Evening Star Newspaper, April 22, 1923, Page 43

OFFER BY GERMANY BELIEVED AT HAND England Brings Pressure to Bear Upon Berlin—France’s Near East Policy Breaks BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN. OTH France and Germany con- tinue to cling to their original | theses in regard to the Ruhr. Premier Poincare firmly de- ‘mands cash and guarantees against future Germanic aggression. Foreign Minister von Rosenberg injects a new element into the fight demanding that France give guarantees against mili- taristic incursion by France against Germany and insists on definite aban- donment of France's demand that the allies remain in the occupied zones .umtil Germany has paid. There has heen much siouting from the house- tops in both Berlin and in Paris. But as a matter of fact. Washington has velleve that such for lome every forensical consumption. reason fireworks are udest and longest < is an old axiom Veled diplomatic path ries and there is ever. that though Pre- mier Poincare and Foreign Minister Yon Rosenberg today are mearer agreement than at any time since the French decided to bundle up their soldiers and set them down on the east hank of the Rhine. there to stay until reparations paid. Think Deadlock May 5 Washington has excellent for believins that the present so-call- ed deadlock is not really a deadlock at all, that within the immediate fu- ture there will d in nego- tlations looking toward abandonment of present enunciated principles of “defiance until the end.” Notwith- standing the firm espousal of “pres- rure” and ‘resistance.’ respectivel made by the French and the Germans, there are forces at work which in the end will bring the two contending forces to a state of veasor 5 One of the chiefest of these is Eng- land Premier Bonar advices which have inaton. has emphatically told the French that he is with them only en one ground, and that—Germany should pay. The methods used are <till as much disliked by the English 4x ever. notwithstanding the appar- ent attempt of French officialdom to ¢heer folks at Ly stating there has been & marked reversal of sen- timent in nentral count and par- ticularly in Enzland and America “le that s 18 the most that has tr: ways for cent reason to he reason be ush according to Wash- Law. reached | Appeal Made to Berlin. iry ¥rench that nit wi the T selves in any fashion to the present the British foreign office informed the Germans futile for the their present fusing to deal with the the Berlin govern- | formed that the real present situation and Cuno _to put vocket, tell their | to notify Qua vmany s ready tol ne 1 \lish cann them- adventur Nkewise that it Germans policy of v French ment lias b way out for von their pri A Orsay that ) has absolutely continue is to is the bers their and ned that neithe nd will imoy tuhr deadl have i e cn_enough good | faith to appr ‘h the French and the Belgians., If ny makes such an offer then 1 he within the | provinee of o countries to ap-| proach France i Tn fact. it is known that England 18 read the greatest pres- mure upon the Quai Orsay to heed Germany's coming offer. particularly in it withi the realms of | possible acceptance. No half-hearted, | half-baked tende however, will e considered by the French and cer- | teind will elicit no support from the 1 i Prem Poinea already feeling | the exactions placed upon French ¥ by the Ruhr deadlock is anx- | that Germany make some sincere | Any offer made for the pur-| of jockeyi il reveal its} ter upon face. and, there- | will be eptable But <hould Reriin France that| Germany will ‘e an obligation approximating 0.600,000,000 gold : France to obtain the cost of | rebuilding her devastated regions. ap- /| nroximately 26.000.000.000 gold mark it is thought that Poiincare cannot ve- | fuse to enter into negotiations. It is| declared the allied experts who have heen working en the matter during t weelk in Paris have voiced the| lief that 50,000.000,000 is about K”I than can be expected of German) 1 will » certain adequat o case is mand Guarantees. that Eua Poincare will | tees against | gt Middle Ground Held Perilous Position for President Harding m_First Page.) 1 oft those mistakes of strategy which are fatal Without meaning to imply anything about the merits of their various pro- | posals, it can be said thit the radical | Eroup the lower House and the Sepate have not achieved an amount | concrete fulfillment anywhere in. proportion to the considerable quan- tity and somewhat disturbing quality | oft their occasional pronouncements. When you examine the record you find that their predicting and pro- claiming are rather out of proportion to their actual accomplishment. For example, one of the things very broadly proclaimed somewhat less than a year ago was that there would he an extension of the direct primary system—indeed. that the presidential primary was going to be made uni- versal and that party conventions would dlsappear entirely. Senator Hiram Johnson of California and Senator La Follette of Wisconsin, as! Well as some others. declared they would put through Congress a law for a ion-wide presidential pri- ry by federal statute. This has| not happened and will not happen. When they came to the point of actually looking the situation in the face they were so quickly convinced of its impossibility that they did not even make the effort. Ancther prediction was .that even without adopting a federal presiden- Tial primary the direct primary would Le extended to such a degree as prac- {ically to cover the entire country by action on the part of the forty-three itate legislatures which met this Tear. Most of those state legislatures iiave now adjourned. And if any one of them adopted the direct primary he present writer is not familiar with the fact. In some states the at- 1empt was made, but abandoned. In <ome other states where the direct Wrimary already exists, like Maine, New Hampshire and Indiana, there \Lere efforts actually to abandon the frect primary. The efforts were not in all cases successful, but they gave evidence of an amount of dissatistac- tion twith the direct primary fully cqual to the disposition to extend it. \x it stood January 1. before the \varivus state legislatures met, the of jtories and_conflict with British pres- yhowever, t ! which | east, ! would | cutstanding jor Down. future