Evening Star Newspaper, February 11, 1923, Page 37

EDITORIAL SECTION EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL QRTICLES Society News Part 2—14 Pages UNCLE SAM IS WAKING UP TO TIMBER WASTE PERIL President and Congress Thoroughly Aroused to Necessity of Forest Conservation. BY G GOULD COLN, NCLE SAM—meaning the whole United States—has been a spendthrift in the use of tim- ber, and is today. Never has there been adopted a fixed national poliey with regard to conservation of the forest resources and reforesta- fon, « policy in which the federal gov- ernment, the states and private in- terests are called upon to co-operate. Such a policy is now being sought, however. The warnings of what the continued ruthless destruction of tim- ber means to this country have been repeated for years, The forest service, whih has done splendid work in the national forests of the country, has given good. advice to the states and 1o private owners of forest lands. But | under way | a concerted effort is now to bring about the establi & national before late. hment of policy is too Senate Forestry Committee. The Senate only a few days ago adopted a resolution offered by Sen- ator Pat Harrison of Mississippl, pro- viding for the appointment of a spe- cial committee of five senators to In- vestigate the whofe question of re- forestation and to make recommenda- tions to Congress for legislation look- ing toward the establishment of a policy that will not only conserve the forests we now have, but also will bring about the planting of new for- ests where the old one grew. The committee has appointed and consists of Scnutor MeNary, Ore- Zon. chairman: S Hampshire gan: Senatg i and Senator iletcher, Florida. The north. the south and the middle west and the Pacific coast states are rep- resented in the personnel of this com- mittee. A number of bills looking to the conservation of the forests have been introduced in Congress, and the re- port of the special Senate committee will be helpful. it is said. in dealing with fhis legislaton when the next Congres ts. The House commit- ter on agriulture has been holding hear! Harding recently Representative C member of t urging tha acted ones been ow m, wrot&a letter to ark of New York a e committee. strongly some legislation be en- urth Forest Land. He called attention in this letter to the fact that approximately one- fourth of the area of the country was forest land or potential forest land, and of no value for any other purpose. With both houses of Congress and the President taking u keen Interest in this question of conservation ahd reforestation, it s thut some- thing probably Le dune the comparatively future. The fact of the n ter United States necds to pull with a round turn It is that in this country there 000,000 acres of forest land that already per cent of it been logged © its virgin timber. It is said also that the country is using timber ut rate four times as fast as the timber is being produced. It does not requite a mathematical #enius to calculate what is going to happen here if that rate of con- sumption and production is main- tained very long. Good Start Is Made. The United States has much in favor, however, it the possibilities of conserving suffi- cient forests and ra for the prople national for being conserv- ed. constitute a fovest kingdom themselves—a tremendous domain of 156.000,000 acres. This is a great mucleus to begin with. And the for- est service has been doing work in these forests. I infinite possibilities in the matter of reforestation, in making a tree grow where none now grows, if the mat- ter is undertaken with a definite policy in view. The Senate committee. which has Just organized and has been in con- sultation with the Secretary of Agri- eulture and with the head of the forest service, is planning visits this spring and summer to all parts of the country. It is likely that it will first go south, then west, probably as .far as the coast, and then into New England. The order of the trips has not been definitely determined. It is probable also that at least two members of the committee, and pos- sibly more, will go to Europe during the coming recess of Congress to study the methods adopted in the older countries to conserve One avp! will in near i< that the s21f up imated and has when inz vew fore now s on the matter, and President ! e 460, | its ! comes to | ts In the first place, the | pienaia | sere are | forests. If they do so, they will make the trip abroad at their own expense, it is sald. Has European Exa The United States is not in the posi- tion of a ploneer, when it comes to the subject of reforestation and con- servation of timber lands, it is point- ed dut. It has the example before it of ffermany, France, Switzerland and er countries which for scores, and hundrefs of years have been facing the problem of miantaining forest lands to meet the needs of thelr