Evening Star Newspaper, February 6, 1923, Page 6

THE EVENING STAR, With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY......February 6, 1923 I THECDORE W. NOYES... ..Editor’ The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office, 11th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. New York Office’ 150 Nassau St. Chicago Office: Tower Bullding. European Otfice: 168 Regent 8t., London, iand. The Evening Star, with the Sunday morning ®dition, is delivered by carriers within the city 85 80 cents per wonth; dally only, 43 cents per month: Sunday only, 20 cents per month. Or- gers way be went hy wai:, ot telephone Main §000. Collection is made by carriers at the end of each month. Rate by Mail—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. Daily and w1yr, $8.4 Taily on 15T, $6.0 Sunday only... 1yr., $2.4( All Other States. Daily and Sunday..1yr., $10.00; 1 Daily only $7.0 Bunday only. Member of the Associated Pre: The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for republication of all news dis- tehes credited to it or not otherwise credited n this paper and also the local news pub- lished herein. Al rights of publication of wdeclal dispatohes herein are also reserved. = Z . mo., mo., 60c A Wise and Fair Decision. Washington owes a debt of grati- tude to the congressional joint select committee, our high court of fiscal equity, for the painstaking thorough- ness, the fairness and the ability with which it has performed its important semi-judicial functions. It has met without exception all the issues submitted to it by the law. It has answered the questions concern- ing the cxistence and amount of the District's Treasury surplus; concern- ing comparative national and local ex- penditures in capital adorning and up- building sin 1874; concerning inter- est calculation upon indebtednesses, legal or moral, and concerning the net legal or moral indebtedness from na- tion to capital, or vice versa, after all the claims to hitherto neglected equi- table credits on both sides of the ac- counting have been judicially con- sidered. In literal obedience to the terms of the law interest on the indebtednesses of both parties, legal or moral, is cal- culated, though the committee finds that both law and equity forbld the collection of such interest from either party. The committee has painstakingly analyzed the facts, figures and reason- ing, under each heading of possible national credits, legal or moral, sug- gested for consideration in the report of Haskins and Sells, whether sub- mitted by those vigorous and able ad- vocates of Washington, Auditor Dono- van, Accountant Tweedale and the of- ficers and brief committee of the citi- gens' joint committee, or by the capa- ble and fair-minded representatives of the national government, like Mr. Galloway for the Department of Jus- tice and Mr. Taggart for the Treasury Department. The committee has com- pared under each heading the views submitted from these differing angles upon each issue raised by Haskins and Sells, and its legal conclusions based upon this careful review of the evi- dence should have the impressive force of judicizl decisions. Washington has presented in good faith its claims to equitable credits arge amounts, if the accounts of | the past between nation and capital are to be unsettled, reopened and re- adjusted on lines that meet today’s coriception of equity. If ancient al- leged debts are to be resurrected wgainst it, Washington urges that its equitable claims of the past must be ! resurrected in its favor. Our court of fiscal equity decides in substance against the resurrection of buried indebtedness or claims of debt | by either party. In effect, it refuses! to reopen debt adjudications of the past, whether by the controller of the Treasury (now controller general of the United States) or by Congress. } Both capital community and nation | will wisely accept and welcome this | compromise, peace-promoting, fric- tion-removing decision. 1t is in the | very spirit of the law of June 2 1922, which, after increasing Wash- ington’s taxes and decreasing or elimi- nating certain sources of purely Dis trict revenue, fixed 60-40 as a new permanent rate of definite proportion- | ate contribution toward capital build- | ing, enactment which, it was| hoped, would remove for many vears | & then-cxist ause of irritation in| tions of nation and capital. surplus decision, if approved | by this Congress, will supplement and round out our new fiscal law of 1922, with its amnesty and peace proclama- tions; its reciprocal forgiveness of off- setting claims of debt; its refusal to resurrect and revivify alleged ancient ) debts on either side of the account; its wiping clean of the District’s fiscal slate, leaving it to make a fresh start with a distinct if small net surplus balance; and finally its banishment for a time (may the term be long!) of a strife-breeding issue from the rela- tions of nation and capital, of which both Congress and the people of Wash- fngton are inexpressibly weary, ‘With the old contentions over unset- tled ratio and indefinite surplus thus removed from the equation Congress can appropriate the local-national revenues provided by law for the capi- tal expeditionsly, wisely and as liber- ally as the financial conditions of na- tion and capital permit. . It has been a blessed relief in disposing of the pend- ing District appropriation bill that the definite 60-40 ratio of contribution is fixed and that the bill has riot been impeded in its course and will not be endangered in conference by the old contention between Senate and House over the issue of definite or indefinite, §0-50 or 60-40, ratio of contribution. —_——————— an Greece and Turkey remain inclined to regard each other as incorrigible. —————— Bick Benefits and Public Health. Decision by the controller general that the compensatiop act does not ex- tend In its benefits to the cases of gov- ernment employes who lose time from work on account of {llness brings eharply to consideradon a matter af- fecting the general public health. Un- Jess this ruling resuits in amendatory legislation, bringing physical disabllity @s well as personal injury