German quibbling and will in- sist that the French and the Belgians remain in the Rhineland and the Ruhr, measuring their withdrawal with' German payments. Should. however, the Germans permit French participation in her industries, should they sign treaties providing for arbi- traton of all points of difference be- tween the two countries and give other adequate signs of good faith, there is a possibility that Poincare might yield slightly on the evacu- ation principle, England regards the next step as plainly one to be taken by the Ger- mans, and if Washington advices are correct every pressure is being brought to bear upon Berlin to bring about the desired end. It is argued that nothing can be achieved, save ruin, in continued re- stance. Something always comes out of clear-cut proposals from either of any contending partles, and it is believed that 2 German ‘ofter soon Il be the result of pr Il b present British But, unless there he unforeseen de- velopments, the Ruhr question, dur- ing the next week at least, must be relegated for another, equaily as im- portant—makin ea v Eoean & Dpeace with the Lausanne Conference. The Lausanne conference will as- semble tomorrow or Tuesday, and its sessions promise to be hectic and pro- longed. The Turks are entering the parley with the cream of the near east skimmed off in concessions granted by the Angora assembly to the American syndicate headed by Admiral Chester. Though the Brit- ish have declared they will make no effort to upset the concessions save as they effect British mandated terri tige, the French are going to Lau- sanne with determined effort to either break down the Chester concession or force participation in it Much as one may respect the French for their determination to impress the French viewpoint and their politi- cal and cconomic purposes upon the world, nevertheless diplomats and others are having a cret chuckle over the dilemna in which the French foreign office finds itself. France to- day is loudly protesting against the Turkish grant to Chester on the ground that it conflicts with French concessions obtained from the Sul- tan’s government. but abrogated by the new one. British point to the fact, ( this attiude is confes- sion of a breakdown of the whole French near eastern policy. Dickering in Near East. the treaty of Se the French obtained a mandate, they. and unknown to| the British and in the face of ex-| pressed determination of the foreign officers of both countries to work in tull and open co-operation in the near initiated several agreements with the Turks looking toward ex- ploitation of sections of Turkey by the French. The British also charge that, even when war loomed in re- cent’ months, Franklin-Bouillon was sent to Turkey a though ostensi- 1y there to treat with the Turks on behal? of all the allies, he sought to embrace in his negotiations eco- nomic agreements of direct interest ! to the French and against the best interests of the British. At one time, after the gning of the treaty of Sevres and even when war clouds loomed blackest in the near east, the French espoused the cause of the Turk and it was only after the strongest of representations on the part of Great Britain that the French finally “were forced to join openly the allied front agzainst the Turks In the language of diplomatic ob- servers. “the Turks used the French up until the time they were no longer useful and then cast- them swer. If the French could have gained the Chester concessions all have been weil and France ! would have stood against the world, possibly even broken with England: | Lut, now that her near eastern pol- | icy has been nulled by determination of the Turks to run th own af- fairs and strike at those demanding capitulations, the French are left only with a feeble protest Unquestionably signatories to the treaty of Sevres will bring the great- st pressure to bear upon the Turks to modify their position on the ques- | tion of capitulations, the only really issue that was not set- tled in the first Lausanne conference, Lut there is little likelihood that the Turks will give in unless absolutely forced to do so. Tllustration of the temper of the Turks at the present juncture is best found in _increased mobilization of Turkish forces along the frontlers | mandated territories in the old and increased military along the straits and Darda- | Atfter Turker strengt relles! 1 number of delegates covered by those states which have direct primaries was 465 out of 984, roughly, which compose the republican convention. Four hundred and sixty-five is a little ! less than half. The present writer is| not sufficiently familiar with what was done by all the state legislatures to speak with confidence, but is strongly under the impression that! this number (485) has not been ln-l creased. ok ok * When Senator Pepper of Pennsyl- vania publicly proposed that the league of nations should reorganize itself by eliminating those features of it which are objectionable to some Americans, it was because of Senator Pepper's standing and his identifica- tion with the old irreconcilable group, an event of the highest importance. The reaction of many persons was ex- pressed in the question. “Why doesn’t Hughes say that formally to the league?” The obvious dlfference be- tween Secretary Hughes and Senator Pepper is that the former is in an official, responsible position and the latter is not. Anything Secretary Hughes says to the league calls for a formal reply. Senator Pepper Is able to throw his suggestion into the air. Doubtless there are good reasons why Secretary Hughes should refrain from making this suggestion offi- clally. And vet many persons in Washington think that both Hughes ! and Harding are unnecessarily timid, ! unnecessarily hesitant about initia- tive in the matter of forelgn rela. tions. If they are so there is good reason for it. They remember that it was a President of the United States who first proposed the league of na- tions; that thereafter it was the re- fusal of the Senate of the United ! States to stand by its President's proposal that caused most of the com- motion that now afflicts the world, Unquestionably both Harding and Hughes have had In the front of their minds as one of the first principles of their code of conduct that the United States shall not again put itself in the position of its President promising something and its Senate refusing to ratify. They will make no proposal to the league of nations without first being sure that the Sen- ate will back them up. President Harding once said: “This administra- 3 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D C., APRIL 22, 1923—PART 2. The Story the Week Has Told ,BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief summary of the most ¥mportant news of the world for the seven days ended April 20: United States of America.