Evening Star Newspaper, February 2, 1923, Page 6

5 s 'IMHE EVENING STAR, ‘With Sundsy Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY.......February 2, 1823 THEODORE W. NOYES. ..Editor 'The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office} 130 Nassau 8t Chicago Office: Tower Hullflln‘:‘ . Buropean Office: 16 Regent 8t., London, England. The Evening Star. with the Sunday morning dition, is delivered by carriers withiu the city &t 60 cents per month; daily only, 45 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 cents per moath. Or- @ers may be sent by mall, or telephone Main 8000 Gollectdon {5 made’ by carrlers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and Sunday..1y Taily only Sunday only All Other States. Daily and Sunday. Daily only Sunday onl Member of the Associated Press. The Assoclated Press is exclusively entitled o the use for republication of all mews dis- patches credited to it or mot otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news pub- lished “herein. All rights of publication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. e Spare the District’s Ewe Lamb. The District'’s tax surplus can no Jonger be waved aside as a bookkeep- ing myth, a figment of the imagina- tion. It has been demonstrated to exist as a concrete fact, a legal credit on the books of the Treasury. been identified as District taxpayers money, collected from them under the organic act of 1878 for a specific pur- pose, and held by the United States in trust to be cxpended at some time, legally and equitably, solely for that specific purpose. The District has been and is denied the immediate use of its accumulated tax surplusat a time when the money 4s sorely needed in order to give officlal and other expert accountants the op- portunity to report to the joint select committes and to Congress whether any neglected equitable credits of the United States may be discovered in fiscal records of the past which as a net result will reduce or eliminate the District’s existing legal credit in the shape of its accumulated tax surplus. The joint select committee has care- fully considered the labors of the ac- countants, both those who have sug- gested offsetting equitable credits of the United States and those who have urged the cxistence of District equita- ble credits exceeding in amount those claimed for the United States. 1t is believed that no court of equity 4n the world, acting upon the evidence before the joint select committee, could declare a specific net equitable credit in favor of the United States to dis- turb the demonstrated legal credit of the District's surplus, and to deny longer to the District the use of its own accumulated tax money. Tt is not believed for an instant that the joint eclect committes would be disposed on the evidence before it to make such a finding. It is now urged, however, by some hostile critics of the surplus that use by the District of its accumulated tax money shall be indefinitely postponed while purely national cxpenditures at the capital since 1874 are ransacked in order to ascertain whether the District people may not have enjoved some in- cidental benefit or pleasure from these purely national expenditures which may be today expressed in dollars and used to confiscate the District’s ac- cumulated tax money. These national expenditures to be analyzed include such national appropriations as those for the Washington Monument, the Grant Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. 1. The District's surplus is tax money collected by the Commissioners under the law solely to pay the District's share of MUNICIPAL expenditures, proposed in the Commissioners’ esti- mates and appropriated in the District appropriations bill. Its diversion from the specific municipal use for which only the law authorized the Commis- sioners to collect it would violate thel law, and would under the conditions of District helplessness and national omnipotence be shamefully inequita- ble. 2. The money for purely NATIONAL expenditures, whether for the upbuild- ing of the National Capital or the pay- ing of the salaries of representatives and senators, or for educational boun- ties to be distributed among the states, «an be raised under the Constitution only from all the people under the ap- | ylication of the principle of uniformity. | The municipal tax money of the capi- tal cannot constitutionally be con- fiscated for national expenditures, even if certain of these national expendi- tures incidentally benefit the people #f the District. The people of the capital pay their ¥ull share of the NATIONAL taxes ¥rom which alone NATIONAL expendi- tures can constitutionally be made. In recent years they have paid in one year over twelve million dollars, and in another year over eighteen millions of national taxes. In the latter year they paid more of such taxes than any one of fifteen states, more than five states combined. ‘The expenditure of national money for the development of the National Capital is recognized as a proper na- tionel outlay everywhere in the world. 'There has been controversy over the propriety of many forms of national appropriations, as for instance those for internal improvements, roads, canals, etc., but no one has ever con- tended that the capital of a nation is not & proper object of the nation’s fos: tering care. And all the great nations of the world have made such national expenditures upon their capitals, in wome cases far more liberally than the United States. 