under the scope of the acl, many of the govera- snant employés will, when attacked by illness, rematn at their work as long @s it 1s humanly possible, thereby l-l'l:-l Juring themselves and those with | whom they are assoclated. Confronted | by the poskibility of losing their pay if they remain at home to nurse thelr ills, they will hcld to their iasks, at least by reporting daily, when they should in justice both to themselves and others be under the care of a' physician. Proper care of the early uvmptoms' of ailment is highly essential. One of ¥ _EVENING BT. tivating love of the beautiful, in start. ing hom@ gardens and making Amer {ca more attractive and more thrifty, All but in the District of Columbia. It is an old custom, this giving of gurden, flower and lawn seed to the *“folks back home,” and a happy one, which it is to be hoped will never be discontinued. Some day the District hopes to have representatives of its own in Congress, capable of voting an- nually to continue this practice and | annually to receive and distribute to Green-eyed monsters in the shape {of other cities have suppressed the jrevelation of the Literary Digest that Washington is the most “literary” community In the United States. The Digest awards that distinction to the the first considerations of any sick-| thelr constituents this bounty, of { Natio nal Capt benefit provision is to prevent the de-| which now the District gets none BUt | the istricy ot Colents tonds o1 velopment of disease and its epread.! the crumbs that may fall by chance | other regions in the country by & Take, for example, the case of a per- son suffering from the prevalent pul- monary affection known as the grip, or influenza. It is a highly infectious disease, and from one case may spread | many. Unless there is assurance against loss of pay the sufferer will expose not only those who work near him, but all with whom he may come in close contact in going to and from his work. from the congressional table. ————— Samuel Hart. Samuel Hart, whose death yesterday grieved an exceptionally wide circle of Washingtonians, was a conspicu- ous example of the success won by personal merit and devotion to duty. He had spent all his active life with a single establishment, giving to it his wide margin In respect of the per- centage of its population that sub- scribes to the weekly review. No fewer than 3.51 per cent of all the inhabitants of the District buy the Digest regularly. The journal com- ments: “This is far and away ahead of any competitor. The reason for this im- pressive figure may be found in the fact that a considerable portion of 1t is certain that acceptance by Con- undivided -energy and his faithful [ Washington's inhabitants are selected gress of the controller’s ruling as final, without action to amend the law, will cause an increase of {liness. For it is assured that many hundreds of veri- tably il people will stick to their tasks for fear of losing pay. As a measure of public health such an amendment is demanded without fail and without delay. ————————— New Start for Europe. Things are so shaping themselves in Burope that it begins to seem that a new start might be made and a bet- ter job achleved of reconstruction. Blunder heaped upon blunder brought the war-torn continent close to the abyss. At the very edge there is a pause, apparently to give governments a chance either to retrace their steps or to take the plunge into chaos. And governments are showing signs of de- sire to avert the plunge. In other words, there are indications of return- ing sanity. At the very seat of the trouble is French occupation of the Ruhr and Germany’s ‘“‘passive” resistance to such occupation, with Great Britain trying to be neutral, and in conse- quence weakening her influence and losing prestige. This would be bad enough if the harm did not spread be- yond the problem of reparations and affiliated questions, but the harm has not been so confined. It reached into and nearly wrecked the near cast con- ference at Lausannc. Because the British and French had lost accord the position of the Turks was strength- ened immeasurably and they came near to recovering practically all they had lost as a consequence of thelr de- feat in the world war. The Armenians were sacrificed upon the altar of allled discord and selfishness; the high morality of the treaty of Sevres was abandoned and the Lausanne confer- ence degenerated into a scramble to hold oil and other concessions, with the wily Turks playing one power off against another, and growing more insolent and insistent as the western powers grew more suspiclous and more grasping. Thus the conference was brought down to its darkest hour, with the Turks refusing to sign the treaty and the representatives of Great Britain and France taking their departure. And in this darkest hour there gleams a ray of hope. The Turks diséover they were not so keen for war as they had made themselves, and the allies, believe. They have reconsidered their refusal and, with slight modifications, may sign the treaty, which gives them a great deal more than they had any reason to expect or possibly could have won had it not been for lack of allied unity. Discreditable -as- the treaty is to the western powers, Eu- rope will accept it gladly as a substi- tute for war. 5 And now, too late, perhaps, material- 1y to rectify the blunders at Lausanne, there are signs of improvement with respect to the Ruhr. Though the Cuno government still professes to be ada- mant in its resistance to the French program, parliamentary leaders and other influential Germans are begin- ning to see the futllity of holding out, and are urging the government to come to terms with France. At the same time, Ambassador Jusserand, in a speech here in Washington, repre- sents France as in a mood of concilia- | tion, ready to “melt” if only the Ger- mans will indicate repentance and a desire for understanding. It now remains for England to give assent to occupation of the Ruhr, if only as a fact accomplished, and to co-operate in making it possible for occupation to accomplish the objects sought. Then France and Great Brit- tain could return to full co-operation in