to the entire scrviee with both the diplomatic and the consul. service inter-changable is recom- mended by the administration, the State Department and_the foreign affairs committee service a Opening for Best There are three ways Rogers bill foreign servi ed and fhest fitt or poor. First, there is attempt made the first time to approxin wage. Former' Amb Davis, and former under secr state, testified it thé hearin the average competent unostentatious diplomat representing the United States abroad whether of the grade of ambassador. minister o must spend at Jedst “three times his of this ecxpense coming out of his own Yocket. Only men of private me can possibly embark on this career. This is un- fortunate for two reasons—(1) it nar- rowly and limits the ) it-tends to foster a spirit of enobbishness on the part of the strong-headed Younger men in the diplomatic ice ted. in whick proposes to throw to the best tra be th d men, te a liv John W. tary of that 8 £sador sceretary less nd cond provided. Ivery a retirement allowance is foreiz in the world except the United States has a retirement allowance, and as far as has been ascertained these are all ngn-contributory. That is, the governments bear the entire financial burden. The United States has no re- tirement allow for its foreign diploma although from time immem. 5 retired Arn judges, and hree vears it has extended this to the entire classified zivil T1 Rogers bill, just reported, in including a re- tirement provisio delayed bit of ju tial justice t the foreign tribute 5 per vear. The analogy cer, wh the there is, und the nples of all other countries would make it seem more appropriate to adopt & non- contributory system, but, Representa- tive Rogers explains, “we wished to present a measure that would cer- tainly commend itself to Congress us conservative. or this reason. per- haps, we have not gone as far strict equity would have led us" Third, repregentation allowancesare authorized. Ivery country in the world recognizes that it is a part of the job of her representatives abroad to maintain in a dignified way her traditions, and that the obliga- tlons of the office entail a consider- able outlay which varies with the nature- of the.capital city and with ‘the conditions from time to time pre- vailing there. Ambassador Davie told the committee on foreign affairs that aithough he was favored by the rate of exchange, although he was in London during the post-war period when social obligations were se bly diminished, and although he lived in a manner altogether free from os- tentation and- displ. his essential outlay was § ar. of which of the United States contributed onl $17,500. princip] rv strikes one as a It is only par- for it requires to con- alary each e Navy offi- at £ service off cent of his Allowances Proposed. Unfted States government Ambassador Davis between £30,000 and $35,000 a vear to repre- sent it worthily in London. Such.a practice {3 neither fair nor demo- cratic, Contrast this with the prac- tice of at Britain. Ambassador Geddes recefves in total salary and representation allowance between $90.000 and $£100,000 a vaer, I _go not think that the United States ought to try to compete with any such sum as that,” Representa- tive Rogers says, “but I do think it ought_to.consider with favor a pro- posal to enable the right sort of rep- resentatives abroad to be at least ap- proximately” self-supporting. Such a course vastly broadens the field of se- lection.. It is eertainly more in tune | 4ith ‘the appropriate policy of a truly democratic_country.” In summarizing, for the President, the important provisions of this meas- ure, Secretary of State Hughes wrote as follows: st “(1) ‘The adoption of a new and uniform salary scale, with a view to broadening the field of selection by eliminating the nccessity for private incomes and permitting the relative merits of candidates to be adjudged on the basis of ability alone. # “(2), The amalgamation of the dip- Jomatic and consular branches into a single foréign service on an inter- changeable basis. This would relieve the limitations of the present consu- The out Words” as I've never heard them flar carcer and effectually co-ordinate the political and economic branches “(3) 'The: granting of representa- tion allowances, which would lessen the demands on private fortunes of ambassadors and ministers, and ren- Baltic shore, and the wood yards and [ der it practicable to promote a great- v number of trained officers to these Dpositions. . *“(4) Tho extepnsion of the elvil rallways from Memel. The best am:{gervice retirement act, with approj ate modifications, to the foreign s ice. This has become nepessary for maintaining the desired standard of | efficiency -und; the merit-system."”