ever- growing populations. These coun- | tries, when they woke to the fact that | they were being denuded of timber, took stringent steps to halt this, and ! to0 renew as far as possible their for- est lan { Germany arrived at a period in the excessive use of timber—as compared | to what was being produced—in the eighteenth century, upward of 150 years ago. Then the German states 1 began to pass laws relating to the use of timber and the cutting of it. Coal was little used for fuel and the Ger- mans saw themselves in danger of losing thelr great fuel supply, with long, hard winters rolling around leach year. Furthermore, there was {need of protecting the flow of the {streams, which 1s intimately -bound {up with the forests. The policy adopted by the Germans has been to {make the forests grow each year as {much timber as is cut out and used d a little more. So successful have {they been that in Prussia, for in- {stance, there is ten times as much bod as there was sixty years ago. ‘During the great war the German forests suffered comparatively littl |because Germany was not invaded. But in France and Belgium, overrun by the enemy armies in certain parts, e. the forest devastation was enormous. {And France today is insisting upon the payment of much of the repara- itions in forest products. France's Great Achievement. The problem of forestation in | France was tackled with energy | many years ago. too. Her great achievement along this line has been the development of protective fur»' ests, forests that give protection agalnst the floods and the winds. The government and private owners have reforested more than 2,500,000 acres. Along the coasts of France are vast | sand dunes, and the wind has driven | these dunes farther and farther in- jland, so that the sand finally covered much valuable land, including vine yards and farm land. The French have planted 2 00 acres of these sand dunes in forest—pines principally. | These lands. instead of continulng to ! be a menace, are now producing val- | uuble timber crops and resin. In the| { interior of the country some 2,000,000 | ucres of marshy and sandy lands have ! Leen changed into a forest valued at| approximately $100,000.000. In the! ; province of Champagne the ¥rench | planted 200,000 acres in forests, and the land gained fourfold in value. | These are a few of the achieve-| | ments of the older countries which ! 'may -well be studied by the United | States authorities. With America | producing practically one-third of the pulp wood needed for print paper, with five millions of acres of timber land being cut annually and ten mil- lion more being ruined by forest fires | each year; with the long hauls of lumber and high freight rates adding { constantly to the cost of building homes. it appears that it is time this country made use of the experience of European nations in regard to for- | cst conservation. Cut Section by Section. | tu Germany the gencral method of | torest utiitzation is to divide a given { forest into as many sections as there .are years in the period required for the tree to reach maturity. Then each veur, one of these sections, contain- ing mature trees, is cut over, and each vear one of these sections is re- planted. Notwithstanding all the care given to the conservation of the for- ! ests in Germany, however, that coun- jtry has heen compelMd in recent ! years to import wood, largely from Russia and Finland. It is hoped that the work now un- dertaken by the congressional com- mittees, stimulated by the recom- mendations of the President, will re- sult in bringing about the adoption of a policy of co-operation so far as the forests are concerned. The lumber kings of the past in this country have taken their toll and passed on to new and virgin forests. Sawmills in New England long since found it necessary to shift their operations to the southern states, and now they are their going to the forests of the west. Attempt to Unionize Coal Field May Bring on BY HARDEN COLFAX. The first big industrial clash of 1923 1s expected to materialize within the next thirty days in the non-union coal fields of West Virginia, where the United Mine Workers of America spparently are contemplating another gigantic drive to bring the 55,000 workers there into the union ranks. The latest attempt to unionize West Virginia coal flelds, which have stood out for more than twenty-five years, is sald by operators to be under the persomal direction of Percy Tetlow, formerly statistician of the mine workers' ~organization, who is at Charleston at the present time, Tet- low, during the war commanded & anachine gun compgny dubbed “the wuiclde squad,” because of the nutier- pus fatalities within its ranks The Industrial Clash mine workers regard him as a mdn of unusual resourcefulness and courage and predict that this time, under his leadership, West Virginia's non-union coal fields will yleld