the near east and elsewhere, and though the ground already lost may not be regained, at least elvilization may be saved from further disastrous losses. Charges under investigation in con- nection with Mer Rouge make the tar- and-feathers style of retribution seem comparatively gentle and poetic. It has been asserted that.the dope habit is incurable. This does not apply to the unscrupulous smuggler who is willing to peddie dope for profit, There are a great many interesting suggestions in league of nations litera- ture, but Article X continues to de- mand most of the publicity. Uncle S8am has never yet justified any suspicion that he would prove himself a rough creditor. Free Seeds and the Distriot. In another part of The Star today appears a small but significant news item setting forth that the Depart- ment of Agriculture declines to dis- tribute vegetable, flower and lawn seed in the District of Columbia be- cause, as this community is not repre- sented in Congress, there is nobody through whom such distribution can be made. ‘Undoubtedly, it-is true that the peo- ple of the District %y their federal taxes help to provide seeds that are sent by the hundreds of tons annually | all over the United States, and unless they havé personal friends at the Ceipl- tol they get no benefit of this congres- sional perquisite. These seeds have for many yeurs been part of the by- product of legislation. They have un- done o great work f cub service. He was rewarded by ad- vancement and recognition and finally by inclusion in the corporation. He was not only energetic, but progres- sive, and above all he won the full confidence of all with whom he work- ed and came in contact. He was in- tensely interested in the welfare of Washington, helping to the extent of his ability in all works making for the good of the community, modestly but effectively serving in any capacity in all movements for the capital's ad- vancement. ~ Y. M. C. A. Campaign. ‘The Y. M. C. A, has begun a cam- paigh to collect $35,000 needed to carry on its work. It is a campaign and not a “drive,” but raising $35,000 for the Y. M. C. A. ought not to be a very hard job, no matter by what name the task is called” The teams are at work today. It is explained that the sum sought to be collected “is 12 per cent of the annual budget necessary to carry on the work of the organiza- tion, the other 78 per cent being ob- tained by the organization through its membership and other regular chan- nels of income.” The Y. M. C. A. is known to everybody, and its work for men and boys commends it to the pub- lic. Those who have received the bene- fit of the Y. M. C. A. in secular and religious classes, athletics and general character bullding number many thou- sands in the District. Friends of the organization are legion. The Y. M. C. A. deserves the money its collection teams have started out to get. The chorus of the German Opera Company threatened to strike in Bal- timore unless salaries were pald. Funds were forthcoming and harmony was restored. It is a pity conditions in the Ruhr cannot be so easlly settled. Chicago used to be a subject of gen- tle satire because of its art aspira- tions. Now Chicago attaches its name to @ grand opera company that com- mands attention as a pacemaker. —————— After the 1st of February a cold- wave prediction may be met with pa- tient philosophy, *f only es a reminder that the date of Inaugyration day ought to be changed. —_——— Even the discovery of & dinosaur’s skeleton in Mongolia cannot divert in- terest from the future of this earth; of so much more importance than even its wonderful past. It must be conceded that Dr. Percy Stickney Grant has the gift shared by but few men of persuading the public to attach great importance to his per- sonal opinion. 2 —————— ‘An unusually mild Wintér has been distinguished by grip prevalence. Pres- ent comfort is not necessarily con- ducive to permanent health. ——————— ‘The Turks profess great patriotic sentiment and altruistic sympathys; in- cidentally, they know the value of an oil well. 7 ————————— Ireland does her own fighting and does not add to the perplexities of the league of nations. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Right of Way. A motorist was feeling grand And people heard him sy, “I know exactly where I stand. T have the right of way.” Into the hospital so neat They carried him next day. He whispered, with a smile so swest, “I had the right of way.” “Perhaps a crown awalts my brow If heavenward I may stray. I've had tough luck, but anyhow, I had the right of way. “Although it did me little good, ‘With speed flends out at play, At least I want it understood, T had the right of way. ““Hold a rehearsal for the hearse If I on earth can't stay. Write in obituary verse, ‘He Had the Right of Way.'™ In Deep Water. “You must stand; ready to struggling Europe.” “All right,” replled Senator Sor- ghum; “I'm willing to do what little I can if she'll only quit struggling long enough to be helped.” help Jud Tunkins says he likes to meet a man with a good opinion of hisself if he honestly tries to live up to it. Same OId Chatter, ‘The dove of peace cannot be heard, Because, both day and night, The parrot, inconsiderate bird, Insiats on talking fight. A Trustful Enthusisst, “How old was Methuselah?” “I don't remember. But whatever his age was I'm sure he would have lived much longer if he had learned to say he was geétting better and better every day.” “Poverty,” sald Uncle Eben, “ain’ no disgrace. But neither is de rheu- matis an’ @ Whole jot o dimgresable- nesmdP 7 ) from the nation at large because of their mental and intellectual ability. Cynics may scoff at the presence of these qualities among congressmen; nevertheless there is a multitude of civil service employes, attaches and the like who are chosen because of their education. Their presence is indicated in the figure 3.51. California leads the states among the Digest's intellectuals with a per- centage of 2.83, with Nevada next with 2.68. * k ® ok Samuel Alschuler, judge of the United States circuit court at Chi- cago, who has just retired from Pres! dent Harding’s coal fact-finding com- mission, was the