Evening Star Newspaper, March 14, 1923, Page 1

WEATHER. nl{ and cfllflrar t:nlng wn:- freez- empera '8 OmMOrrow increas- {hE Clouainess, followed by rain or Temperature for twenty-four 3°p.m. today. Highest, Lowest, ing cloudine: snow. hours ended 4 3 p.m. yesterday. Closing [ No. 28,807. _— RUHR REPRISALS LEADING TO CRISIS, BRITISH BELIEVE Convinced England Will Be Forced to Take Hand De- spite Past Neutrality. SITUATION ENTERS UPON NEW PHASE 16,000 Miners in Recklinghausen District Strike—French Use Hostages to Check Sabotage. BY HAL OFLAHERTY. irele to The Star and Chicago Daily B N!l' ews. Copyright, 1923, LONDON, March 14—Reports of further reprisals by the French in the Ruhr district have aroused un- usual anxiety in government circles today, further emphasizing the be- ltof expressed in the house of com- mons Tuesday that another European crisis is looming larger, in which Great Britain will be forced to take a part, regardless of the previous policy of -neutrality. The very word “reprisals’ sounds ominously in British ears because of the dire results cxperienced In a campaign of reprisals In Iretand not long ago. They know that retalia- tion by the French will lead to aim- lar action by the Germans and the violence of the worst sort on every hand, The situation in the Ruhr district has entered upon a new phase in the last twenty-four hours. Germarn stub- bornness, having been definitely set against the French war of attrition, neither French nor Germans can draw back now and Great Britain can Intervene only to guard the peace of_ Europe. British opinion, as expressed in the house of commons and in wspapers, is that the country must down the main lines of its policy in the new phase of the Ruhr situation. The government's stand is consid- ered extremely weak, especially in ~iew of ‘the latest reports of- the grave difficulties confronting the French in the policy of reprisals. 16,000 MINERS STRIKE. . s German Hoftages Placed on Trains Operated by French. By the Aseociated Press. - ESSEN, March 14.—Sixteen thou- sand coal miners of the thyes KOV- ernment mines In the Recklinghausen aistriet of the Ruhr are on sgrike in Drotest againat the occupation of the state coke plant near Westerhold, according to German estimates today. The plant was seized yesterday by a arty of engineers escorted by a Pattaion of French infantry. T French authorities express bellef that the strike will last only a few days. German hostages today for the first time were placed on the lacomotives of trains operated by the French and Belglans. This move was the ou come of repeated sabotage operations. The hostages so employed were in most cases burgomasters or other munfcipal officlals of the various dis- tricts. ~Relays of them will ride on all_trains both day and night. The most serious case of sabotage reported today was the destruction overnight of a section of rallroad track near the'town of Steele, east of Essen. WILL STRENGTHEN FORCES, French War Minister Retains Class of 1921 as Relief Army. By the Associated Press. PARIS, March 14.—"“There will be no extension of the occupation, but the effectives will be reinforced,” said the ‘war minister, M. Maginot, on his re- turn from the Ruhr today. “If T have retained the class of 1921 until the end of May,” he continued, | 1 “it wan not to keep it in France. Fif- teen thousand men of that class will be sent to the Rhine army; that operation will enable us to relleve the troo who have been engaged in a very irk- some business and give them a rest.” . “The German government's aim 1s 0 induce the.French and Belglans to negotiate before they have obtained anything from the Ruhr,” says the Temps in an editorial today. “The primary condition to be ful- filled, 1f a real solution of the Ruhr conflict and the reparations problem is sought, {8 that no German proposal shall be listened to, first of all, before the German government annuls and withdraws _all orders, threats and promises which have aroused and maintained German resistance since January 11, or, secondly, before the organizations established” in the oc- cupled térritory by the allles are operating regularly, taking posses- sion of their quota of coal and coke, Working the railroads, _delivering licenses and collecting dues—in & word, doing what they are there for, with the collaboration of the authori. ties and inhabitants.” GERMANS ARE WARNED. By the Associated Press. RECKLINGHAUSEN, March 14— Plans for operating the government- (Continued on Page 2, Column 3.) N. Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 28 Entered as second-class post office Washington, Db & Week Regarded As Most Critical Of Ruhr Invasion BY GEORGE WITTE. By Cable to The Star and Chicago Dally News. Copyriy 1 BERLIN, March 14.—"“If the present deadlock in the Ruhr district lasts another week without coming to & head it is sure to last another &ix months." This was the opinion expressed In the reichstag when the question of the first serfous blood shed in the Ruhr struggle—that at Buer—came up for discussion. This week, the ninth of the Ruhr ! occupation, 1s regarded in Berlin by both the government officials and the socialists who oppose the Cuno cab- inet as the most critical since Essen was occupled. The reichstag was informed _that the excitement prevalling among the | masses in the Ruhr and especlally in i Buer and the adjoining mine centers | had reached the boiling point. The socialists also warned the Ger- man parliament that reactionary or- ganizations were planning to ‘start a guerrilla campaign in the Ruhr d's- trict_against the French “like that which harassed the British troops in Ireland so long and finally drove them away.” IRISH PLOT T0 KILL | | i iMurder of Premier, Lloyd Planned by Rebels. Planted in Homes as Servants to Spy on Intended Victims—Free State Executes Four. | | By the Ansoclated Press. LONDON. March 14—A sensational organization to murder British cabi- net ministers and commit other out- rages is printed today by the Daily Sketch: scheme with the activities of Irish- men recently arrested in Great Brit- ain. It says that the persons marked for assassination included Premier Bonar Law, David Lioyd George and Sir Hamar Greenwood. A large number of women in the organization, the Sketch asserts, ob- tained employment in the households of_the intended victims and thus be- caine able to supply an outside person with details of the men’'s movement: The conspirators’ plans, according to the newspaper, also provided for the creation of disturbances through the rougher elements in the larger cities. Four More Executed. Four men were executed today at Drumbo Castle, Stranorlaw, County Donegal, says a Central News dis- patch from Dublin. e Vewspapers of various shades o e po';)lnlon are expressing doubt and anxlety over last Sunday's Irish raids and the dangers to which other persons may be subjected by a similar proceedure. It is contended in these comments that under the restoration of order in Ireland act any one in England may be deported legally to Ireland { without opportunity of making a statement in his own defense and can be interned there indefinitely at the pleasure of the Irish government. May Push Question. The Daily Mail says that this point was admitted by a ‘“responsible ministerial authority,” who was inter- corpus act ‘does not apply to these cases under the special condition but that “the procedure was only under- | taken In consequence of the disturbed condition of Ireland and in view of proot of the imminent probability of an outbreak in Great Britain.” It seems probable that the habeas cor- us_issue may be ralsed in a prac- {’lc-l w before long and that the whole affair is likely to be forced further upon the attention of parlia- M feanwhile, it is_stated that the persons deported early this week are vilege accorded to prisoners ar- 3::!2‘! ‘ln Ireland, and that they are soon to be removed to an intern- ment camp. —_— TALK ON U. S. RHINE ARMY BILL POSTPONED AGAIN By the Associated Press. PARIS, March 14—The conference which Ellot Wadsworth, assistant secretary of the Treasury, was to have held today with financial repre- sentatives of Great Britain, France and Italy on the question of reim- bursing the United States for the cost of her army of occupation was postponed until Friday. Meanwhile Mr. Wadsworth hopes to recelve Sec- retary Hughes' reply to the allied proposal to pay the United States out of future German reparations. Poland Gets Vilna District Through Decision of Allies By the Associated Press. PARIS, March 14.