to organization. Mingo. Logan, McDowell, Mercer and New River are Tetlow's ygbjectives. These flelds produce the bulk of West Virginiz’s non-union coal. During a single year the mine workers spent more than $2,000,000 in a vain at- | tempt to unionize them. Hundreds of men have been killed in the various efforts to convert them to unionism. In the union coal fields operators are sfgning labor contracts based on the agreement reached at New York between Ohio, Indiana and Illinols operators: and the union. Within the Week agreements have been signed to ©covee the Aulde in Arimnses, Missourd, The Sunfly Star. WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUAR 11, 1923, OnlyObstructive Debate in the Senate Stands in Way of Passage of Ship Bill BY N. 0. MESSENGER. ASSAGE by the House of the British funding debt bill by a vote of 291 to 44 last Friday served to encourage the friends of the measure and the administration leaders in “Congress to ex- pect speedy favorable action by the Senate. The fact that sixty-three democrats voiced their approval of the legislation was con- strued as being significant of important sup- port from the minority in the upper body. The House refrained from attaching a sol- dier’s bonus amendment to the bill, indica- tive, it was construed, of recognition by the House of the prime importance of the pend- ing bill and necessity for its enactment into law at this session. * %k % ¥ An interesting feature of the proceedings in the House was the hearty support of the bill by the lone socialist member, Meyer Lon- don of New York. In a two or three minute speech he outlined his ideas of the deep im- port of the legislation. He called it the “out- standing act of tins Congress.” Having cast his vote against war, and lived through its sorrows, he rejoiced in the opportunity to vote for a measure which “will help to pro- mote international understanding and the peace of the world.” It was more than an invitation to all the nations to pay their debts; it was “a plea to the distracted nations to recognize each other’s difficulties and to mutually liquidate their indebtedness. It is a giant step forward, this settlement of the debt between Great Britain and this coun- try.” = The friends in the Senate of the bill can- not see how it will be possible to make a party issue over it, and, in the absence of partisanship cannot contemplate the defeat of the legislation. * ¥ X This week will witness the final effort to pass the ship aid bill, with the odds recog- nized to be against it, in the circumstances. Here is the situation in a nutshell: It is admitted that if a vote could be obtained it would command a majority in the Senate. Under the Senate rules governing debate and admitting of unlimited dilatory tactics, a minority can stave off a vote indefinitely. It is a case of minority rule instead of majority rule. The bill was framed by a bi-partisan board and every democrat on * Kansas, Oklahoma, Central Pennsyl- vanla and Iowa. All other fields un- doubtedly will sign agreements so that a strike this year in any of the union flelds {s remote. Every member of the United Mine Workers of America has been assess- ed $2 2 month for two months as a special assessment. The total thus to be raised will exceed $1,500.000. The miners assert the speclal assessment —which is in addition to regular dues % levied to pay off indebtedness incurred during the strike last vear. — Note.—In publishing this ar- ticle by the brilllant editor of the Emporia Gazette, The Star the board signed the unanirhous report. It was recommended by the administration of the party in power, passed by the House, which is supposed to be closest to the people and direct representatives and exponents of the popular will. Yet it is now facing strangulation in the hands of a minority, invested with the power of life and death. * %k ¥ * With only eighteen legisiative days re- maining for action upon these and other im- portant bills, the time between now and March 4 will be fully occupied, and night sessions of Congress are in prospect. The fast of the main supply bills has passed the Senate, the Army appropriation bill having gone through without encountering the diffi- culties apprehendgd. There was a fly in the ointment for the economists, however, in the retention and increase by the Senate of the appropriations put ,on by the House for rivers and harbors appropriations. * ¥ % % Here is the point, having a bearing upon the clash between Congress and the bureau of the budget in the control and disburse- ment of the public funds, forecasting, it is said at the Capitol, possible policy for the future. The budget will propose, the Con- gress will dispose. For rivers and harbors improvements the budget recommended in round numbers $27,000,000. The House, in its wisdom, raised the appropriation to $37,000,- 000. Along came the Senate, and, in effect, said: “Why, neither of you know all about rivers and harbors; let’s take the suggestion of the Army engineers, who know all about the necessities,” and promptly raised the amount to $56,000,000, the recommendation of the engineers. It is considered a pretty safe bey that the House conferees will yield to the superior judgment of the engineers—especially as it gives more money for the improvements. ¥* ¥k ok k¥ President Harding is represented as being disturbed by this prospective overriding of the budget and to wish that he had the power to single out this one item of the Army bill for veto, leaving the vital and necessary provisions of the appropriation act intact. He would not hesitate, it is thought, to veto an dndividual rivers and “AS I SEE IT.” By William Allen W hite. Page Mr. a new ’quarter. Mencken. HE Puritan spirit has appeared in No sooner does harbors bill if it exceeded the sum fixed by the budget, but the solons on the hill were too wise tc send up to him such a measure and put the items on a bill which they felt sure he could not afford to veto, as it would necessitate an extraordinary session of Con- gress. * K Kk Kk If a proposal is ever officially made to the Congress to vest in the executive the power to single out items and provisions of bills for veto, it will meet a storm of opposition. It is recognized by many that there is logic in the proposal that the executive might find in a general act some objectionable feature, the main body of the act being acceptable, and it might be well to give authority to lift it out. But with appropriations it is held to be different. The Congress is exceedingly jeal- ous of its control of the public funds, vested in it by the Constitution of the United States, along with the power to make war and declare peace. That jealousy was re- sponsible for the long delay in creating the budget system, now generally accepted as being a wonderfully salutary provision. But Congress still retains the right to “say the last word” even against the most earnest and serious—possibly righteous—judgment of the budget, which takes a wide survey of all the necessities of the government. * k % k Senator Hiram Johnson has taken the field in an aggressive fight for his plan for the nomination of presidential candidates by primaries. When he goes into a fight he goes in with vim, vigor and earnestness, and does not mince words. Taking his own party, the republican organization, as showing the evils of the present convention system, as he views it, he said this system is “little short of out- rageou He charged that a combination of southern states, where he said there is no republican party, with northern states, “where there is no honest expression of opinion,” enables a republican national con- vention to register the choice of a few in- stead of the will of the majority. A number of legislatures are in session at this time and Senator Johnson's strong ar- raignment of the existing system of nominat- ing and plea for a reform is expected to have important effect upon the efforts to enact state legislation to that end. pears they proceed to throw ex- amplary fits. It will do po good to argue with the people. It does little good to jibe at them. They will have their fits and men like Mr. Arbuckle who get into the midst of these popu- lar demonstration of public approval can do nothing better than to fade out of the landscape. Why then does a people that has such easy and unmistakable spasms of virtue demand a censor? Why cannot the American people depend upon their capacity for cat fits to The non-unfon operators profess to see in the levy the rasing of a huge fund to finance the effort to swing West Virginia into the union. Tnion operators in the bituminous flelds have decided to comply with the demands of the coal commission for information and are endeavoring to co-operate with the commission to the fullest possible extent. The opera- tors have employed as counsel John W. Davis, former ambassador to Great Britain, Henry L. Stimson, former Secretary of War, and others at fees reported to exceed $100,000 in the ag- gregate, to advise them with respect to the commission’s Inquiry. These ad- visers have recommended that the operators ald the commission in ob- taining the facts about the coal in- dustry. Cost of Printing Congress Debates Those who really believe that “talk is cheap” should stop and oconsider that it cost Uncle Sam $713,085.79 last year to print the Congressional Rec- ord, which carries verbatim all de- bates in Congress, and which is an fnorease of $212,926.34 over the year 1921 and a decrease of $180,132.73 from the high-water mark of 1820, which was established by the Sixty-sixth Congress. The total cost of printing the Record for the four years 1919-22, inclusive, was $2,644,104.01, or an average of $661,026 a year. They should realise, too, that talk in the House or Senate over the