unsuccessful demo- cratic candidate for Governor of Ni- nols in 1900. Although his cause was doomea to defeat, his candidacy had a unique distinctfon. “I am probably the only man ever named for high office” Alschuler claims, “who wag nominated by newspaper men.” The Illinois democrats were In a jam at convention time. Half a dozen lead- ing Chicago newspaper men who were “covering” the convention got to- gether and nominated Alschuler. They presented the result of their delibera- tions to the “bosses,” and Alschuler's choice ensued. One of the conspira- tors is_now a Washingtonian—>Mal- colm McDowell, secretary of the board of Indlan commissioners. IR E R This observer is informed that Col Arthur Woods, one-time police com- missioner of New York city, is in the forefront of those President Harding| is considering for the directorship of the War Veterans' bureau. Col. Woods is a republican, but not a politician; an administrator of acknowledged skill and himself an ex-service man. After the armistice he was in Washington | as assistant to Secretary Baker, in charge of efforts to re-establish serv- ice men in civil life. During the first ear of the Harding administration 6 ; THE AR, WASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1993, Col. Woods was assistant to Secretary Hoover and rendered outstanding service in ameliorating industrial un- man, and ffty-threo yeirs old. * % k% A suggestion that‘does not seem without merit, in view of the auto- mobile deathroll in Washington, 18 that Instead of putting eo many stripes on the streets for “safety” purposes they might with advantage be applied to a few reckless drivers. * ok % The G. O. P. is going to steal a march on the democratio party es far as King Tutankhamen is concern- ed. John T. Adams, republican na- tional chairman, with his family, has Just sailed for Egypt and the Holy Land. An inspection of the Luxor reglon now stirring the imagination of the world is on the Adams itin- erary, as well as a look-in at the Madeira Islands, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Al- glors, Naples, Piraeus, Athens and Constantinople. A republican insur- gent, who says the party is “static” and hasn't had a new idea eince the Emancipation Proclamation, suggests that Chairman Adams may bring back something novel from King Tut's tomb. * Xk k8 An American who has been abroad for many years and is now tarrying in Washington s intrigued by the up- growth of a profession hardly known when last he lived in the country, in the late ninetles He refers to “publicity men.” It was the World's Columblan Exposition at Chicago in 1893 that first devieed a “department of publicity and promotion,” the re- turned exils says. “Moses P. Handy, a newspaper man and famous Clover Club wit, was put at its head. Some- body asked him just what his job was. ‘I'm director of the department of duplicity and commotion,’ sald Handy.” * ok ok % No handier brochure has made Its appearance in many a day than the one just issued by the American As- soctation for International Concilla- tion at New York. It is entitled “The Allled Debts,” and within its hundred- odd pages are packed half a dozen of the leading American and forelgn pronouncements on that burning is- sue. They Include the Balfour note of August, 1922; Secretary Hooyers ocelebrated’ Toledo mpeeck on “The Repayment of European Debts to Our Government,” and statements on the subject from various standpoints by Thomas W. Lamont, Reginald M- Kenna (of England), Edwin R A Seligman_and Benjamin M. Ander- son, jr. Thero 15 lso a statement by M ' Polncare outlining the French government's position on_the allled debt. F. W. W. (Copyright, 1923.) EDITORIAL DIGEST Vice Presidential Home Offer Widely Discussed. The magnificent mansion on 16th street, in Washington, just erected by a wealthy Washington woman as memorial to her husband and her son” can always be sure of arous- ing comment under any circum- stances. And when it is proposed that the government accept it as a gitt from the owner to become the home of Vice Presidents, the country tairly buzzes with comment, The attitude of the natlon toward the offer, the New Bedford Standard thinks, “is something like that of John. Ridd in ‘Lorna Doone’ toward the knighthood conferred upon him: ‘Sir, I am very much obliged, but what be I to do with {t”* The El- mira-Star Gazette Is confident that what Congress will do with it ts “whatever the American people want done about it. But if Congress is| to rely on editorial opinion to deter- mine that sentiment it will find itself ! badly &t sea, since the proposal has just about as many opponents as it supporters. ongress cannot, however, fail “to recognize the logic behind 'the gen- erous proposal,” the New York Worl “It knows exactly the con- ditions with which the Vice Presi- dent must cope on his introduction to Washington, how exacting are the focial and semi-public duties requir- ed of him and the embarrassments surrounding a homeless offical sec- ond in rank only to the President. The need of housing him decently Washington at the government's e pense should hardly afford room for argument.” “As matters nowvstand,” the Cleve- land Plain Dealer goes on to say, “the man who occupies the office next be- low the most important in the world lives in a Washington hotel like a government clerk,” and, for the sake of the office he occupies,” the paper declares that “some adequate provi- sion should be made in the direction indlcated. This would do as much for the dignity if not the usefulness of the vice presidency as giving the occupant of the office a seat in the cabinet.” The Rochester Times-Union also belleves that a fitting official home “would add new dignity and desirability to an important office which fell sadly into disrepute for many year: Fhara ought to be “no question of accepting the house,” the Bingham- ton Press_insists, for even if the American Vice President is “the tail of the party kite” he “merits more considerate treatment than he gets. Flouse rent for four years in Wash ington makes a hole In the Vice Pres- ident's income, and hotel living is still higher. A permanent residence would be a great improvement.” ECHOES FROM L] NOT ALWAYS THE__ACCEPTED VIEW WHEN THE DISTRICT IS CONCERNED. Now, the Senate has just as much right as the House to place any kind of an appropriation upon an appro- priation bill, a legitimate appropria~ tion.