—By decision of the allied” council of ambassadors, rendered today, . fixing finally the frontier between Poland and Russia, the Vilna district {s attached to Po- land. This decision comes as the culmina- tion of the long dispute between Po- land and Lithuania: with dramatic incidents, beginning with the raid on Vilna by the Polish general, ‘Zell- gouskl, in 1920. Bestdes Vilna, Poland gets eastern Galicla, which practically. satisfies all her remaining territorial aspirations that had not already been passed »pom, The situation with Lithuania was! much improved before today's de- cision by the council regarding Vilna. M. Galvanauskas, who has just re- signed the Lithuanian premlership, is on his way to Paris to sign the set- tlement giving Lithuania the port of Memel, on the Baltic, but it is anticl- pated the succeeding government at Kovno will raise objections to the attributing of Vilna to Poland. The declaration.made by M. Sikor- ki, the Polish premier, to the Polish diet yesterday to the effect that the frontiers established by the treaty of Riga, between Poland and Soviet Rus. sia, are inviolate and can be brought into question By no one, is taken as an assurance that the Polish govern- ment will be entirely satisfied with the council's Hecision, since this is entirely in line with the treaty of b - WASHINGTON, D. C,, MINISTERS IS SEEN George and Others Reported | WOMEN AID CONSPIRACY | story of a plot by an Irish republican | The newspaper connects the alleged | { viewed by the newspaper. This person | is quoted as saying that the habeas| allowed in Mount Joy prison the same | INSTITUTE TO STUDY TRANSPORTATION 1S READY TOFUNCTION Organization Will Be Launch- { ed Here and in Chicago { Prior to April 1. 1 |ALL PARTIES INTERESTED ARE TO BE CO-ORDINATED fPresident Harding and Other High | Officials Put Approval on Plan. | BY G. GOULD LINCOL The National Transportation Insti- |tute, to aid the American people in | the solution of their greatest problem, transportation—is to be launched for- mally, prior to April 1. The institute, wnich has the Indorse- ment of President Harding, of promi- nent members of the Senate and House, of members of the Interstate Commerce Commission, of farm or- ganizations and manufacturers, of transportation men and business men, Is to have its headquarters in the National Capital and in Chicago. It Is proposed to create an impartial jand Informative tribunal to consider from every aspect auestions relating to transportation. This tribunal will {make the results of its research work javailable to the public. Through an impartial board of fifteen leading 'men, headed by Edgar E. Clarke, for- | mer chairman of the Interstate Com merce Commission, and of which Rep- resentative Sydney Anderson of Min- nesota will be vice chairman, it will Dass upon these questions and make | recommendations. n Research Bureau. A great research bureau will be es- tablished, by which all the various | Questions entering into the problem of transportation in this country, and in the problem of transportation be- | tween this country and other coun- tries will be studied. The work of this research bureau | will be done under the impartial| board, of which Mr. Clarke is to be j chairman. The bureéau will be astab- ;1::::1":: Syashington, and the head- of the impart v e Ne partial board will Great stres: s s 1, - - aid upon the fact itute Is to be represent- ative of all industrlas and il elh‘e: people. It is not to be dominated | by any particular group: it s not to | be supported by funde derived from any one industry. All ere to have their share in this establishment. - Robinson Started Move. The idea of such an institute to | study the problems of transportation and seek their solution was broached first more than a year ago by Bird | i M. Robinson, president of the yAm:‘: ican Shortline Railroad Assoclation, In its report to Congress following | careful study of the needs of the farmers, the joint commission of agricultural inquiry included a re. ommendation that a national trani portation institute, along the lines advanced by Mr. Robinson, be set up. Representative Anderson, chairman |of the joint commission of agricul- | tural inquiry. took a keen interest XnFme matter. arm organizations have 1 their hearty approval. J. R. flZ&"aré’ president of the American Farm Bu. Teau Federation, is to be president of the new institute. Mr. Robinson is to be chairman of the executive com- mittee. Bolr’ of Forty-Four Members. The organization of the i will include, in addition to &l:ll‘::? partial board already mentioned, a {board consisting of forty-four mem- bers, representing ten great industries and ‘the people. ~Each of the indus- tries will have four members of this board, and four members will be selected at large. The industries so represented are: Agriculture, banking, forestry, in- surance, manufacturing, trade, min- (Continued on Page 2, Column 6.) REFUSES TO CANCEL 21-DEMANDS' PACT Japan Politely Declines to Consider China’s Proposal for Abrogation. By the Associated Press. China's latest move to abrogate the famous “Twenty-one Demands” treaty of 1915, hns led Japan to inform her that such n proposal s contrary to accepted international practices and will “fail to contri- ute to the advancement of friend- ship between our two eountrien.” In n note delivered to the Chinese charge at Tokio and made public at the Japanese embassy here, the Japanese foreign office, not only flatly rejected the pro- posal that .the treaty and fts kindred agreements be abrogated, but declared it could see “abso- lutely nothing” in them which fa “susceptible of further modifica- tion.” By the Assoclated Press. TOKIO, March 14.