economies that have been effected, through the partisan boasting of re- publican or democratic members, really runs up the expense. The government printing office, which cost $11,130,456.71 for opera- tion last year, was established pri- marily for printing the congressional debate, some sixty years ago, and the Congressional Record is still the big- gest and most costly publication. Although only 32,700 coples are printed of the daily Record and about 4,800 sets bound of the permanent Record, the publication is exceedingly expensive, owing to its great bulk. A single day’s proceedings often makes from 547 to 100 printed pages, all of which have to be set, printed and de- livered in the twelve hours between 7 pm. and 7 am. of the same night. The Record for the first and second sessions of the Sixty-seventh Con- gress, most of' which was printed during the fiscal year 1922, makes 27,060 type pages, as compared with 37,501 pages for the preceding year. A saving has just been effected of from $15,000 to 320,000 & year by changing the style of binding the per- manent Record from half russia leather and paper-covered sides to full buckram, which is, in fact, & ‘mere Gurable materiah does not necessarily.indorse the views he expresses. But Mr. White brings to the discussicn of current events a fertile mind and an entertaining style, and a discriminating publlc will place its own valuation upon the opinion he advances. ARIOUS states are passing laws directed at the Ku Klux Klan and the laws seek to check the klan by prohibiting its meetings. As a matter of fact the evils of the klan result only {ncident- ally from its meetings. The evil of the klan comes from two things: First, the fact that any lame brain can be a klansman if he has money to pay the organizer. Their organizer s an itin- erant peddler of bigotry, not in the least responsible for the deeds of the klan; he only recruits and organizes, 80 he is chiefly interested in his or- ganization fee. That slack interest naturally brings & lot of fools into the order. Now the second source of evil is that no check is provided any- where in the klan code for what the fools may decide to do. It is not the leaders of the klan, but the official heads with ridiculous titles, who are to blame for the crimes of the klan. Generally the crimes of the klan are planned and executed without the con- sent and frequently without the knowledge of the terrors and kleagles and furies and. hobgoblins and other elected officers of the klan. These crimes are not subjects discussed in meetings, and to prevent klan meet- ings will not check klan crimes. For the crimes of the kian are con- celved and committed by the irrespon- sibles brought together by the greedy organiser, keen for his fes. This crop of nolsy dullards which the organizer garners, are protected by the klan oath which binds other fools to them. And the wecond and third rate minds in any klan, emboldened by the pro- tection of the klan oath, and encour- agea in their machinations by the imbecility of their associated fools, batch up folly unhampered by the natural restraint of their leaders. Hence, the barbaric stupldities of the klan. These barbarities always have occurred where second and third rate minds have power-and the klan oath gives cowards courage and so engenders power. In legislating against the klan, it is not the formal meetings that should be checked, the ‘more of them the merrier. Indeed they remove the tragic potentialities of a mob spirit. But in- the little side meetings, in the unofficial cabals, in tshe conspiracies and In the barnyard intrigues of the klan lle its danger to society. The unchecked congrega- tion of boys and mealy minded men breeds the danger of the klan. And until the rash flames of big- otry burn themselves out the danger to orderly progress is genuine in America. For the klan by its organ- ization is a mob breeder. It recruits men of the mob mind, then by herding them together under & protecting oath breathes into them the moh courage. Henry Mencken get the hose of his wrath playing on America with some show of putting out the blaze of Puritanism threatening to consume the place than Spain bursts out in Puritan flame. Spain has little of the Pilgrim blood in her veins, where- in flows the proud Castillan suds. But Spain {s getting up a Volstead law for King Alfonso and refuses to allow him to go to the Riviera or to some other such branch line of the well known primrose. path abhorred by all Puritans. It seems the last time Alphonso went down the popu- lar path he forgot his chains and | So Spain prohibits the | skidded a lot. Riviera and Alphoneo-stays at home. Prohibition prohibits. Now we shall delight to see Henry Mencken lining up with the royal bootlegger of more or less guiity joy. His denouncement of .the stralght- laced Puritans, the long-nosed boob- ery of the busted community that once ruled the