—Representative Blanton, Texas, democrat. ARCHIVES BUILDING WOULD TAKE $8,000,0001 There has been an investigation of this archives buflding matter for sev- eral years. The best information ob- talnable by our committee has been that a proper archives bullding would cost at least $8,000,000, instead of $2,600,000 or $5,000,000.—Representa- tive Clark, Florida, democrat. THE UNITED STATES TRAILING. What we want is an archives building. This is the only govern- ment of any significance in the world that does not have it, and we ought to have It—Representative Feas, Ohlo, republioan. GERMAN PROFITEERS MIGHT PAY. Germany ssys she cannot pay for the ruin she has wrought, but mean- time her profiteers and munition makers are rolling up thelr billions.— Representative Lingbergor, California, TFapublicads “Whenever such a gift is oftered.” and the Columbus Dispaich recalls that this makes the third house of. fercd the government for public pur. poses within as many vears, “the crit. icism is raised by many that the gov. ernment should buy what it needs and not accept gifts from private citi- zens. The government is doubtless able to buy anything for which there is a pressing necessity by taxing its cltizens to pay the bill. We are not convinced, however, that it should dlscourage what looks like a grow- ing tendency of people of means to use part of their wealth in gifts not to individuals, but to the people as a whole.” 5 All of this would be perfectly agreeable and entirely defensible, an- swers the other side of the debate, If the matter stopped with the mere ac- ceptance of the generous gift of a beautiful home in which to house the Vice President and his family. Among the lesser objections to the proposal is one having to do with malntaining a_“rival establishment” to the White House. The Columbia Record reports Vice President Coo- lidge as having declared “that the White House should continue the cen- fter of official entertainment at the capital,” and the paper 1s “Inclined to agres with the Coolidge conclu: sion.” Then, also. as the Boston Traveler points out, there is that “specter of an expensive mansion with a retinue of costly servants’—a specter against which the vice presidential salary of $12.000 yearly would be pitifully in- adequate. “The upkeep of the estab- lishment,” the Traveler says, ‘““would cost somebody a tidy little $50,000 a year. Obylously that somebody would have to be the government” Cer- tainly the obligation could not be passed along to the Vice President, the Boston Globe agrees, for he “has a right to epend his salary as he sees fit, just as any common laborer. Why {mpose on him an expense Which would obliterate his income? A gift which doubles or triples the expense of an office Is not an asset, it is & liability. The Vice Presidents of the country are_not millionaires any longer. ® * ¢ Neither Mr. Marshall nor Mr. Coolidge is adrift upon the sea of dollars. Nor is the national Treasury of the United States so nonplussed With the problem of where to spend more funds that it need be confronted with the prospect of scattering $15,000 a year to support & residence for Vice Presidents.” The question need not be considered on personal grounds at all, the Bos- ton Transcript maintains, “or in obe- dience to any sort of social or private supposed obligation or interest. but on the basis of public propriety and democratic_principles,” ‘and because all such “proper oconsiderations” are “dead against the scheme,” the paper hopes “that there is enough sound American commen sense to bring about a polite but nevertheless prompt and_abeolute rejection of the proposition.” CAPITOL HILL TO PRODUCE A COMMERCIAL ASSET BY FARMING. Every senator on this floor knows that it takes twelve months to pro- duce a commerclal asset by the process_of farming.—Senator Smith, South Carolina, democrat. HOW ABOUT THE REST OF THE BANKS? There s not a bank in Alabama to- day that is not charging the extreme local 1imit of 8 per cent, although it {s getting its money from the federal reserve bank at 4% per cent, and it is making profiteer'’s compensation on its rediscount operation.—Senator Glass, Virginia, democrat. SHOULD SENATORS REVISE THEIR REMARKS? I want the Record clear a8 we go along, and not let any man in the nightfim g0, around and change the Record and have it read as he may choose.—Senator Cousens, Michigan, republican, THE MONEY POWER IN CONTROL. v Lodged in the strongholds of the National Capital the money power flourishes in rank luxuriance in every avenue of control in the nation's capi- tal. The money power is in control of the government.—Senator Heflin, Alsbama, democrat. WHEN SPECIAL PRIVILEGH IS NOT SPECIAL PRIVILEGE. Bome of the friends of the farmer NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM THE VALLEY OF TEN THOUSAND SMOKES, By Rober’ F. Griggs. National Geographic Soctety. The membershjp of the Natlonal Geographic Soclety, contributing share and share alike, supported the enterprise upon which this story res Each of the 750,000 members of that organization must, therefore, have a keen personal pride in the achisvement set down hers. Each must in a sense also feel as If he him- self had been at Katmai psss on that July morning of 1916 looking down upon the stupendous spectacle of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. * %k ® Those who, in fact, did stand In Katmai pass on that day have each taken & hand at trying to ploture the vast scens of desolation spread out below and stretching away far be- yond the reach of sight. Each has made an attempt also to register his own feelings of stupefaction and awe In face of the astounding panorama. Valhalla, Dante's Inferno, the ortho- dox hell, the Arablan Nights—pagan and Christian and pure romantic— are here impressed to the service of record and interpretation. One eays: “Human endeavor and achievement seemed dwarted to insignificance here. I felt out of place, an intruder in this land of the gods. This valley appear- od to be on another planet that was in the process of formation.” A diary reads: “Spent sixteen days in the valley. Glad to leave, Came out of the steam for good. Lucky to get out. Glad to ses trees and grass again, Feel as .if I'm just waking out of two weeks’ nightmare. Valley wonderful, but no place to camp. Walter says: ‘Lots of steam. Hell ot a place.’ Agree heartily.” Another, “Astonishment at the great dimen: sions of the valiey, at the countless numbers of fissures and fumeroles out of which steam was pouring. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined anything to compare with it”" One, of rather more comprehensive outlook and more connected &peech, says: “The broken hills, the falling moun- tain, the magnificent glaclers, the steaming fumeroles, the _rolling clouds of vapor, may all be described, but their wonderful profusion and the manner in which they enoroached upon one another must remain large- 1y in possession of him who is fortu- nate enough to visit the place where these things abound in 8o extraordi- nary a splendor.” *xow® And do you know what Katmal 187 A mountain. Not surprising, since only the scholars and travelers to queer places and the handful of set- tlers roundabout did know till the recent sensational behavior of that mountain brought it out from its long seclusion into wide notice and acute general interest. Katmai mountain is in Alaska, down in the southwest, & hundred miles in from Kodiak. And Kodlak, If you recall, opened up as & way station to Nome in the days of the Klondike gold rush. Now, Katmaj bad from time immemorial behaved with the eobriety and disoretion com- mon to old and settled mountains. It had apparently never come under sus- picion. One rather wonders why It {had not, since the scientists show us {now that this mountain is a part of the volcanic chain that loops across from the Aleutian end of Alaska to {Kamchatka, down the Japan border, past the Philippines and on south- ward through the line of {slands end- ing in Java and Sumatra. Nevertho- less, Katmai had, by its demure de- meanor; escaped observation with its familtar sequence of suspicion and dis- trusg * % ® X Then, one day in 1912, it Was clear that something big, volcano-wise, had |nappened. Kodiak was half buried |in volcanic ashfall And this falling {ash drifted, in diminishing bulk and {toroe. far inland, reaching the whole northwestern section of the country. In no time at all suspiciom pointed upon Katmal It was then that the National Geographic Soclety fitted out n expedition for the solentific study of the character of this ashfall in its effect upon vegetation. The expedi- tion contemplated also the study of other vital phenomena of a great voleanic _eruption. The suspicion against Katmal had become knowl- edge. So geologists, meteorologists, agricultural chemists, map-makers and picture-takers, all under tho gen- eral leadership of Robert F. Griggs, set out for that region. It was true. Katmal had blown its head off under the stress and strain of its interior {foroes. Incidentally, it had also in the meantimé spread out more than one object lesson in world-making, in changing the face of the country, in opening up certain secrets of min- eralization, in suggesting the mechan- ism of its own dvnamics It played an open hand, after all, in demonstra- tion_of some of the original gestures of the gods fn the business of earth butlding. * ok ok ok Then on another day—this the great day, July 31, 1916—all In the way of usual exploration, the Katmai pass was made. The Valley of Ten Thou- sand Smokes, “one of the marvels ot the world,” was discovered. By way of this discovery the fleld of science was enlarged, knowledge was elther extended or confirmed, a new wonder fleld for the traveler was opened. At this point a full description of the valley is made. apart from the indi- vidual impressions of the various ex- plorers. This gives the extent and! shape of the valley. It describes the contents—fissures, craters, hot springs, mud pots, clouds and worlds oF Tising VADOT: mo SlEN of vegetation or animal life in all the vast ex- panse. “Uncanny to see hot stream {ssue from beneath banks of snow extensive glaclers hobnob with steam- ing fumeroles; icebergs and hot wa- ter in the same little lake; enor- mous mud flows appear to have run uphill; a stick chars when thrust into a jet of steam—world of magic and wizardry.” * ok ok X Other expeditions followed the original one—these to confirm the sub- sidence of volcanic activity, to verify Katmai’s return to what looks like stability, to take aocount of the re- markable growth of vegetation in the valley, to report the return of ani-| mals’ to this reglon, and to continue, of course, the scientific studies and experiments. L One can touch only a point here and there In this particular story of Kat- mai and its stupendous by-product, the “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. It is & packed and overflowing book, with pictures and maps to help out the text. The clear Intent of the expedition was sclentific research. The story of it, however, reads like shesr adventure. It is cast in the mold of adventurs and set in the terms of & robust simplioity. A won- der book, calculated to excite pride in every one comnected with it, and those, too, who made the expedition possible. ' ER R And what about seeing the Valley of Ten Thousand Smok You can are always denouncing speclal privi-Jg.e 4t A good harbor leads to the lege, and yet we almost always find those same alleged friends of the farmer asking for the farmer spe- glal ’zflvllm that they wot T T shore and & short road connects this with the valley itself. It {s now the Katmal Natlonal Monument, set asi FaPae Tl iy & Go Ble idlers with open contempt | the economic life of the Ruhr. BY PAUL V.. COLLINS. The public has at last discovered the secret of why the dollar has lost 1ts pre-war purchasing power. It 1s the enormous tax assessment put upon coal before it is mined. At least, that is the position taken by the great corporations owning the anthracite mines. They declare that coal yet in the ground is unduly as- sessed