—After a confer- ence between the President and the Shipping Board the other day, a statement was issued with the President's authorization of which the following is the more important part: “With the fallure of the subsidy bill, the board is confronted with its vast possession of ships and the heavy losses under the exist- ing plan of operations under managing agents, “In compliance with the shipping act, the board will proceed at once to the consolida- tion of foreign trade lines and then offer the sale of these lines and ships under the author- izutfon of the law, conditioned on suitable ranty of maintained service. 'If such sales cannot be made without u justifiable sacrifice of the ships, then the gov- ernment will proceed to direct government operation aggressively pursued. - In short. there is unanimous agreement that the exist- ing law contemplates and authorizes an adequate and maintained American merchant marine, and such a course will be followed as will fully guarantee it and contemplate its_larger development.” The “existing law” referred to is the Jon act. The Shipping Board has at its disposa) for the present fiscal year an appropriation of $50,000,000. Quite naturally the statement quoted hi's aroused a great deul of discussion and speculation, both at home and in Great Britain, The United States and Japanese governments have, by exchange of notes, canceled the Lansing-Ishii agreement of 1917 On April 17 Lieuts. Macready and Kelley of the Army established a new airplane record for sustained fiight. In the Fokker monoplane T-2, they remained in the air thirty-six hours, five minutes and twenty seconds. Nine other aviation records were broken the same day at the Wil,ur Wright Fleld. Gen. Mitchell. assistant chief of the United States Alr Service, has announced that “pro- viding the ship is ready, Lieuts. Kelley and Macready will start their non-stop transcon- tinental filzht from New York to San Francisco within a month. n May of 1924, sald the general, “we plan to send six alrplanes, of a 13 pe not yet determined, upon a crulse around the world.” The Thomas Jefferson has been incorpurated. It proposes to raise u fund of $1.000,600 for the purchase of Monticello und its preservation as a national memorial. The Rt. Rev. Memorial Foundation Daniel Svlvester Tuttle, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Missouri and for many st the presiding bishop of the iscopal Church, died April 17 at the age of elghty-six. * Ok ok K he Britixh Empire.—Stanley Baldwin's bud- set for the coming British fiscat year proposes P of the income tax from five shillings and Sixpence in the pound: cutting the corporation profits tax in two; taking penny per pint from the price of beer; and reliefs of which the most relate, I understand. to agriculture. These changes supposed, he estimates the revenue for the next fiscal yvear at $18,500.000 pounds and ex- penditure at $16,616,000 pounds. Mr. Baldwin favors a tax on betting, and will move for a committee of the commons to consider and rveport upon the advisability of a betting tax. Noting that the financlal year just ended “got steadily better as it proceeded.” Mr. Baldwin struck a wildly optimistic note. With the capture of Austin Stack, on the 14th, and of Dan Breen, on the 17th, there are very few important Itish “irregulars” left who are not in captivity. There was found on Austin Stack's person a document which clearly proves that the rebellion, in military view at least, is on its very last legs. * Ok ¥ ok There were a number of acts of reduction a some other Germa tion will make no promises it does not intend to keep and no threats it does not intend to carry out”” It may be that the vividness of their unhappy | memory of what happened to Presi- dent Wilson's promise and what flow- ed from our Senate’s fallure to back him up makes Harding and Hughes even more cautious than they need to be. Some one sald the other day that they are “suffering from shell shock incurred in the war over the league of natfons.” * * % x sabotage in the occupled territory during the week, but without important results. An at- tempt was made with bombs to wreck a train on which the French minister of public works was supposed to be, but was not traveling. The damage was trifiing. Near Alx-la- Chapelle, a section of track was torn up, but @ sentry, making the discovery just in time, held up a train on which the Belgian minister of defense was traveling only a few vards short of the gap. An unsuccessful attempt was made on the life of Gen. Payot, French supervisor of transport. The importance of the affair at Muelheim seems to have been much exaggerated in the earlier reports. The following is probably a sufficiently accurate outline of what occurred: On the 18th a mob, consisting, it would appear, entirely or mostly of communists—at any rate led by communists—demonstrated in front of the city hall, clamoring for in- crease of ‘doles. The demand being refused. they hurled stones at the windows; apparently ~—though this is not clear—the city authorities anticipating trouble, had procured the serv- ices of security police from Duisburg or else- where—the security police of Muelhelm having long ago been disbanded; at any rate, fire from city hall and laid slege to that building, which the mob, who fled. The next day a larger mob numbering up- ward of 2,000 assembled, procured some Afe: arms of sorts—mostly shotguns—probably by looting stores, barricaded the approaches to the city hall and laid siege to that building, which contained some 300 municipal employes and & detachment of security police armed with riffes (these latter may have been brought in the provious night), before the siege was estal- lished, there was fighting between police and the mob in which several persons were