world, will give us all joy. In a dreary world nothing is so mellifluous as the yips and yoddles of the unrighteous rage which Mr. Mencken releases when he sees a Puritan. And a Puritan in a red sash with whalebone stays holding up his trousers and a ten-gallon hat over his raven-black hair. a Puritan with a guitar playing the Spanish fan- dango or the “Siege of Sevastoph,” a Puritan with castenets and dancing pumps refusing to let a poor, bored King go out for a little harmless re- laxation with the girls, will excite Mr. Mencken to a warwhoop that will sound Ilke a fire wagon singing a duet with a trip hammer, Exit Arbuckle. OW could as smart a man as Will Hays make the mistake of trying to let Roscoe Arbuckle out on parole and Into the moving pictures? Old communications with the gentlemen who have their money invested in Mr. Arbuckle's artistic triumphs corrupt the usual good manner of a Presby- terian elder, like Will Hays, or did he just let his sympathies overcome his judgment? The blast of indignation from the folks must have given pause to the whole movie world. Here was the force that put the pop in vex- popull and that jabbed the cense in the censors. Higher than state movie bove the gentlemen's agree- ment of the Movie Producers’ Union, over the wrangling of editors with their dull but noisy pros and cons, rose this mad blast of the folks. It left no doubts about the status of Mr. Arbuckle. He is Kapoot, aucgesplel, blown up, busted and bedamned. The unofficlal censorship of an outraged people worked. It is not a question of the conviction or acquittal of Mr. Ar- buckle of the legal offense with which he was offelally charged. That had little to do with it. He was caught in @ drunken orgle; and-Americans do not permit drunkemrorgics tu- thelr . i GeEmOS - JVRAR & -Grunken $SEX S0 clean the screens as they go, with- out the aid of the state? The answer is that this is a big | country and it takes a big episode to cause an explosion. So the people are fear bound. They fear to trust their individual reactions to minor fn- decencles. They are timld because they are never quite sure of right and wrong, unless conviction comes to them through the official mind. Hence the demand for the legal cen- sor. Hence the popular feeling that officlaldom must think for those who fear to think. It is a condition, not & theory, that confronts us; this timid- fty of individual judgment in our countrymen and being a condition the moving picture world which does business more generally with the un- thinking public than does the pur- veyor of books or newspapers, of painting or sculpture or of music— the moving picture world must grin and bear it. But anyway, we have here one palpable fact—the exit of the smiling Arbuckle. And producers who are |investing heavily in actors or | actorites who take their morals as | ightly as they take their tea, should |always be ready to charge oft large i sums of invested capital to profit and loss when their screen heroes are !caught philandering. The highly |moral movie artist is the only safe imvea'.manl. And as for art—one is no worse than the others. The Uses of Ambiguity. WEET are the uses of ambiguity! ! The Rev. Percy Grant had his say. The bishop saved his face. The church is relieved of a schism-making heresy trial, and religious dogma may move up & peg. It may be accepted as good orthodox doctrine now that a man may deny the actual physical fact of the Immaculate Conception of Jesus in a Protestant church without losing his church membership. The whole question between the pastor and the bishop resolves itself into a difference in words. The preacher clearly belleves in the divinity of the Christ, but not His Deity. The bishop holds for both, but is not going to be too finical about lan--| guage. “What,” he seems to say, “Is a Deity more or less betweon friends.” And so the controversy ends, But it lacks the conventional happy end- ing in that the fellow does not marry the girl. This would never do for a movie scenarlo where & clinch end- Ing is required by all the canons of the art. But in the church it is dif- ferent. In the meantime the fact that a man. may preach “Christ and Him Crucified” in an orthodox pulpit without bothering much about the miracles attendant upon His birth, His lite, His death or resurrection, is the gain that comes with the pro- test of the parson., That is some- thing of .a good gain -in fact. The DEPLORE PRESENT MOVES TO UNDERMINE JUDICIARY Conservative Members of Congress Wor- ried by Propaganda to Break Down Constitutional Safeguards. BY WILL P. KENNEDY. RSTWHILE conflicts between the executive and legislative branches of the government— between the President and Congress—are now given a spice of varfation by some members of Con- gress trying to embrofl the leglsla- tive branch in open contests to cur- tail the authority of the judiclal branch, which would in time