when It 1s valued at 2 cents & ton—some of it as high as 6 cents. ‘Why, at that rate the owners will have no inducement to keep it In the ground; it will have to be dug and mincd and marketed, even at the suloldsl price of $13 a ton, 50 the gross' profits will be only $17.98 a ton; after paying the mine owner his ruinous 2 cents. For, of course, If it is valued at 2 cents for taxing pur- poses, that encourages the owner to demand that much from mine op- erators, " %% After all, what constitutes value? Labor. There s no value whatever in anything except what labor hae put into it. The 2 cents on coal In the ground would not be there if labor had not made comnections be- tween the unmined coal and the market—if labor had not bullt rall- roads and coal tipples and coal yards. There 18 no value whatever {n the vast coal stores of the ocegn bed, or of the aretics, though the toal be the purest of, carbon, Labor is the only measure of value of anything. If, therefore, we could equalize labor values wo would talk no more of the high cost of living. It takes no more labor today to produce a pound of beef than it did ten years ago, and it takes no more labor to plaster 100 square feet of wall than it did ten years ago, 1f the farmer could swap his beef for the plasterers work he should get as much plas- tering done today for 1,000 pounds of meat s he did ten years ago. But he cannot get so much, for, while meat is higher priced in’ the retall market, and possibly a little higher on the hoof, yet plasterers, some- how, have gotten thelr prices boosted out of all proportion and, instead of getling $6 or 33 a day, they now get, in Washington, $16 a day and in Philadelphia, it is reported. they have received as high as $33 for elght hours’ work. * ko It is that sort of inequality that has mixed things, so that, on the whole, there is no ‘high cost of liv- ing” as measured by the comparative commodity “vardstick,” but there is great unevennesses in the valuations of labor, If a man's wages were §5 a day and he wanted to trade his work fof the work of a man of an- other line of industry, whose wages were $6 a day, and then the first man boosted his Wages to $10 a day, he would sulfer no injustice when the second demanded $12. A third party. who is on a fixed salary, is the only one who does suffer by that mutual inflation. * % ok K One of the evils of the modern tendency (not only in Congress but in soclety generally) to divide the peo- ple into self-seeking “blocs” 1s illus- trated by the dispute between the two forces In regard to immigration. Nobody questions the desirability of barring undesirable, criminal, de- praved or diseased, immigrants, but labor interests o much farther than that, and demand that all immigration be rigidly restricted. Yet there is no wealth produced except that which industry creates. Without industrial workers all the potential wealth in earth, gea or air is valueless. No na- tion is- richer than the aggregate wealth of production makes it. Hence the more skilled, intelligent, peace- able mechanics we have the faster will the wealth of the nation grow as a whole, * x % William J. Spencer, secretary- treasurer of the bullding trades de- partment of the Department of Labor, declares that to say that we need more 1lliberal laws to admit more qualified labor, is “preposterous.” He | adds: *With perhaps two exceptions, the bricklayers and plasterers, the bullding crafts are now encountering some degree of unemployment.” Building, of course, largely suspends | in the north during midwinter. B is what tlie committee ou labor of ti Associated General Conursetors America reported a day or two oung men. are not learning te: trades important to bullding. Thes. trades are: Structura} ‘Iron. workers plumbing, carpenters; painters, brich masons, roofers, plasterers, 7 hangers, building laborers and stiic cutters. “With the exeption of the first thre thero were actually fewer in 1 than in 1910.” ‘This report is based on census st tistics, not the dictum of intere o advocates. The report states the ca of the falling off to be that America young men are unwilling teday, t learn mechanical trades, and. immi gration of mechanics has been choked off. In view of the great stimulus ¢ building operations now, - followin the suspension during the war. this shortage of labor, as alleged, resu' in extravagant and almost: prohivi tive wages, ranging: from $12a day for some trades to double that, and “more for others. % ¥ %k W Once there was a plan to lower tariffs on imports by a horizontal re- duction of a certain flat:percentage. It was not a final adjustment, but it was a start in the right direction, ac- cording ‘to the free traders In Con- gress. Why not try a “horizontal re- duction™ now on plastering apd other work, with an agreement that it shall apply on everything? That w the proportions of valy food costs and plastering j as now. A plasterer still u one day and get as much as averages after he has cultiv acres all season. That means ahout equal to two averas blocks—say 203 fect wide arid 609 foo long. L In & recent speech on the Lenroot. Anderson rural credit bill McCumber told of the returns of 320-acre farm in North Dakota, farm belongs to one of the bes ers In the state; he got a fine cr and, after reserving seed for the year, his crop sold for §1 cost of producing It was $1,405.75. excellent crop! That gave the farmer $160.20 to live on and support. ily a year. An industriou gent farmer, with favorable producing a “bumper crop” least a “good yield.” The farm profits for the year, not counting i terest on the capital, amounted about two weeks wages for mechanic. How long will food duction upon American acres o under such conditions? An farmers cease to produce, W be the cost of food in cities? * % % The Senate passed the ru: bill by a unanimous vote. G far as it goes. But what good d credit do a farmer who, cv favorable conditions, upsn a tilled farm of -half a section, eur: only $160 a year on which to suppor a family? ‘While that farn received on $160 reward for his year’s labor, tl railroads which ecarried his ‘vrop market got $397.88, and his taxes ( that state which has heen gdcia