—Japan today re- jected China’s proposal to abrogate the Sino-Japanese treaty of 1915, which con- ltained the notea “twenty-one demands" and extended for fifty years the Japa- nese leases on Kwangtung peninsula, including Dalny and Port Arthur. PEKING RECEIVES REPLY.’ Japanese Courteously Decline to Entertain Proposal for Discussion. By the Associated Press. PEKING, March 14.—In reply to the Chinese note seeking abrogation of' the Sino-Japanese treaty of 1915, with its fulfillment of the “twenty-one demands." Japan has declined courteously to en- tertain a propossl to dlagusg the treatm | TOWELFARE BODES | ords, both humanitarian and financial. llarge cities as a m WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION THE OFFER NEW HOME Women Open Building at 11th and L to Charities and Tuberculosis Groups. Through a generous offer made by t:e Woman's Welfare Association, the Associated Charities and the Assocla- tion for the Prevention of Tuberculosis are about to fall heir to new quarters, the premises at the southwest corner of 11th and L streets northwest. In | the near future the three organiza- tions will be housed under the one roof. The board of managers of the Woman's Weifare Assoclation at a special meeting recently voted to Qeed its property to the other two ofganizations. Already, through Its directors, the Tuberculosis Associa- tion has voted to share in the gift, while the board -of managers of the Assoclated Charlties Is meeting this afternoon to take a similar vote, i Both these assoclations have long folt that their present quarters in the Soclal Service House, 923 H street northwest, were outgrown. The fire hazard at that location,’ which also houses headquarters of the summer outings committec and the Citizens' Relief Association, was demonstrated by a recent conflagration, and threat- ens the destruction of invaluable rec- | the accumulation of years of study and service. Must Assume Mortgage. The only conditions of gift are that the Associated Charities and Tuber- culosis Aesociation shall assume the present mortgage on the property of $12,000, and shall provide two rooms for the conduct of special clinics by the Woman's Welfare Assoclation free of charge. This association has done an important work in the past in conducting convalescent wards for working women, and classes of in- struction as well as specialized clinics. The assoclation, however, 1s said to have found that with the growth of industrial and welfare work in the department stores and government departments and with more ample provision for convalescent treatment at one or more of the Washington hospitals, there is not the same de- mands for its services in these flelds that there was some years ago and that to continue them unnecessarily and with the heavy overhead entailed by sole occupancy of such a large bullding would be unfair to its sup- porters. The association, however, will con- tinue to conduct clinics for working women in fields not thoroughly cov- ered at the present time, especlally hay fever, bronchial asthma and dis- eases of the thyroid gland. Property Worth $30,000. The property deeded by the Wom- an's Welfare Association is estimated to be worth $30,000, or, less the mort- gage, a gift equivalent to $18,000 out- right. The association will retain two rooms in tha building reserved for such purposes as it deems desirable. It will keep on with its study of the needs of the community, it is an- nounced, especially .lon(f the lines of, preventive medicine, and endeavor to fulfill_some urgent communal need. For the present it will continue to support its clinic of applied immun- ology, which was established last year for the treatment of hay fever and asthma and which has met with gratifying succes! The assoclation has appointed a special committee of six women, of which Mrs. 8. D. Boak {8 chairman, to continue the manage- ment of its affairs. Room for Enlarging. It s expected that the Assoclated Charities and the Tuberculosis Asso- ciation will make certain Improve. ments in the property, possibly be- fore taking possession. The main building has a frontage on L street of 25 feet and extends back on 11th street about 60 feet, while there is an additional lineal measurement of 40 feet on 11th street at present occu- pled’ by porches on the main hous and a one-story auditorium building. This 40 feet would be available later for the erection of a modern” fire- proof structure which would provide Spproximately 1,000 square feet on each floor. This space would be more than sufficient to provide for the n - :)ppur!