destroy it Varfous proposals looking to that end are now before Congress. Sena- tor Borah is fathering a resolution which would require a decision to be concurred In by seven members of the Supreme Court to hold a law uncon- stitutional. Senator La Follette has & constitutional amendment provid- ing that the term of the judiclary be fixed for a specified duration and not for life. Representative James A. Frear of Wisconstn, introduced a res- olution and printed in the Record the other day a long speech in protest against “judiclal regulation of the legislative branch of the govern- ment.” It is proposed by conustitutional amendment to take from the Bupreme Court the power of judicial review of legislative enactment. Worrted by Propaganda. The safe and sane sentiment in Con- gress is 8o strong that there Is no danger that one of the thres co-or- dinate and foundation branches of our government wil be destroved, entail- ing the destruction of the present American form of government and the setting up of an entirely new and different system, but the best stu- dents of government and those who look wisely to the future are worried that this propaganda to weaken and destroy the judictary should come just at this time. First, men Ilike Representative Harry B. Hawes of Missourd, a direct descendant of the American revolu- tion, and who himself served with the general staff of the Army during the world war, point out that the destruc- tion of $300,000,000,000 in property and 30,000,000 lives has shaken the whole world to its very foundation, and a certaln unsettling influence in our country has produced an unusual increase in crime, accompanied by as- ‘saults upon our form of government and its cornerstone—the Constitution. Second, this question will not be considered by any chance in this Congress, but if propaganda strong enough is developed it may be brought s & festering sore into the next Con- gross, which will include a much larger radical group. It will be recalled that this was one of the so-called “reforms” prom- {sed some time ago by a spokesman for the incoming radicals. So, the safe and sane and forward- looking statesmen in Congress are warning the people of the country to be on their guard and to protest against any such proposal to under- mine our form of government, and particularly at this dangerous period of unrest. Attacks Fundamental Principle. The proposal to reverse by legis- lative action the deoision of the Su- preme Court is an attack upon the fundamental principle of our sys- tem, which differentiates this from all governments of history, which securcs the absoluts independence and co-ordination of the three de- partments of government. No law is effective 8o long as its constitutional- ity is contested. A tribunal, supreme and final in its findings, must be in- dependent in its functions to insure impartial decision. To reduce this body to the whim of a changing public opinlon would destroy its value. To set aside an act of Congress on the ground of its unconstitutionality is so important, it is argued., that it is a question whether it should be done by the court in a divided decision of five to four. Such far- reaching power should not be exer- cised where serious doubt exists. Therefore, an amendment to the Con- stitution requiring a two-thirds or a three-fourths vote of the Supreme Court to set aside an act of Con- gress wouid secure to the peopls the value of the judiclary without in- terterence with its independence. Such a step would not be unwise, the constitutional and government students declare. But it 18 further proposed that con- gressional enactments may be re- viewed by the courts, but if declared a violation of the Constitution by the court, then Congress may by subse- quent enactment replace the law upon the statute books and further court review be restrained. To Make Bad Law Good. “Which means,” says Representative Hawes, “that if the court in review holds the law to be good and not & violation of the Constitusion it be- comes a law. If the court holds the law is bad because it violates the Constitution, then Congress can make it good by the simple process of re- enactment. “If Congress passes a good law once It is to remain,” Representative Hawes points out, “but in order to make a bad or unconstitutional law constitutional it will be required to do the bad thing twice, and by this repetition bad law becomes as good as good law. If Congress strikes the Constitution only one blow with one fist it will be called a draw, but if Congress comes back and hits the Constitution a second blow with the other fist Congress wins.” The place of the judicial power in our national government is not gen- erally and well understood, and it is the one feature tbat has made our any other government in the world And yet it is easily explained: First, we must understand that the judiclal power of the government