killed and upward of forty wounded. A delegation of the rioters waited on the burgomaster and demanded Increase of doles. The burgomaster replied that that was a matter for Berlin to decide. The besieged expected an attack that night, and, indeed, a night attack pushed with desperate resolution might have succeeded. But there was no attack. The next dav the whole affair fizzled out rather absurdly. The security police und others of the basieged possessing firearms sallied forth, broke through the barricades, dispersed the beslegers and captured a number of their leaders. The total number of dead in consequence of the eplsode is reported to be ten, of wounded not less than seventy. Apparently there was but a handful of French soldiers in Muelheim: at any rate, the occup - ing authorities refrained from intervention, no doubt wisely. The occupying authorities have seized sev- eral more coke plants. They are now in possession of enough coal and coke to supply the essential requirements of French and Belgian industry for three months. They have sued an order forbidding transport of fuef within the occupied regions without formal permit from themselves. Of course, they do not propose to deprive public services of ary fuel, but the order might conceiv- be enforced in such a way as to cripple industries more seriously in the occupied terri- tory than in unoccupied Germany, the opposite condition having obtained hitherto. On the 15th, at Dunkirk, Poincare made a notable speech in which he agaln asserted that France and Belgium would not for mere promises relinquish the guarantees wseized; that they would “quit area only as they were paid what them." The speech of the German foreign mini von Rosenberg. in the reichstag on the 16tl was a reply of sorts to Poincare’s Dunkirk speech. © seems to me hardly deserving of mnotice except as propaganda for foreign consumptio if. ds Some are pleased to consider it shiould he regarded as an overture toward negotiation. as, indeed, an offer from the Cuno government. it is proper to observe that it has the fatal defect of all previous offers- namely, lack of definiteness, and that it is vitiated by the usual nauseating pretense of German righteousness and accusation of French imperialism. The passive resistance policy of the Cuno government received a terrible jolt on the TSth when the mark tobogganed on the Ger- man bourse from about ,000 to the dollar, where by ingenious manipulation it had been lept for many weeks, to about 33,000 to the dollar. What now? At the least one must expect, unless the Relchsbank comes promptls to the rescue with its metal resources, a new set of dislocations, likely to be calamitous. British to Have Clever Envoy at Lausanne . Sir Horace relates in his “Reminis- cences of a Diplomatist™ that the dis- torting of this story and the trans- formation of the ticket collector into|jivered to them 117,000 new frelght one of the chamberlains of the court|cars and 2,106 new locomotives. BY FRERERICK CUNLIFFE-OWEN, C. B. E. The matter {s obscure and not a little di gusting; but apparently it has been decided to drag the mark back to the point whence it tobogganed. One hears that 2,500 military airplanes are being manufactured by Germans in Russia. ostensibly for the red army; really, our in- formant asserts, for Germany, * %k Kk X The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats Slovenes.—The Pashitch cabinet of the King- dom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes has resigned. The resignation, however, {s re- garded as a mere strategical detail. It is ex- pected that Pashitch, that old campaigner, will form a new coalition cabinet to include mid- dle-of-the-road democrats, representing 2 parliamentary bloc committed to tho unitary principle, agalnst which Raditch, the champion of the federal principle, and his strong bloc will dash themselves in vain. There is a good deal of talk, by no means to be pushed away, despite the late unpleasant- ness, of some sort of federal union on the basis of Siav kinship between the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the kingdom of Bulgaria. To be sure, the anthropologists are unable to determine whether the Urgo-Finnish or the Slay strain {s predominant in the Bul- gar, but if the Bulgar chooses to consider himself a Slav, a Slav he will be for practical purposes. Bulgaria and her western neighbor joined in_ a strongly compacted union would be a power to be reckoned with. * * ok Turkey.—James W. Gerard, acting on behalf of the American Committee for the Independ- ence of Armenia, has sent a letter to Secre- tary Hughes protesting against certain of the Chester concessions which grant the right (or are so alleged) to construct raflways and to exploit the oil and mineral rights within twenty kilometers on either side of such rail- ways in the Anatolian vilayets of Erzerum, Van and Bitlis; which vilayets, if there were any justice in the world, would now constitute an Armenian republic. Mr. Gerard objects to our “cashing in” on the misfortunes of the Armenians. He points out that some author- ities declare the oil deposits in these vilavels to be greater than those in Mosul. It is reported (but there seems to be some doubt_about the authenticity of the report) that the French government has made repre- sentations to our government to the eifect that France will not recognize the Chester con- cessions where they conflict with prior conces- sions to France and her nationals, and re- questing our government not to support such of the Chester concessions as do so conflict. and that our government has notified Paris that it will make due reply when it is in re- ceipt of the requisite authentic information concerning the whole matter. The Russian soviet government has not been invited to_participate in the renewed negoti- ations at Laussane. One hears that our gov- ernment will have only one representative at those negotiations; namely, Mr. Grew. our minister to Switzerland. EE Miscellaneous,—The league council has ap- pointed a former governor of Batavia as financial adviser to Albania. The report has got abroad that Albanla is rich in oil and Albania’s adviser is expected to protect her against would-be concessionaires. One hearx with pleasure that Albania is getting on nicely, that her young premier is establishing