3. If this Congress dissects some appropriation of national funds for national purposes by a predecessor which acted as national (and not mu- xdoipal) legislature, and decldes that this preceding Congress erred in ap- propristing i{n this case solely from national revenue, and reverses the de- cislon of the preceding Congress and anforces retroactively by collection from the District its own substituted Zorm of appropriation, then the Con- gress of today will indict ‘the slurred mnd reversed proceding Congress either of deliberate unfairness toward the na- tien o of tmbecility In falling to per- osdve and to sveld this unfairness. This astion would et & precedent um- mmn-m even to the organic act of 1878, de- clare it inequitable that the nation should pay one-half of National Capl- tal municipal expenses, and collect from the District of today all that the nation hds paid under the half-and-half law with interest to date. If one ap- propriative decision by act of Congress can be reopened and retroactively re- versed, 80 may any other. ‘When the final testing point has come Uncle Sam has never been small and mean in relation to the capital, Surely the richest nation in the world, with its widespread flocks and herds, will spare to the capital its one ewe lamb of accumulated surplus. German Labor's Appeal. The appeal of German labor to the American Congress for intervention jin the Rubr controversy has two pri- mary faults which stand in the way of official consideration of the merits of the question. The first is that the appeal comes from the wrong source, and the second is that it is directed to the wrong authority. Before this gov- ernment could take cognizance of a request for intervention the request would have to come from the German government, not from a body of Ger- man private citizens. And any proffer of the good offices of the United States would have to be made by the execu~ tive, not the legislative, branch of the government. Should the Be government, through regular diplomatic channels, ask this government to intervene as | the eco- | mediator for settlement of nomic warfare in the Rubr, there is no reason to doubt that the government would respond favorably, at least to the extent of inquiring whether & tender of good offices would be ac- ceptable to France, Belgium and Italy. Should such an inquiry be made and the responses be unfavorable that, of course, would end the matter, for an adjustment through mediation i{s im- possible unless both parties are will- ing to submit to mediation. The proper course for the German workers to pur- sue, therefore, is to present their case to Chancellor Cuno and ask him to ap- peal to the American State Depart- ment. The German workers probably in- tended to appeal more to the public opinion of America than to the Con- gress of the United States. From that viewpoint their argument is open to unofficial examination to determine what influence it should properly have on the views of the American people with respect to the controversy. Much is made of the contention that it was upon ‘America’s assurance of justice that Germany instituted a democracy and submitted to disarmament. How much sincerity there is in that argu- ment may be left to individual opinion, but the obvious fact is that Germany, being unable to continue the war, made peace on the best terms ohtain- able, and to procure that necessary peace Germany signed the treaty of Versailles. Whether all the provisions of that treaty were wise and just it is not now necessary to discuss. ‘Ger- many signed the treaty and was bound to try in good faith to carry out its provisions. This Germany has not done. And the thing of which Ger- many complains today, the occupation of the Ruhr, is the result not of Ger- many's inability to execute the treaty, but of Germany's unwillingness to try honestly to executs it. All the pro- testations of all the German people cannot alter that fundamental fact. So it would be well for the Germans, be- fore they talk of how American “honor” is involved, to have regard for the fact that Germany has failed to meet her own solemn engagements. Naturally the picture of hungry women and children is calculated to appeal to the sympathies of Ameri- cans, but sight must not be lost of the fact that starvation of the Ruhr in- habitants is no part of the French program. If there is hunger in the Ruhr it is because the German rail- way workers refuse to transport food- stuffs which are available. The appeal is, In fact, only another instance of the utter inability of the Germans to understand the psychology of other peoples. Rembering the arrogance of the Germans when they believed them- selves the victors, the world will have !(o see in them in defeat a little more of real humility before there is any great outpouring of sympathy because of their present unhappy state. ————— The President of Germany is evi- dently a modest man who does not care how prominently Hugo Stinnes figures as the leader in a crisis. ————— France and Great Britain at pres- ent contemplate the near eastern situ- ation only as the subject of & near- quarrel. ————— Senatorial desire for & conference concerning the European situation im- plies the impression that something on the subject has been left unsaid. ——— e A moron should not be permitted to run a motor car, either at the steering wheel or by giving directions from the back seat. 5 ——————— Keep the Fifteen-Foot Rule! A recommendation has been made by one of the local committees en- gaged in a study of the traffic rules, with a view to lessening the accidents in the streets of the capital, that the so-called fifteen-foot rule be changed and that motors approaching street car stops be brought to a halt eight feet behind the halting street car and then allowed to pass slowly and care- tully. 5 The fifteen-foot rule was adopted here some years ago after a number of fatal accidents had' occurred through the driving of motors past halting street cars. Passengers alight- ing trom or about to enter cars hed been run down end {n several cases killed. Since the rule was put in force there have been only & very few such accidents. District motorists have with the rarest of exceptions observed the regulation, and in consequence street car passengers have been pro- tected. It is urged in behalf of the proposed change that it will prevent the prac- tice of drivers rushing their machines to overtake street cars before they come to & halt, and endangering per- sons standing In the strest waiting to board the ears. It is also contended that the present rule puts & premium UPOT, FRItORie LTS SERRED | emerging beyond the haiting street cars at rates of speed that endanger persons walking across the street and other drivers who are approaching from the left hand. In the consideration of this proposed change it must be remembered that the fifteen-foot rule has undoubtedly saved lives. Accidents to persons standing in the street waiting to board street cars have