for eight years) amounted to Inflation of credits is pot -« prosperity, if that is thikg im don to help agrlculfure. It is ng sou wmilder Senato unc £or comes reform of conditions. * % ok ¥ Senator Capper, who is best informed agricuitu America, reports that in Kan ton of apples brings the farmer and the railroad _Bauls it to for §18. A ton of potx bri tarmer $10 and the railroad $ farmer gets 45.5 per ce raflroad 54.5 of the whot of farm products. The cor course, pays all the added the handlers, wholesale * % x % warl The railroads claim the duce freights because of high-wu Somewhere, something must give v or other means of transportation other means of market handling v be substituted, Motor trucks und co- operative associations must come. Defends Ruhr Action ‘: Sees Mark of Servitude. French Entry in Accord With' Correspondent Disapproves Move Treaty, Says Letter to Star. To the Bditor of The Star: I am at a loss to account for the wave of sympathy for Germany and of condemnation of France now prev- alent. I have just read the account of the tremendous ovation given the German singers in Baltimore. These may be some of the same Germans who sounded the notes of jubilation when the Lusitania went down and peaceful Belgium was invaded. May T call attention to the treaty of Versailles in 18717 France was or- dered to pay Germany 5,000,000,000 gold francs. This was not for repara- tions. Germany had lost neither mines nor property. France had to pay for her own destruction at the hands of a ruthless invader. Now ithat invader refuses to pay another mark for her destruction of Belglum and France. Suppose during the three years France required to pay the last centime of this cruel fine her citizens and government had assumed the samo attitude toward the German troops left in France to secure pay- ment that the German government and citizens have manifested In the Ruhr? Death and destruction would have instantly followed. The French army entered the Ruhr In accordance with the plain provisions of the treaty. They informed the German cernment beforehand of their peace- Bl intentions. In the note of the French to the German government it a8 said: v'“‘l‘he French government declares it has no thought at this moment of any operation of a military nature. Its duty is to assure the respect by Germany of the obligations contained in the treaty of Versallles. It counts on the good will of the German gov- ernment and of all authorities what- ever they may be. If the local au- thorities by their action or by their failure to act should cause disturb- ance in the material and economic life of the region, any coercive meas- ures or penalties judged necessary will be taken immediately.” How was this polite and just re- quest received? The German govern- ment, the industrial magnates and citizens have treated the French en- ginoers, economic experts and sol- Every- thing possible has been done to wr;&k e German government has forbidden I her citizens in the Ruhr to obey the ‘?31’.. of labor and transportation laid down. They have made of the Ver- gailles treaty: a mighty “scrap of ga- .* They have plainly shown a de- iberate purpose not"to observe the treaty in any respect Unforeunately, England has taken a threatening attitude against the French attempt to enforce the treaty in the way the treaty provides. Un- fortunately, our few remalining troops on the Rhine were withdrawn at a moment well calculated to - excite more joy in Germany than their ad- vent in Franee did fear. Had England and the United States stood squarely the “Watch on the Rhine,” condi- ons:in the Ruhr at the nt time 'would ‘have been quite I erenty It for “Old Mammies’ Memorial.” To the Edltor of The Star: The Evening Star of Thursday l.s | carried an editorial entitled, “#fid Mamn- mies’ Memorial,” fn which y dor: the bill sponsored by the United D: ters of the Confederacy and introduc in the Semate by Senator John sha ‘Willlams of DI for the cre tion here at the monument to the the south. The colored people, whom subscribe to your or purchase it at new prised to see The Star, the most lib of our local white press, fostering a movement that has for its object the keeping of the colored people in their antebellum (and post-bellum, for tha matter) servitude. We are glad that the white race appreciates the div virtues of truth and loyalty which t “black mammy”* had, and has in ab dance, but it overlooks that other div virtue that is hers, a divine lov her offspring. She bore her suff in patience, because she bell through them Americ: would quicken and give her ch! and her children's children the justice they so richly deserve. My own be- loved mother was one of those unfortu- nates who had the flower of her youth spent in a slave cabin, and I know the heart of a slave umother, i longing for better thi 1 children. Every “black mammy” who down_ from heaven today upon disordered world delights to see beautiful daughters and granddauxh ters aspiring and attaining unt h beautiful and the true in sp their handicaps which the southe spirit, which proposes this mor umen throws around them. She loves Lo & them reading .the best in literatur filling positions of usefulness, tal honors at the best universities in the land and reigning over homes, not as “old mammy but dutiful wife and tender mother. if the south has such deep gr: for the virtues of this devoted gro from which it reaped vast riches, 1o it remove the numberless barrier: has gone out of its way to throw ) against the progress of the noble ne gro womanhood Who sprang from these “mammie Democracy s the monument which the ‘“colored mam my” wants erected to her, and not : marble sl t, which at best will b but a symbol of our servitude to re- mind white and black alike that the menial callings-are our place in thc scheme of things.. NEVAL H THOMAS. grea Intense seems that the world belleves that France was justly penalized fn 1871 when she was sentenced to pay for her own destruction, snd now should be penalized in her legal attempt t collect damages her sccond @ struction, in 1914-1 As_far as 1 am concerned, it v not be until Germany has paid ti last pfennig of her debt that L shall ultured' v