is created by the joint act of the e ecutive and legislative branches—the President making the appointme with the consent and approval of the Senate—and then upon its creation it becomes a check upon both of the branches which created it. Second, while supreme judges are appointed for life, the legislative branch may remove them by impeach- ment. Third, the executlve may be pun- fshed for an unwise selection judges by a subsequent defeat admin- istered by the electorate. Fourth, during the nearly a cen- tury and a half of our national his- tory no scandal and but little criti- cism have been hofestly directed against either the Integrity the ability of the members of the Su- preme Court. Until now there has been no political movement to destroy that power. . Balance of Power at Stake. Now, if this judicial power was re- moved what would happen? It would remove the balance of power between the executive and the legislative. It would destroy the judictal check vpon both. It would elther increase the power of the ex- ecutive and lead the way to mon- archy or increase the power of the legislative and destroy the force of the executive. It would take from the American plan of government its marked dif- ference from that of any other na tion which preceded its formation. It would destroy all those interpre- tations of our laws which have de veloped with our progress and eiv- ilization and have become in effect new laws. It would involve the re- writing of thousands of laws by both state and natlonal governments. It would destroy the heart of the Constitution, because it would kill the defender of the Constitution, and leave 110,000,000 people subject to the intemperate, hasty or arbitrary acts of the two remaining branches of our government. ‘The Constitution, be it remember- ed, is @ very simple, human docu- ment, written in plain language, that contalns only 4,000 words of cighty- nine sentences, and can be read aioud in twenty-three minutes. This Con- stitution not only grants authority to govern, but just as expressly limits such authority. Now, there are cer- tain Individual rights the Constitu- tion demands that Congress shall not destroy, and these arc guarded by the Supreme Court, so that the aver- age man and woman finds therein their greatest protection against abuse and tyranny. These provisions are now written so that ail may un derstand, and not subject to change by the whim or caprice of a passing Congress. If court review should be abolished Congress could in any ses- sion take away these rights: Rights Which Are Preserved. Religlous liberty, freedom of specch, freedom of the press, the right of peaceful assemblage. the right of petition for redress of grievances; the right of state militia to bear arms, no soldier shall be quartered In time of peace in a house without the consent of the owner, unreasonable search and seizure; no arrest except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, describing the place and the person or things to be seized capital offenses must be found by a grand jury indietment; 1o person shall for the same offense be twice put in jeopardy; compelied to testify against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; no private property taken for public use without just compensation; in criminal prosecu- tion the accused shall enjoy @ speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury, in the district whercin the crime is committed, to be informed of nature of the accusation, to be con- fronted by witnesses. to have compul- sory service for obtaining witnesses. and the assistance of counsel for his defense; the right of trial by jury where the sum exceeds $20; excessive ball shall not be required, nor exces- sive flnes composed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. “We should amend our statute laws to meet the requirements of a chang- ing and complex civilization,” Repre- sentative Hawes argues, but warns that “in making changes the funda- mentals of government and the bal- ance of power should be preserved.” 36 Disputes Settled by Labor Department Adjustments were reached in thirty- six of fifty-two labor disputes brought to the attention of the concillation division in January, the Labor De- partment announced yesterday in mak- ing public a report by Hugh L. Kerwin, director of concillation. Of the fifty- two disputes forty-four were strikes and elght were controversies which did not involve cessation of produc- tion. Adjustments were reported in three other cases in January, these being cases pending from December, and sixteen disputes were left on the docket of the conciliation division. The majority of the labor disputes listed were caused by attempted wage reductions averaging about 20 per cent in the granite industry. About 40,000 workers were affected by dis- putes arising during January, the largest number in any one strike belng G000 N York gari