been very rare since the rule was edopted. To change the regulation would undoubtedly encour- age drivers to pass halting cars with- out themselves coming to a halt. If machinés were permitted to proceed after halting, street car passengers would iIn many cases be blocked off from reaching the car steps or the curbs. One effect would be to slow up the street car movements. The safer way is to adhere to the rule that has worked well and saved lives. Henry Clews. The death of Henry Clews in his eighty-ninth year takes out of the world, as we see it, a man who had an interesting career, a circle of ac- quaintance much larger than that of most men and a name that has been very widely known among Amer- icans since the civil war. This was his adopted country, for he was Eng- lish-born, but that was a long time ago, 1834, e was one of those bank- ers and brokers who made money b: being a bull on the United States du: ing the civil war, a position which during the first three years of tha war required nerve. He was the friend of many high government of- ficials at Washington in that period because he served the Union well in taking securitles for government loans and in influencing other men to do the same. He was not a particularly glittering or lime-light financier, but, rather, one of the sober, old-fashioned kind, who kept pace with modern con- ditions and with modern ways, so far as he considered them ethical or in conformity with the age-old standards of honor and honesty. —————— A spirit of gallantry pervades the New York legislative assembly, which now has before it a bill to permit la- dies to state that they are oyer twenty- one without saying how much over. The age of the male is bluntly de- manded, although his reasons for con- cealing it may be much stronger. A woman may be charming at fort fifty and on through the decade: adorning the advertisements of beauty specialists even beyond the allotted threescore and ten; but as soon as a man reaches forty they begin to look him over and solemnly misquote Dr. Osler. The discovery of afternoon tea in England by Ambassador Harvey calls attention to a mild and easily available stimulant which should be encouraged as an aid to prohibition. The cup which cheers but not inebriates is en- titled to a respected position at a time when John Barleycorn makes bold to threaten diplomatic complications. Fire insurance experts regard wom- en who smoke as responsible for much lose by conflagration. The feminine smoker is not vet regarded as adept in the management of cigarettes and matches. The nickel cigar is back on the mar- ket, but this is no sign that the nickel is to be restored to its old potentiality at the street car fare box or the slot machine. The cost of electric service may be reduced next spring: not enough, how- ever, to cause any violent joy shock to the consumer. Economists have not made it clear | ‘what Germany, while transacting busi- ness with paper marks, has done with her real money. Trotsky might find time to write an interesting book pointing out the difference between sovietism and mili- tarism. No doubt Bergdoll now wishes he could have marched home in safety and honor with the American troops who were stationed on the Rhine. Even the old national parties are puzzling the leaders by showing signs of “bloc™ development. In the opinion of M. Poincare a German I. O. U. is not to be regarded as a mere scrap of paper. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOENSOXN. The Merry Microbe. 1 heard a voice exceeding small ‘Which sang with grewsome glee: “There's only one boss of 'em all— ‘The microbe, which is Me. “No matter what the sages plan Or fighting nien foresee, There's one who conquers any man— The microbe, which is Me. Both health and grammar I defy ‘When meking my decres. There's one whose swey nene can deny— The microbe, which is Me!™ Avallabllity. “How did you get started in poli- tics?” “The party needed a candidate,” re- plied Senator Sorghum, “just st a time when about everybody except me had a job he couldn't afford to leave.” Jud Tunkins says one of the good old-timers he misses is the storekeeper ‘who used to tell you to help yourselt to crackers and cheese. From Sublime to Ridiculous, . ‘When in the courts the lawyers strike A sentimental line, The old love letter sounds fust like A comio valentine. = Recelving. *“I understand Mrs. Flimgilt is re- celving very successfully.” “After a fashion,” replied Miss Cay- enne. “She bas installed a radio out- fa” “De man dst thinks he knows mo' dan anybody else,” said Uncle Ebem, [ SV Washington Observations BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. ‘When great positions of state change incumbents, what do the outgoing and the Incoming men talk about at the often cmbarrassing moment of actual transfer of authority? Woodrow Wil- { son and Warren G. Harding discussed elephants while driving down Penn- sylvania avenue on March 4, 1921. Somebody who knows told this ob- server that Balnbridge Colby and Charles E. Hughes debated cigars when the seals of the Department of State were handed over on the same “Well, Mr, Secretary,” sald the departing Colby, who is devoted to his | panatella, “I've’ enjoved many a fine cigar in “this beautiful room, and T shall miss it.” Retorted Hughes: “I shall not be able to maintain that tradition, Colby, for I abandoned to- bacco many years ago.” Earlier in life Mr. Hughes feared a “tobacco hear: and for years has not smoked any- thing. * ¥ k% ¥ Washingtonians and Americans gen- erally feel much ado has been made about nothing in connection with the journalistic ebullitlons of Senator Poindexter's wife: Practically since her arrival in Washington in 1918, the wife of Senator Henry W. Keyes of New Hampshire (who writes under the name of Frances Parkinson Keyes) {has contributed regularly articles { led “Letters From a Senat b | Wife” to women's perfodicals. They | { revel in personalities and piquant im- pressions, ahout which no one has ever become unduly ex in current month's contribution Keyes even reveals that Coontz. chief of naval operations. re cently put his official car and aide at the dlsposal of herself and a woman friend on the occasion of a trip to Annapolis! Mrs. Keyes was horn at the