\lntl(y f‘l;‘r other ial agencies to come toge &or one Toof. Thus, the site has po sibilities for a civic or community social service building such as has been found most helpful In other s of promoting o FORLORN DENBY PARTY VOYAGES THROUGH PANAMA CANAL Senators and Representatives Sail on Way to Witness U. S. Fleet Maneuvers. By the Assnciated Press. ABOARD U. S. 8. HENDERSON, PANAMA CANAL, March 14— tary Denby and the party of senators and representatives accompanying him sailed through the Panama canal this morning en route to Panama bay for review of the American battle fleet. At Gatun lock the party was aug- mented by a number of senators and representatives who had made the trip to Colon by passenger steamer. Gov. Morrow of the Canal! Zone and ranking Army and Navy officials also came aboard the Henderson, which later was to distribute her party to battleships to witness the tactical maneuvers of the fleet in the Pacific. REVISED TAXLAWS AY BE 1924 1SSUE President Committed to Ef- fort to Seek Cut in Charges on Incomes. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. FLAMINGO HOTEL, MIAMI BEACH, Fla. March 14.—At a time when the American people are making out their income tax returns for this year and paying the first quarterly installment there comes from the presidential en- tourage the hint that another effort to revise the tax laws of America downward is as inevitable as is the next presidential campaign itself. President Harding stands commit- ted to such a course of action. He is not satisfled with the present reve- nue laws and the only opportunity he will have before the 1924 campaign to suggest a program of change will be in the December session of Con- gress this year. Mr. Harding's last comment on the present revenue act was expressed in an address to both houses of Congress in which he said: Forecasts Recommendations. “It would suggest insincerity if I expressed complete accord with every expression recorded in your roll calls, but we are all agreed about the dif- ficulties and the inevitable divergence of opinion in seeking the reduction, amelforation and readjustment of the burdens of taxation. Later on, when other problems are solved, I shall make some recommendations about renewed consideration of our tax pro- gram.” Mr. Harding goes before the people next year. Shall he put the whole ques- tion of taxes up to the electorate and make it the issue of his campaign, formulating a program that can be de- bated ‘on the stump? The political strategy of the occasion would naturally De to revise the revenue laws and stand on a record of achievement, rather than of promise, especially because the re- publican administration will be on the defensive anyway and if a new tax pro- m can be put through in the session Seginning in December, 1923, and ad- Journing sometime in 1924, making the changes effective with the calendar year 1925, the orators will have something concrete to boast about. See Taxes as Issue. Men of the political sagacity of At- torney General Daugherty, who is Presi- (Continued on Page 18, Column 2.) i | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1923—FORTY-FOUR PAGES. FISHERMAN. LENNNEAR DEAT, FOLLOWING STROKE Russian Premier Has Been Suffering From Paralysis for Months. BY F. A. MACKENZIE. By Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily N Copyright, 1923 MOSCOW, March 14.