peace among the mountain tribes, wiping out prac- tico of the vendetta and actually collecting taxes. On_ April Kamenev told the communist congress, in session at Moscow, that Lenin was out of danger and might be expected to return to work ere long. One wonders whether Kamenev was talking truth or lving like a statesman. for other reports. which have a look of authenticity, declare Lenin to be still within the shadow of death. The commencement of the trial.of Patriarch Tikhon, scheduled for April 17, was postponed 10 April 24 * !sulted him. The Dutch minister of Sir {2,113 locomotive: Horace for the rudeness of the man, who would have been dismissed from!construction befors at th the service but for the envoy's inter- foreign _affairs apologized to vention in his behalf. * * * |PLANS OF THE RAILROADS TO MEET TRAFFIC NEEDS Despite Heavy Handicaps They Will Be Generally Able New Prospe BY WILL P. KENNEDY. HE rallroads of the United States are expecting the big- gest freight traffic this vear that they have ever had and because during recent years there has been an annual shortage of rail- road transportation facilities, espe- clally about the crop-marketing period, the farmers, manufacturers and government officlals are now ex- pressing deep concern regarding the prospective lack of adequate car service. There is less need for worry than is generally supposed, a very careful survey of the situation indicating that the rallroads while facing un- precedented demands will be in better shape to handle this business than at any time in the last six years. Peaks Shown by Chart. A chart prepared by the car-service division of the American Railway As- soclation forecasts that the peak of business in May will be on the 26th, reaching 943,000 cars of revenue freight loaded that week: the peak in June on the 23d with 980,000 cars loaded: the peak in July on the 28th with more than a million cars: in August on the 4th with 1,010,000; in September on the 22d with more than 1,060,000; in October the greatest peak for the entire vear is expected on the 20th with 1,082,000 cars loaded for the week. Compared with pre- vious peak loadings these estimates show a big increase in work for the raflroads. In 1916 the peak was on September 23. 989,788; in 1919 on Sep- tember 23, 995,801; in 1920 on Octo- ber 14, 1,018,539; in 1921 on October 21, 964,811; and in 1922 on October 2 1,014,450, The problem before the railroads and the country generally is—“How are the railrgads going to handle this tremendous business?’ The passen- ger traffic is running about 10 per cent above normal, while last year's passenger traffic was the poorest in six years. No one is much concerned about the passenger traffic, so what is said here applies to the problem of freight transportation. What Roads are Doink. The raflroads have started out to do everything that they can: (Ist) to improve their equipment; (2d) to add to their equipment: and (3d) to in- crease other facilities. First, regarding existing equip- ment: The condition of railroad equipment last summer and early fall got to be pretty bad as a result of the shopmen's strike. Between that time and March 15 (the last date for which figures are available) the con- dition of equipment has been so im- proved that today the railroads have 4,500 more locomotives in serviceable condition than they had in August and 135,000 more freight cars in serv- iceable condition. That's equivalent to adding so much new equipment, be- cause cars in the shop are of no im- mediate use. Second, regarding new equipment: On March 15 the railroads had under construction 106.336 frelght cars and So far as is known tils is more than they ever had under time of the vear. The average construction for a period of ten years. 1913 to 1922, inclusive, has beex 101,009 new cars per year and 1,960 new locomotives per_year. That's the situation as it now stands. Tn addition, during the last fifteen months the railroads had de- That ivour clothes on a hickory li {don't go near the water.” Neverthe- [Orleans, T wish to commend the edi- Whatever Hughes or Harding do in the way of promoting international co-operation, no matter how far the: go and no matter how much they ac- complish, if it is short of actually Jjoining the league it will be unsatis- factory to the American partisans of the league. The thick-and-thin ad- vocates of the league In its original form will not be satisfied with any- thing which is a mere approximation to it. It is essential and fundamental in their theory that a universal league. committed to the use of force, if necessary, is the only solutien, and that anything short of that is, by reason of the very omission of 'any one nation, futile. They say we must dive irto the water where it is deep- est and somehow manage to swim. All who propose a gradual approach to the league or who propose mere- | Iv international co-operation among | some of the nations are regarded by | the league zealots as being in_ the Sition of the one who said: “Hang | Sl limb, but | less, it is clear that the achievement of universal international co-opera- tion for the prevention of war is going to be a process of slow and §radual approach. This is neither Surprising mor, except to the zealot Qisturbing. From the time the thir- teen original colonies of America de- clared their independence until they had achieved a federal Union of sufficient compactness to justify con- fidence in its permanence was little short of twenty years. Veteran of South Wants Joint Meeting To the Editor of The Star: As a Confederate veteran, in at- tendance on the recent reunion of the nited Confederate Veterans at New torial in The Star of the 17th instant, suggesting a joint meeting of the Confederate and G. A. R. organiza- tions in Washington. While such a meeting could not be held prior to 1925, as both organi- zations are committed definitely to certain cities for their next meeting places, still it is not too early to begin the creation of a sentiment for a joint session in Washington in 1925, as I realize that there will be opposition on both sides to such a meoting. The “irreconcilables” in both ranks are to be convinced as to the desirability of the joint, and per- haps final, meeting of both bodies, for it can be made of such transcendent value to our country that patriotic