University of Virginia, educated abroad and has produced a couple of novels. * % kX Maurice P. Dunlap, American consul at Bangkok, capital of Siam, recently was transferred from duty in Copen- hagen. Tn honor of his new appoint- ment he reports that Danish friends tendered him a farewell party and christened a drink, concoected for the occasion, the “Bang-kok-tail ™ * ¥ The United St Navy's afreraft squadrons, attached to the scouting fleet of the forces about to engage in winter maneuvers off Key West, are now assempled there. Thirty-four planes have flown to Key West from the northern Atlantic coast. Eigh- teen of them are fiving to Panama shortly for ‘the sham air battle around the Canal Zone. Caj Walter R. Gherardi, U. 5. N., is in charge of aircraft operations, and writes Wash- * * tes BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN. | ROM the clouds of nationalis- | tic greed a clawed hand reached out to grasp and de- stroy clvilization's free Insti- tutions. And before the.onrushing tides a new force placed itself to obstruct— | the power of the: most liherty-loving | natfon in all the ‘earth—America | Manhood, womanhood and treasure | were poured into the crucible and molded as - bulwarks- in- protection | of peoples about to bow to the will| of nefarious forces. Will to scotch ! this thing, to wipe out forever the | scourge of warfare which had swept | the earth for vears, was implanted in | every endéavor. Amerlca had come to bleed and to die for the principles held the bedrock of all ation. America had sounded the toc of a new order to be born to victory Old Glory, carried to the front of her marching legions. advanced on and on in the creation of mew na- tional destinies, new responsibilities. the recreation of the worth while in international relationships and the removal forever of those principles endangering wettled order and con- tinued advance. * & * * A great battle was raging. Amid the thunderous roar of can- non, the tat-tat-tat of countless ma- chine guns in forest fastnesses, amid the groans of the mortally wounded, amlid the cries of battle, two Ameri- can doughboys crept on and on, courageously, determinedly. The grimness of their faces did not belie the grimness of their purpose. No quarter did they ask and none did they mean to give. A few Inches more, a few yards more, then a few more, and they crept into the very maws of hell. As if by signal the firing hesitated—stopped—save the unceasing rattle of the machine guns as they poured their steel-Jacketed missiles Into the strangely swaying underbrush. The two buddies looked at one another through the haze. The enemy's fire was approaching closer and closer. Soon they were isolated from their company. there alone to face war's fates. It was time for reckoning. And as the whirring bullets of the foe sped overhead, one Yank in- stinctively reached ' for the other's hand. And found it. “0Old man,” he sald, “we're in for a lhell of a fight. Maybe we win. Maybe we don't. If we don't I guess we'll have done our bit. Anyway the kids back home won't ever have to go through this. War's done.” They fought a common foe. One lost. . That there should be no more war. x & Xk ¥ Again. What once had been a thrifty little French village in the Wouvre lay as if it had been pulverized between two great millstones. Only the shell- torn roads bore evidence of the cause of the blight that had withered the countryside. A military automobile crept along' the safe places, slowly, tediously and apparently with little purpose. Ghost-like shadows from the ghastly debris sent a chill clear to the marrow of the occupants of the car. At a crossroads, always the target of the enemy’s most intense fire, & man -in khaki walked slowly up and down, up and down, until the car pulled aiongside. Tdentifications followed. Nearness of the boche, condition of the roads, danger points, and, ‘“Had many " casualties moved back that =4 “Two hospital trains awhile ago.” responded he the guard of the silent places. “More on the way.” A heartache for those lads from home up there struggling—and dying. “But it's all worth while,” said the sentry, as if divining the silence within the car. “There’'ll be no more of _this. Forever. Night.” He regained his step. Up and CONGRESS MERELY LEGALIZES. The point I make is this: The trou- ble with Congress -is that.we have ‘legalise—Reprédentative Rosenbloom, | port { branch tand ington friends enthusiastically of the zest with which our naval birdmen are trying out the possibilities of the flying arm. The aircraft flagship is U, S. 5. Wright, named after the late Wilbur Wright. * % * ¥ From the once well saturated soil of San Francisco comes a tragi- comedy of prohibition enforcement. Not long ago some of Commissioner Haynes’ sleuths pounced upon a con- voy of trucks conveying brazenly through Market street what appeared unmistakably to be dozens of barrels of liquor. Having been Impounded, the convoy was duly lodged with the United States marshal. By the time the owners and transporters of the stuff could be haled into court, it was discovered that the original content was Innocent grapejuice fermented in the meantime into illicit wine. * % k% Edward Price Bell, dean of Amer- ican foreign correspondents and for twenty-two years chief of the Eu- ropean service of the Chicago Daily News, has returned to the United States to preach the gospel of Amer- ican-European co-operation and fraternity. He is now in the midst of a missipnary campaign In the middle west and expects to speak in cast later in the year. Bell re- amazing reaction” to the dvocating, despite the and aloofness of statesmen at the center of things in Washington. A _loosier newspaper man by birth and training. Bell won a great reputation in Great Britain, comparable to that achieved by the late George W. Smalley. Months fore America’s entry into the war, Rell's letters to the London Times. foreshadowing the Inevitabllity of our participation, were the talk of overy chancellery in Europe. * ok * ok ¥riends of the Rogers bill provid- ing reform of our foreign service point to the career of Masanao Hanihara, soon to arrive in Washing- ton as Japanese ambassador, as evi- dence of the interchangeability of the diplematic and consular careers in other countries. Hanthara was once ronsul general at San Francisco, hav- ing been taken from the diplomatic service for the purpose, and then was retransferred to the diplomatic Both Speck von Sternburg and Count von Bernstorff, German ambassadors at Washington, were previously consuls general. Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, Britain's wartime envoy in Washington, alfo was a graduate of the consular service. (Copyright, 1023.) he n vangel he is iisinterestedness Hates Tilt Scales of War Yanks Once Fought to End down he paced as the car dimmed to more ghostly glow its lights and pressed onward, No more of this. Forever.” As an.echo. - * x ox % A Twenty officers, ofce upstanding physically perfect, 1ay upon hospital beds at Brest. Grimly they clung to those threads of life that remained. Stanchly they . locked their hearts against miserable reflections. They had fought the. other grim thing through—they had given their best. Now they would fight this new battle to u- finish. They would return to the world, handicapped, perhaps. but not hopeless. “As these men lay there, every conscious’ effort was against weakening. Silence in their pa misery was the only outward appei e of the struggle waged by each one and by all. t into that ward one day came a young officer who despite his physically shattered condition smiled. He smiled as he had when battling at Chateau Thierry, chuckled as he had chuckled in leading. his men into pitiless struggle on the Aisne, smiled as he had seen the slowly disintegrating ranks of the enemy befors Mont Blanc. He smiled when asked of the missing leg. He smiled when waving a flapping sleeve, and he smiled as the nurse placed dressings upon & hideously marred body. “For.”” as he later confided, “why shouldn't one smile? We have won. You know what that means, bovs. No more little old wars. The old U. S. A. will see to that” And still he_smiled. The war had been won. The mighty effort of a nation of more than & hundred million people who | had thrown every sinew into the struggle had turned the tides that| endangered Europe. Over the seas had been sent mil- lions of men. Every energy of folk at home had been bent in backing those lads whose souls were tried and bodies shattered that the prin- ciples enunciated by America might triumph, principles around which war-worn peoples were rallying. Victorious armies had moved for- ward, then farther forward. ‘The capitulation of the enemy was com- plete. Upon his own soil were placed advance guards of the apostles of civilization’s creed, there to remain until the peace had been signed and its guarantees established. America’s forces took their place with the rest to begin the watch on the Rhine. Statesmen of the world assembled in Paris there to fix by theory and creed the precepts which were to free the world of menace and permit all na- tions, all peoples, to advance in or- derliness and prosperity. The peace was signed, but -in- its inception, in”its very heart, sprang new jealousies, ‘new rivalries, new ambitions and new nationalistio pur- poses. **¥% " Nationalism of the old order in Europe once more is given full play and the fires of hatred are kindling new wars. Hate has supplanted after-the-war ‘brotherhood. Suspicion has undermined friend- ships supposedly cemented upon flelds of battle. Bickering of statesmen has led to chaos. Peoples whose governments fought the war today are sufferiag as not even during the maelstrom that fired the European continent for mors than four years. ‘The spirit of peace and good will counted upon to Seal the victory has taken flight America's ideals for which tens of thousands of lads filvl their lives are today shunted aside. The powers of Europe are baring their teeth as ry wolves. - America’s flag has been lower: Her troops are now moving home. Orie recalls him who died in battle that there should be no more war. Him of the ghostly places who said, o more of this. Forever.” Him who had traded a good body for a mutilated one that America’s ideals should forever be perpetuated. One looks to Europe today and wonders. LOSING THEIR INDEPENDENCE, . French Move Lauded “Unofficial Approval” Bespoken for “Bloodless March.” To the Bditor of The Star: Evidently the French are not out for revenge, else their advance Into Ger- many would be marked by & red trail and, by this time, the German women would be hiding out for fear of the French soldiers. Not hers to take vengeance; that belongs to a higher ower; France is only trying to col- lect a small part of a big, bad debt. A debt which Germany olalms she is unable to pay, and which in very truth she cannot pay in full. She cannot pay for the innocent Dblood shed, for the precious lives she wasted, for the homes she wrecked, for the unavailing tears and prayers and groans of an agonized world while ehe was on her war-mad, mer- Gliess march of slaughter and’ plun- No, these can never be paid for; but in so far as material restitution is possible, she should be made to pay. Suppose that by paylng she is left stripped and helpless: suppose, in- ternal dissensions arising, she disin- tegrates; suppose she fails, utterly, and the ruins of her are taken over by the countries she ravaged, who is there to grieve for her—this mod- ern Babylon—going down under the welght of her own sins? (See Reve- lation, 18:2, 15.) For,” after all, the fnfant republic is the child of the old monarchy and came into being, not by the will of the German people, but by an fmperial blunder, supplemented by allied de- mands, There should be no word of eriti- clem of France. We can, at least, tand out of her way whila she arches on.” keeping cool, but tak- ing payment, as she can get it. for her own devastation, stick for stick aud stone for stone. But an attitude of complete aloofness is not falr to France—nor to us. She should be given (o understand that eve of her bloodless progress fs cially observed” and millions of sympathetic Americans, who bid her “God-speed,” believing, with her, that she is taking the only | way to bring Germany to any sort of terms—force. A HUTCHISON. Would Classify Weeks . New Reform in Calendar Urged as Index to Popular Movements. To the Editor of The Star: This {s &n age of reforn