—“Our unhappy country! This is the greatest blow of all This was the exclamation of a woman of the old aristocracy last night when the news came that Premier Lenin was gravely ill. The woman's husband had been shot by the reds in the revolutionary fight- ing, all her property had been lost and she had become impoverished, yet she | had come to. see Lenin as Russias's upreme figure. Her grief is only one indication of the emotion which will éweep over Russia when the news becomes generally known. Lenin has won an Immortal place not alone among his fellow commun- ists but In the affection of all Russia. It is now possible to tell in fuller detall than hitherto allowed the story of his illness. Upon his return to preside over the meeting of the peo- ple's commissars in October, after n illness following an operation for the extraction of a bullet, he plunged into work. The first night he toiled until dawn. Suffered Under Stral It soon became evident that he was uffering under a strain. When he made his great speech in November before the international communist congress his voice was thicker and he showed evidence of effort. Then came an announcement of his tem- porary illness. This developed seri- ously and he was confined in a suite of four rooms in the Kremlin, for- merly occupied by Prof. Savilev and Procureur Stal. His regular_doctor was A. Koj- neikov, with Prof. Kramar and the German professors, Foerster and Minowiski, as consultants. His old nursing sister, who had attended him during the summer, came back from the Shemashko Hospital. She, with his own two sisters, undertoek the task of nursing, his sister Mary di- viding her time between caring fox her brother and assisting to edit the newspaper Pravada. Partial paralysis of Lenin's right leg and arm followed and he was able to move about only with a spe- cially made crutch. His doctors or- dered absolute rest, forbade the read- Ing of newspapers and excluded all his colleagues, but permitted the oc- casional presence of a_secretary. His mind during these last weeks has been concentrated upon stamp- ing out corruption and inefficiency, upon completely winning the confi- dence of the peasantry and upon the reconstruction of- industry. Doctors Forbidden to Talk. Occasional spurts Indicated possibility of his growing better. His colleagues were so encouraged by the reports three weeks ago that they confidently announced he would attend and speak at the forthcoming congress of the Russian communist party. The Kremlin doctors were all pledged not to discuss his case even with their own familles. A fortnight ago his condition became more grave d the communist congress was postponed for three weeks. The news that Lenin's iliness had taken a serlous turn was made pub- lic by M. Lunscharsky, commissar of education, at an anniversary gather- ing in the Zimin Theater, Moscow, to observe the sixth year, after the over- throw of czardom. ILLNESS IS APOPLETIC. the By the Associated Press. MOSCOW, March 14.—The condition of Premier Lenin, who is suffering from a serlous iliness, indicated by the officipl bulletins to be of an apo- plectic nature, was unchanged, it was stated in, the communique issued at 8 o'clock this afternoon.” When the Day is Over —out comes the 5:30 Edition of The Evening Star— with the last word concerning the world’s doings —local, national and foreign. . Always told accu- rately. Features are made of late financial news, Sports finals and tomorrow’s Court calendar. For sale by newsboys and newsdealers throughout the city ¢ Foening Star | | cit; delivered to “From-Press to Home Within the Hour” . The Star’s carrier system covers every block and the vegular edition is Washington homes as fast as the papers are printed. Yesterday’s Circulation, 95,468 Public Utilities Body Will Drop Control of Coal The Public Utilitles Commission tomorrow will drop control of the local coal situation, it was stated at the District buflding today. Commissioners Rudolph and Oyster, it was learned, already have signed the order bringing fuel regulation to an end, and it will be made public by Walter C. Allen, secretary to the commis- sion, tomorrow. This means that consumers no longer will be restricted to 60 per cent of their normal requirements of hard coal. For nearly two months the commission has con- fined {its regulations to anthra- cite, believing that the soft coal n:lunnon did not require regula- tion. GRAMER ENDS LIFE WITH PISTOL SHOT Ex-Counsel of Veterans’ Bu- reau Found Dead in Bath- room of Home. WIFE' HAD LEFT CITY Newspaper Clipping on Desk Told of Approaching Probe of Bureau. Charles F. Cramer, forty-five years old, who resigned as general counsel of the Veterans' Bureau last Thurs- day, was found dead in the bathroom of his residence, 2314 Wyoming ave- nué, the former home of President Harding, shortly after § o'clock this morning. A .45-caliber revolver lay beside the body. A bullet wound in the right temple caused death. Coroner Nevitt viewed the body and gave permission to have undertakers take charge. He announced he would issue a certificate of death by suicide later today. Wife Had Left City. At