motives should conquer all objectors. The loyalty of the south to the Constitution and government of the United States has been proven through two wars, but there are those who would still perpetuate the bitterness that arose from the civil war, keeping the two Sections apart, when the Interests of our country demand, as never before in fts his- tory, the united sentiment and active support of all true Americans. The joint meeting of the old sol- diers of the Blue and Gray would prove the strongest bond that could be given against foes. -within or without, and no one who realizes the dangers that are now confronting us as a nation could possibly oppose the giving of such a bond.. Havini started the movement, In the ad- mirable editorial above referred to, I hope The Star will eontinue until a united press shall echo through- out the entire land the real need for the suggested meeeting. ¥. THOMPSON. INCE the Marquis of Curzon has found it impracticable to trans- fer once more the entire direc- tion of the administration of the foreign affairs of the vast British empire from Downing street to the shores of the Lake of Geneva. the Rt. Hon. Sir Horace Rumbold. Bart, G. C. M. G., British ambassador and high commissioner at Constanti- nople, has been appointed by King George to act as his principal pleni- potentiary at the international con- gress, which reconvenes tomorrow at Lausanne for the further negotiation of the various troublesome issues in connectlon with the revision of the treaty of Sevres and the settlement of the entire near eastern problem. The appointment of Sir Horace to this important mission is not with- out interest in the United States. where he spent some time as a mem- ber of the British embassy at Wash- ington. For he is half American. His mother, the first wife of the late Sir Horace Rumbold, eighth baronet of his line, was Miss Caroline Harring- ton, daughter of George Harrington of Washington, some time United States envoy at Berne, and through her, as well as through the marriages of his cousins, Henry and Cumber- land Rumbold, to Baltimore women, and of Annie Rumbold to Ernest K Richardson of Philadelphia, Sir Hor ace is connected with many families in this country. He is related, more- over, to some of the greatest houses of the aristocracy of continental Eu- rope, including those of de la Roche- foucauld of Harcourt, of Noailles and of Pollgnac in France and that of the princes of Lobanoff in_ Russia. Indeed, the late Horace Rumbold ! (father of Great Britain's plenipoten- tiary at Lausanne). who was British ambassador at Vienna, after having been born In Calcutta, was educated in Paris under the care and roof of his aunt, the Duchess de Polignac, in the Faubourg St. Germain. * ok k% Sir Horace is descended from Thomas Rumbold, who was one of the cavaliers of King Charles I at the battle of Naseby; also from Wil- liam Rumbold, who was master of the robes of Charles II, and from Henry Rumbold, who was a gentle- man of the privy chamber of JamesI; while the founder of the family was a certain Robert Rumbold, who, accord- ing to contemporary judicial records still in existence, was in litigation with Alured of Lincoln in-1194 con- cerning lands in the shires of Essex and Herts. In view of this ancestry, no credence need be accorded to the spiteful gossip of Horace Walpole, who insisted that Sir Thomas Rum- bold, the first baronet of the line and one of the typical nabobs in London soclety toward the end of the eigh- teenth century, began life as a waiter at White's Club and was in conse- quence the subject of George Sel- wyn's bon mot, that “Everything comes to him who knows how to walt.” 1t is perfectly true that Thomas Rumbold at the early age of sixteen, went out to India as a subordinate member of the suite of the then Goy- ernor of Fort George. But it was In the capacity of a -gentleman cadet and not of a menial, and if he had been granted a cadetship, it was be- cause his father was a naval officer who served with distinction in the marine forces of the East India Com- pany. Thomas Rumbold's career in the Orient is a matter of history. He was one of the chief aldes-de- camp to Gen. Lord Clive at the Batlle when he shook him off, grossly. in- of Plassy, where he was severely wounded. His promotion was rapid in India, where he eventually was appointed to the post of Governor of Madras, and was created a baronet. thereupon returning to England in the possession of an enormous for- tune. ok * His enemies. and he had many of them, whose hostility was actuated bold at the early age of sixteen, went and domineering manner, impatient of contradiction, led to an attack be- ing made upon him in parllament, on charges that he had been mixed up in pecuniary transactions of an ex- tortionate character, through which the Rajah of Arcot. had been reduced to complete ruin. Indeed, Pitt's gov- ernment actually initiated proceed- ings against Sir Thomas in London with the object of compelling him to disgorge. But the case was never carried to a conclusion. either in par- liament or in the law courts, and the “worthy baronet” as Burke always called him, was left in the undisturbed possession of the fruit that he had shaken from the pagoda tree of In- dia. For many years after his return from India, Sir Thomas represented Weymouth 'in the house of commons, and was a_ warm friend, both of Gainsborough and of Romney, who each of them painted portraits of him, that are counted among their mas- terpleces. Sir Thomas's son and suc- cessor in his honors and estates, was a captain of the 1st Foot Guards, and served out in_Indla as aide-de-camp to Gen. Sir Hector Monroe at the Battle of Pondicherry in 1778. He' too. like his father, represented Wey- mouth in the house of commons, after his return to England, and broke his neck in the hunting field. * ¥ ok X The late Sir Horace Rumbold, one of the most brilliant members of the Englieh diplomatic service, had to wait, however, much longer than his son and successor, the present and ninth baronet, for' promotion to the rank of ambassador, which was de- layed for a number of years by an extraordinary piece of intrigue on the part of a royal governess, the injustice being only rectified through the personal Interference of Emma, then Queen Regent of the Nether- lands, and of Queen Victoria. While