and uniess one is a reformer he is, in popular parlance, “outta luck.” Therefore, fn order to be in the swim, and further, by adopting a protective coloring of my own (pardon the mixed metaphors), to escape falling a victim to the vagaries of the present fifty-seven varieties of reformers. I propose to be a little reformer all my own, Tt seems to be admitted, in'some quarters, that our slightly ‘shapworn, a bit archaic, and ¥yet not sufficiently out of daté to be prized by collectors of the antique. Were a sufficiently modern seheme presented, provided it were lacking in all those essentials which would tend to make it useful, it would doubtless be welcomed with acclaim. T hava such a scheme. claim for it originali brilliance of concept. been suggested before, but never in my presence, and I may confess that 1 am proud 'of having thought of it Ay {dea is not to make any change in the months or the days—they have been with us so long it doesn't in- ccnveniemce us to any extent. But 1t is a great pity that tho weeks have had no names. When I say “Sunday for “Labor day” or “Easter” every one | knows just what I mean. But when !I try to tell vou about the week I {got 'a ton of coal, or the week my rent was cut, or the time I gontribut- ’Qd 50 per cent of my salary the So- jciety for the Salvation of-“Shriveled Prunes, I get so twisted up that-by the time I'm straightened out you {bave escaped and I have to tell my {sad story to the office boy. Now my plan is this: Let's give | each week in the yeur to some worthy reform (one week for each reform, or one week for two where the reform is a small one) and tell the reformers to advertise and speechify and propa- {gate all they want to during that \\\'cek. At the same time, let it be 1 do not ingenuity, or It may have urderstood that if they let out @ sin-! igle vip during the other fifty-one { weeks in the year we're going to igive 'em to the Ku Klux, feed 'em on ! morphine and drown 'em in wood al- jcohol. To illustrate: Beginning with {the week of January 1 we could hav {*“Take a Bath” week. That's a goo |one to begin the new year with We |could round up all the bums in the {1ails about that time and have them | scrubbed with chloride of lime. in addi- {tion to trimming thelr whiskers and {combing their hair. Of course, we wouldn't need to take a bath that week —who ever heard of a reformer taking Teeth” week, by which the druggists would doubtiess profit mightily. Aft- er that, in rapid succession, we could have “Polish Your Shoes” week, “Have a Seat in the Car” week “Get a Nice Raise” week, etc. f" But you see what I mean. T have no intention of appearing arbitrary and T am willlng to let each reformer {come forward and clalm his own. 1f {he cares to, he may rechristen each |day of the week dedicated to I iuses and give us a “Shower Bath’ day, “Tidal Basin” day, “Turkish Bath” day, and so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Think what a boon such a plan {would be to humanity! Instead of wondering whether or not it was winter or spring when little Willie fed soap to the Mexican hairless, as vou thought it had the rabies, you could just remember that it was “Bare to Hair’ week, and when you tried to recollect the day your flivver ran out of gas it would be such a comfort to knnwkn ‘was during “Stop etting” week. Forgetting” JRTHUR VAN METER. Urges Autoists Shun To the Editor of The Star: As an owner and operator of an automobile, T of course read all the suggestions published in your' paper for the safety of limb and life. May I take the liberty of suggesting one remedy which I belleve will cut down the accidents to & greater de- gree in the District? 1 have been driving a car for ten years here.in the District and have never caused an_accldent, or contrib- uted to one. One of my hard and fast rules {s never to use a thorough- fare where car tracks are to take me to my destination. I enter theso thoroughfares only at the streets where 1 wish to stop. Could not some law be enacted to that effect? How often one has noticed “autos” racing beside street cars, trying to Deat them to the crossing. ~There seems to be a fascination for auto drivers to use these streets and ave- nues, while the next street or avenue is void of traffic, and any one could make hex!!er time on these latter ares. O Svas very strange this sugges- tion has not occurred to those who are in authority. 8. C. GRAY, Key Bridge Memorial Tablet Is Proposed To the Mitor of The Stars May I suggest that a tablet be placed on the Key Memorial bridge with some- thing ltke the following legend on it: *“The Star Spangled Banner, Oh, long may it wi d of the free And the home of the brave. —Francis Scott Key. The tablets along the driveways in with quotations * When officials acocept presents of, great value they dissolve the pearl of independence in the vinegar of obli- gation—Senator Ashuret, Arizona, emQcTals S present calendar is | his own medicine? Then the next week | might loglcally follow as “Brush Your { Street Car Routes | If any one intends to start a dia- mond store on 5th avenue, New York, it behooves him to Investigate the price of potatoes and corn in the Mississippi valley, and the activities of boll weevil In Texas. If the farmers—those ‘‘pastoral people Wwho know nothing about international finance,” according to Banker Bald- win of London—are not getting a good price for their products, look out! The jewelry trade in New York is going to slump. Likewise the clothing business and the auto- mobile demand. In fact, about six months after every depression in ag- riculture <here is sure to be an epidemic of bankruptcles amongst the merchants throughout America. (1t is as certain as weather prognos- tications, at least. It is surer than that, for it follows as the night fol- lows day, effect follows cause, that the exclusive dealer in the highest class of jewelry, as well as the brok- er in bonds and other Wall street sccurities, i3 dependent upon the trade of the farmers. Yes, I hear the sneer of the deal- er who boasts that he never caters to the trado of any but the “exclu- sive class,” that he is not at all con- cerned in the price of onions and wheat—but he 1is. Perhaps Jjust when he thinks he has established a prosperous trade