midnight last night, Mr. Cramer accompanied his wife to the Union station and placed her on a train for New York. She was to return late today. He went home, and shortly after his arrival retired to his room. | He seated himself at a writing desk, where he was last seen alive by the colored mald employed by the fam- ily. She said today he asked her for two stamps. These stamps were found on the writing table. No let- ters to which they were to be at- tached were located. A book of Oscar Wildé's poems was jon the writing desk, with many other books. In it was found by Capt. Lord of the tenth precinct, in charge of the house during the emergency, a clipping from a local newspaper tell- ing of an investigation of the opera- tions of the Veterans' Bureau, and predicting that such an investigation probably would be undertaken by a joint committee of the House and Senate or a special committee of the Senate following the adjournment of Congress. The article pointed out that repre- sentations were being made that this inquiry should be conducted in justice to former officlals of the bureau and others. The‘article also contained an account of the tendering of tne resignations of Col. Sam Alexander, recently appointed successor of Com. mander C. R. O'Leary as director of supplies. which was not accepted by Acting Director Ijams. Only two servants are in the house —a chauffeur and the maid. The body of Mr. Cramer was clad only in light underwear. He was stretched full length on his back in the bathroom. The bathroom window was open. Police Find Body. The discovery was made following | the attempt of the chauffeur to find Mr. Cramer this morning. He found the bathroom door locked about 8 o'clock and notified the police. Sergt. McDonald of the tenth precinct ar- rived with a duplicate key set and opened the bathroom door and found | the body on the floor. The chauffeur remembered later that early today he heard what might have been a re- volver shot, but what he thought at the time to be the slamming of a door. He paid it no further attention. The home is the beautiful residence which was sold by the President and Mrs, Harding to Mr. Cramer shortly after Mr. Harding’s election to the presidency. Cramer Is reputed to have been wealthy. Mrs. Cramer was described as _being considerably younger than her husband and at- tractive. That the couple had lived In the greatest domestic harmony and that Mr. Cramer's health had not been impaired recently was learned from the mald at the house, The cause for the suicide is not suspected, accord- ing to the police. Mr. Cramer became general counsel of the Veterans' Bureau on June 20, 1921, His tenure of office expired on March 8 of this year. He was a member of the New York (Continued on Page 2, Column 4.) TWO CENTS. 1[]“] CLERK RATINGS NOT TO BIND BOARD | INRECLASSIFYING Present Conditions, Rather Than Efficiency Bureau Report, to Count. CANVASS OF WHOLE SITUATION IS PLANNED Fairness Toward All Employed in Federal Service to Be Aim of Members. The personnel classification board will not be strictly bound by the bu- reau of efficiency ratings established under executive order of October 24, 1921, but will proceed with its work of reclassifying the thousands of gov- ernment employes, both in the District and field, with a view to the present situation. The board is entering upon its la- bors with this open-minded attitude, it was learned today, not only because the members of the board feel that the whole situation should be can- vassed, in order to establish ratings of fairness throughout the whole gov- ernment service according to the pres- ent dutles being performed, but be- cause authority is specifically given in the act for such latitude. Y Uniform Procedure Provided. Attention was cal language of the act pertataing o Lo L:;.:‘xn :}‘llnsuglflcalioyj‘ with emphasis nc:;hle."e{'?n:a;i't u?ysr:e“ly s “In performi the "board shall fofiow. oo moLies practicable the classification made pursuant to the executiv October 24, 1921.” S ontenar It was further pointed out that th law provides that uniform procedure shall be provided by the board. It is provided “that after consultation with the board, and in accordance with a uniform procedure prescribed by it the head of each department shall al- locate all positions in his department in the District of Columblia to their appropriate grades, ete.” Some Ratings Obsolete. These provisions, after searching study by the board, have been Inter- preted as meaning that the classifica- tion made in 1921, may or may not be accepted, that the board has broad Powers In accepting or rejecting the bureau of efficiency ratings, and that the entire service should bs reviewed to see if the old ratings are still fair, and just. Members of the Board, it was iearned are unanimous in taking this attitude toward the problem, hether the board would accept in itoto the 1921 ratings has been the |subject of much conjecture among the government employes, and some cor- respondence has been addressed 1o ;:e b(;;rd poitriltln‘ out that much of e older ratings are nbs’l?