minister at the Hague, the late Sir Horace saw no less than five of his juniors promoted over his head to embassies. Resenting what he re- garded as a gross of injustice, he set to work in 1894, to make cautlous inquiries in London with the object of discovering the reason of the treatment to which he had been.sub- jected. Ultimately he learned that a story had been circilated at court in England, and at the foreign office, to the effect that he had. had a vio- lent altercation with one of the royal chamberlains at some court function at the Hague, and had very nearly, if not quite, come to blows. Assuming the story to be true, it was naturally considered that a diplomat possessed of so little control of his temper, was unfitted for the role of ambassador. The only foundation that there was for this tale, according to Sir Horace, was that some years previously he had on one occaslon left the raliroad station at Amsterdam and had given up his ticket when he was told by his footman that Lady Rumbold and his youngest boy had come to meet him. He tried to re-enter that plat- form to find them, but was roughly seized by a ticket collector. who, the part of Queen Wilhelmina's Eng- lish governess, Miss Winter, who re- 18ented having been kept by accldent out of her usual seat in the English Church at the Hague at the memorial Iler\‘!ce for King George's elder brother, the Duke of Clarence, organ- ized by the British legation at his death. Sir Horace thereupon brought the matter to the notice of the Queen Mother Emma, at that time regent of Holland, who was very indignant at what she described as a gro - rication. and not only cau the Dutch envoy in London to explain matters at the foreign office, but like- wise wrote personally to Queen Vic- toria, to set Sir Horace right in the eves of his sovereign. Almost immediately afterward he was promoted to be ambassador at Vienna, and was thus able to wind up his career of half a century in the diplomatic service at the head of his profession Instead of being compelled to retire on the score of age as a mere minister plenipotentiary with a pension of $6,000 in lieu of the $9,000 which he enjoyed until his death. L O The present baronet and British plenipotentfary to Lausanne has in- herited much of his father's courtli- ness, charm of manner and broad un- derstanding of international politics. He has served at Athens, at Teheran and Cairo, also at Vienna, Berlin, Rome and Warsaw, and has recelved spectal allowances for his remarkable lish and Japanese. His wife daughter of the late Sir Edmund Fane, who spent his entire adult life lin representing Great Britain in for- eign capitals: 80 that Lady Rumbold may be said to have been reared from her infancy in the environment of diplomacy and is pecullarly well equipped for the role of ambassadre: The advantage to Great Britain of having Sir Horace Rumbold as her principal plenipotentiary at Lausanne the fact that hLe possesses a far greater degree of experience of men and conditions in Turkey and of com- prehension of the entire intricate Near Eastern qu of the non-Ottoman delegates present. [ money markets of France, Insisting | He knows all the ina and outs of the situation, and, above all, being able to speak to the Turks in their own language, of which he possesses a complete mastery, has been able to win their sympathetic understanding and confidence in_an altogether ex- ceptional degree. Moreover, he blends with decision of character the utmost tact and suavity, In which two latter qualities his colleague, the French plenipotentiary, M. Bompard, is singu- larly lacking. * K ok K Bompard spent some time in Con- stantinople as French ambassador prior to the war. But he was not a success, and his irascibility and brysquerie and impatience in his In- tercourse With the native dignitaries were such that it needed all the charm of his clever wife to modify, even if it could not entirely oblit- erate, the resentment which he aroused by his manner. He is not a diplomat in any sense of the word, although he has filled a number of diplomatic posts. ~Thus, his embassy in Russia, before the great war, was out short by a blunder of which as- suredly mo one but Bompard would have ever rendered himself gullty. For he dispatched from Petrograd to locomotives and freight cars put into service during any recent vear. Nearing Pre-War Level. Now, here's a little angle that seems to be worthy of some thought. The year 1916 was the last vear be- fore the United States entered the world war, and it looks as if this year the railroads are beginning to attain a pre-war normal level of railway equipment. Third, as regards other facilities: It is harder to get information re- garding new tracks, heavier ralls, larger vard facilities (which is ex- tremely important), the straightening out of curves. the cutting down of grades, improving shops. putting in machinery to promptly handle re- pairs, etc. This year the fmprovement program of the railroads, so far authorized provides for the expenditure of $1. 100,000,000, because they fully realize the necessity of the greatest improve- ment and expansion possible of the country’s transportation facilities to meet the growing demands of com- merce. Of that amount $515,000,000 is for cars, $160.000,000 for locomo- tives and $426,000,000, or about 40 per cent Is for trackage and other facill- ties. This is a composite of the best judgment of all the railroad com- Danies as to what they should do to meet the sltustion. % The results from these preparations are largely in the future, but it is a matter of great interest that thus far this year the railroads have been able to handle traffic greater than ever be- fore in the same season and during that profictency in Persian, Arablc, Turk-| same period have been cutting the),, is a]car shortage down about 4,000 cars. 31 2% {he Safe that is from 73,285 on January 1 to 68,956 on March 15. That they have been able to make any reduction at all while handling the largest traffic in history is decidedly encouraging. Last fall the car shortage was great- or than 260,000 cars. This, it must be understood, is the demand by ship- pers for cars for loading which the railroads were not able to supply. So to Take Care of rity Freight. that on months, definite sults. the basis of those thres the railroads have shown improvement in actual r Program for Coming Months. The program adopted by the rail- roads on which they are to work during the next ten months contains ten specific items. First among these is: That by October 1. 