with the ultra rich, there is a bumper crop. Some people do not understand why a bumper crop is so named. They think It means a wave of plenty and prosperi- t when for both farmer and mer- chant it may mean that both will go {bump. | * | Tie Department of Agriculture has prepared a chart—one of thosc plats of curves and angles which wiggle in most amazing demonstrations of in- disputable statistics and prove that the diamond merchant can't sell coronets of Kohinoors at a million dollars each if the farmer {s getting less than cost for raieing hay. The farmer looks over his ficld of golden corn and in classio phrase exclaims, “These are my jewels,” and When he finds trade slack in his “jewelry store” he may know that it is re- flected by slack business on 5th ave- nu 2k One-third ' of the clothing, the pianos, rugs, automoblles and maghin- ery is bought by farmers. They ma not be buying jewelry directly from New York “exclusives” but if they shorten their purchases on Main treet the Main street dealer goes out of business and he ceases to send orders (o the jobbers, and the jobbers cease to send orders to manufactur- ers: the factories close, the idle wage carners’ economize and go hungr {their patronage of clothiers and {&roc is shortened. Bankruptcy of {the ives” follows the progress {of the boll weevil and the potato bug for the slump fn the market demand for the bumpér crops. Xk E All this is famillar theory to most {observers, but now the Department iof Agriculture's chart proves it by {histo The cliart covers the period |from 1890 to the present. | Taking the figure 100 as the normal for average purchasing power of farm- lers, the chart shows a variation dur- ng the eleven vears from 11901 from 100 down to § ss failures during the {varied from normal to 60 per cer above normal. Whenever the farm- {ers' purchasing power-went .down the flina indicating business failures rose | high B The pariod. 1000 fo 1908 wa= o Igar. both the .farmers. and busi {Then from 1905 to 1919 the farm {prosperity ran cmooth, even 20 per cent above normal part’of the time. {Business failures ran about normal. even to 70 per cent below- normal part of the time. Remember that a1 lers the lower :[a!luu‘s. the. line of business 3 A0 These twe “curves’ never bulged at ithe same time THe line showing busipess failures always.lagged from six months to a véar &fter the curve chowing farm depression. Effect fol- {1ows cause: it does not coincide with it. 1In 1919 a farm depression began and the curve of the farmer's pur- ch er ran down, down, dow Discussion Renewed of Hughes’ Foreign Policy. The denial by Secretary Hughes (hat he has any intention of resign- ing his post has again concentrated attention on the strained relations between the Stats Department and an_ clement of the Senate Ldlt:{; uite naturally divide along pa Jihes in their comment, although there is also & very distinct element entertaining __independent views, Which feels that criticism at this time may be dangerous and expresses the hope that the administration shortly will make its position and ns clear. PER® Shird alternative’ ot possible American policy is looming up o of the general fogginess,” as the New- ark News (independent) sees it. This {s “close association with Great Brit- ain, and on the whole its prophet is Harve: The News points out that Secretary Hughes having been com- pelled to “avold raising the 1ssue of foreign poll accepting ‘drifting” as a middle course and “as another feay out, there now suggests itself ihat Harvey inclination to cut loose from ILurope and the continent and become an associate with Great Britain in international affairs.® i Jt is the opinion of the Brooklyn Eagle (independent democratic) that Lpresident Harding &nd Secretary Hughes have .only themselves to blame for the embasTassing OPpOI tion to their foreign policy that h: developed in_the Senate. The Presi- Gent and Mr. Hughes must either surrender their prerogatives to the Hiram Johnsons or make a deter- mined fight for some understandable to the have no~policy ~it might well to let the Senate Mr. Borah, at least, has a clear idea of what is needed and has the courage to fight for it.”" Suggestions, however, that Mr, Hughes may resign are “unworthy of any attention,” the ‘Albany Knickerbocker Press (inde- pendent republican) says, it holding that he has well defined policies, but it feels that at this particular mo- ment “it would be useful and advan- tageous if the President would, at his early 'convenience, restate his view of world conditions and of the contact of the United States with fhem. Wise leadership, when the people umnderstand it, is invincible.’ The Phiiadelphia Evening Public Ledger (independent republican) is convinced that “making peace in Europe nowadays le quite as danger- ous as making war” and suggests that “Mr. Hughes would be more than en idealist if he fled into the gap and braved a horde of diplomatio snipers to preserve the dignity and comfort of these gentlemen, or even to hold up the ekies which they loudly threaten to drag down. What reason have the Hughes baiters in Congress to suppose that Paris or Berlin yearns for lessons in deportment from Wash- ington? Has the memory of Versallles passed so soon?” The fact that Mr. Hughes consid- ered it necessary formally to deny he was planning to resign “must be in. terpreted in _the light of : current events,” tb? Sprlng‘fi.ld Newlu(den;n ocratic) points out in commenting the senatorial dissatisfaction with his snrounoed policies “In the end,” the News continues, “as slways happens, when a public oficial tries to carry water on both shouldera nobody is. 1590 to| the | Ligher the prosperity line of farm-| l BY PAUL V. COLLINS. Then in 1920 the curve showing busi- ness failures ran up, up; up. Then came the action of the government iu re-establishing the War Fina Cor- poration, so that credits were stimu- lated for the export of food products, loans were made to finance such mar kets for our farm produce. Also, there was a readjustment of the policy of federal reserve banks toward country banks, exports and farm products reacted and prosperity came back to farmers. So genei business revived, unemployment of 5.000.000 men was wiped out by the renewed