éete, 8! perhaps now “There is undoubtedly consi dissatisfaction,” wl'l:tley one dg;‘rs‘“. spondent, “among the employes with the classification and efficlency rat- ings recently established under the executive order of October 24, 1921, and considerable revision thereof will necessarily have to be made to square ;?en; ewl(u;)];h: dgrhldes and classifica- on stablishe Yy the classi act of March 3, 1923. Sigeaton Personnel Reduced. “Since the Brown classification and allocation of personnel was made, the \personnel in many of the bureaus, {particularly the War and Navy, has been considerably reduced in num- bers and those retalned have taken on additional duties and responsibil- ities and in many cases suffered a reduction in salary through reduced appropriations. Others have achieved through examination and promotion a change in their civil service status from clerical to technical, and vice versa. The Brown classification and allocation is out of date and obsolete in_this respect.” The board is meeting daily at the Treasury to survey its general prob- lem, and determine what amount of attention may be given in the brief time available to the various details involved. Since the act provides that the new classification be included In | the budget report to Congress in December and the estimates from de- partmental chiefs are due at the bureau of the budget on September 15, it is obvious that the personnel board has a huge task confronting it to reclassify the entire civilian per-' sonnel in sufficlent time previous to September 16 for the new system to be worked into the departmental es- timates. Daily Meetings Held. Temporary quarters for the board have been established on the first floor of the Treasury, where the daily meetings are now being held, but a larger suite of rooms, adjacent to the bureau of the budget, on the third floor of the same building, is being vacated and will be fitted up for early cempancy 've commodious rooms will be pro- vided for the board and its personnel, which will be gathered from the b reau of the budget, the Civil Service Commission and the bureau of ef- ficienc; | | | | Washington Statue Down; W eather The bronze statue of George Wash- ington, In Washington Circle, at New Hampshire and Pennsylvania ave- nues, is being taken from its granite pedestal today to be shipped to Brooklyn, N. Y., where a hundred or more holes, caused by the elements, will be plugged, and where it will be otherwise put in first-class condition and appearance. Most of these holes in the bronze are small—not much larger than the head of a match, while many of them are as large as the average thumb rail. The office of public buildings and grounds had become fearful that the massive head of the first Presi- dent's mount might fall from its po- sition inasmuch as many of the holes had developed about the neck of the horse. Col. C. O. Sherrill, officer in charge th blic buildin and grounds {1 0Saay™ Seia “uins shia e the. Cuts 100 Holes statue in Washington to show such effects from clements and that it also is the first statue to be taken down bodily and sent out of the city for repair work. The repair work con- tract calls for the return of the statue to its original position by June 15. The statue will be crated and shipped in a frelght car. In “the opinion of officlaly of the public buildings and grounds office, this statue is looked upon as one of tho handsomest equestrian statues in the National Capital. It Is the work of Clark Mills who also was the sculptor of the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in_ Lafayette park |and it was cast in Paris, France. The statue was erected under an act of Congress of 1853, which car- ried with it an appropriation of $5 000 and was unveiled in the presence of - President Buchannan, February 22, 1860. The occasion was a gala one. Besides the chief executive, there was present members of Con- gress and the Supreme Court and. many prominent citizens of the eity, and some from every state in theg | first| Union.