activity of factories, all fol- lowing the earlier stimulation of ag ricultural prosperity. Literally, the trade of the ‘“exolusive dealer il crown jewels” depends upon the pros- perous” market for the golden sral of the farmers. and the jobs of the factory hands do likewise. ST Today the purchasing power of farmer, according to the department’s officlal chart, is only 63 of normal. compared with the perind before the war. In 1920 it was 86. In 1919 was about 120, * ¥ k¥ There is much discussion in Con gress over the pending legislation to improve credit facilities for farmers The increase of borrowing power doefs not always mean increass of debt but in most cases it means for the farmers a decrease of interest charge and a longer term, £o that they will not he hampered In their pending growing of live stock funds recalled hefore ready for market great problem perity—on which hanz: of all of us in the not merely in credit mately in profits. That problem car be solved only by recognition tt crops for homs consumpticn, rather than for export, must govern the situatfon. The foreign markets are hungry enough, but are =o prostrate that they are unprofitable. In normal times the export markets et the prices for home markets, but today all must look to the activities here, where there is no more unemn ployment, for the good markets for the farmers. We cannot keep or lending credits abroad for artificia stimulation_of foreign demand ever of foods. The improvement of farm facilities in aistribution, thréugh co operation and lower freights, en cerns the merchant and the manufac turer far more than the rate of o cign exchange. to lend a b order t¢ ing ou thereby farmers expected ecretary of the Senator Bursum's lion dollars to Germa finance that nation agricultural produc stimulate pri meets with the opposition of the Treasury, Mr. Mellon Mr. Mellon vs that he reason for taking any more favorabie position with respect to the Germar government than toward foreign gov ernments assoclated with us in the war® He objects to_“iending monex to. forelgn without adequate { eecurity or sufficient abtlity to repay principal when due.” bu hd * ok x & Would it not be cheap {businéss. for our government. {straight business traunsactio: 1o pa? {the farmers the farm value of the's {orops and havé the erops burned on 1(he farme? Thatiwéd!d peod ashgnd help increase fertility. {a Ioan of a billion dol |be returned, would-only cause fric- tion in fi"’}\! ‘Yn s'{' it back See |what a similar-ioan to our al done for us: Tt brings ridicule abuse and -“hisees-for Lhe flag” ever of a recent “associatc in the wi What, then, should wr {expect from a recent ememy if W¢ loaned it a billion? PR better |In the-cour | These remarks are not arguments stralght charity even toward “If thine enemy hunger |give him meat” But don't lend t | kim, expecting to bo repaid Let us paraphrase Pinckney's fanious cha lenge: ~Millions for charity; not vnie cent for European loan | |agains | Germany EDITORIAL DIGEST satisfied. It is plainly apparent that the irreconcilables are chafing under the present situation and are ‘rearin to go’ Mr. Hughes, because he at- tempted to ameliorate both sides, has satisfled neither.” Criticism of “the reserve that the Secretary has thrown around his dealings with Europe is to a very considerable _extent justified ™ the Rochester Times-Union (independ ent) believes, as it is not the Hughes Tt is not the methed tatesman has by which any for progress won a_yletor against” the forces of standpatism Were Mr. Hyghes boldly to show his hand in a_forward policy he would rally an immense support. By a con- policy he delivers himsclf into the hands of his enemies. It is time for him to ‘abandon his secret diplo- macy.” If to do so, however, is to em-~ barrass negotiations or endanger tha welfare of this country the Syracuse Herald (independent) is convinced it would be unwise, recalling that “the Senate itself shuts out its proceedings and discussions from the public ken when it sits in executive session The right of secrecy or privacy which the Senate “asserts in that respect sensibla Americans will not deny to the State Department in its prelim! nary overtures or negotiations with foreign governments.” “Secretary Hughes scems to be meeting the usual fate of all who have attempted to reconcile the irrcc oncilables, to make oil and water mix or to run with the hare and hold with the hound,” asserts the Mem- phis Commercial-Appeal (democratic). “and all who have tried to serve those of contradictory purposes have learned to their sorrow that they wound up with the ill will rather than the friendship of both, and pos- sibly a realization of this is being brought home to the chief adviser of the present administration’s interna- tional conduct.” 1t is eomewhat unfair, in the opin« jon of the Springfield Republican (in« dependent), to blame Mr. Hughes, be- cause “he is not so much responsibls for the timidity and futility of the administration’s policy as are those who have imposed certain limitations upon him. Mr. Hughes has at mno time acted as an isolationist, yet one of his chief difMiculties today is the direct consequence of the fact that he has not gone far enough In‘the pursuit of any definite, intelligent program to attract followers Instead of critics” This is also in part the view of the Waterbury Republican (independent), which feels that “if the administration had not itself proceeded upon the policy of a eplen- did isolation from the American people in the matter of its foreign policy it would have a far more dynamio public opinion supporting it. 1f the administration would now in- vite public support for a vigorous forelgn policy of intervention in the interests of peace and reconstruction the administration would neced have no fear of irreconcilable sabotage.” The Lynchburg Advance (demo- cratie), declaring that cretary Hughes is one of the thirty-one who n the last presidential ~campaign pledged themselves n fa of the United States entering the league of fations,” insists that “the pledge of Mr. Hughes and his prominent re- ublican cohorts and the promise of esident Harding for an association of nations have been repudiated. Both seem to have besn mere traps 1o Gatoh the voten'" ’ P