1923, when the peak movement ordinarily begins. cars awaiting repairs be reduced to the normal basis of 5 per cent of th~ total equipment of the country. Lasi vear the percentage ran up to 15 per cent, which means about 360,000 freight cars. This has now been r. duced to between 9 and 10 per cent So that the railroads have put 135,000 more gars to work. They now hope d 120,000 more serviceable by October 1. S Second on their program the r roads propose that by October 1, 1 locomotives awalting heavy repairs be reduced to the normal basis for the entire country of 15 per ce That percentage got up to more tha 31 during the strike. It is now down to 24 per cent. That reduction rep- resents the 4,500 locomotives which have now been made serviceable. So that the railroads now plan to cut the percentage from 24 to 15 per cen which will add about 5,500 more loco motives to their serviceable equip ment. i Other very important items in ti railroad’s program of improvem are: That all interested be impresse: with the necessity for loading all care to maximum capacity in an effort bring the average loading to thirt tons” per car for the entire cour try: for unloading cars prompt increasing storage facilities wh necessary and practicable and prov ing adequate siding capacity to fac tate loading and unloading, thereb: Increasing the number of availabl- That = every possible means be adopted to increase the mileage per car per day to an average of thirty for the entire country, particular at tention being given fo prompt move ment through terminals and yards and to the issuance of embargoc: vhen necessary to prevent c N The. P conge: Thus it will be seen that the railroads age loading per car to thirt 1922 the average was t tons. That three tons difference 1< really more than 10 per cent. They are also making a drive to increase the number of miles per freight car per da to thirt 1922 the average wis twenty-thiree and one-half miles. | 1r other words. by increasing the car loa and speeding up the cars they propos to get a more intensive use of thei | present equipment Do vou get the picture of the threc ways in which the rallroads are striving to increase the <erviceability of the plant: (1) increasing car_and locomo tive serviceability: (2) adding consid- ably in number ‘of new cars and loc motives: (3) getting more intensive us of all their freight cars. There is one important phase of ti situation that must not be overlooked The railroads cannot do it all. Thes must have the co-operation of shipper. and the public. which in the past has been most helpful bringing abo heavier loading. prompt unloading increased mileage per car. When t shippers and the public realize wii: this means to ticir own tsansportatic { requirements it il help the railro wonderfully t0 mcel their problems, A example of the .csircd co-operation just been Secretary Work o the Interior Department. who has ser instructions to all bureaus and c of that department 1o render aver assistance possible by immediate loading of coal and freight cars o tI they may be returned promptly to th channels of traffic and the loading of a'l cars to full capicity by agents of th Interlor Deparimer i, The railroads 1 ve seen what s con was a piece of petty vengeance on|also is the largest number of new !ing and are making every effort to g ready for it. Relatively much better shape breaking_ traffic 1 since 1917, “Jim* Hill's Vision, they are iu meet this record an they have beer A letter written by James J. Hill. of the greatest railroad builders in ti country, on January 14. 1907, to the th Gov. John Johnson of Minnesota, fl the present situation as well as am thing that could be written today. H pointed out that this country is growinz rapidly and that the raflroads must cor tinue to expand their facllities and equipment to meet the pyramiding d mands of commerce. It is interesting to note that sixteen years ago he warneil that the raflroads must spend a billion dollars a vear to improve thefr equip ment, which is exactly the amount thorized by the railroads for the next year. The public must stop to think thas { during twenty vears the per capita to miles has been increased by the rai roads more than 110 per cent. During the same twenty years the population has increased 40 per cent. Each mem- ber of that 40 per cent has increased the use of the railroads 110 per cent more. The answer is that the railroad freight and passenger traffic has trebled in_twenty vears. The public should realize that we are living “according to higher standards each year. As more men buy automo- Diles or pianos or enameled sinks and Dbath tubs it means increased work for the railroads in hauling raw materials to the factories, in dellvering the fin- | ished product, and continually hauling the materials which must keep these new possessions in repair. The country is constantly growing nd at the same time the population. in_number. is de- | manding as every-day facilities those things which a few vears ago would | have been classed as luxuries. All | this multiplies the work which the rai | roads are called upon to perform. The I public in making these demands, which |often times it is bevond the physical power of the rallroads to meet, must | be prepared to co-operate sincerely—in their own interests. e this coming week s to be found in{some friends in Paris a private let- |north and east of Mosul, up to the ter in which he excoriated the Rus sian_court and government, and In which he moreover expressed his most vigorous disapproval of the floating that the money obtained from French investors was being squandered in the most outrageous manner, and that they ought to be warned publicly and privately against intrusting any more of their savings to the Russlan gov- ernment. Instead of sending this letter by special messenger he confided it to the ordinary postal service. with the result that it was carefully opened befors it reached the Muscovite frontier and its contents copied be- fore being forwarded o its destina. tion. Of course, the Russlan gov ernment could not take any cog- nizance of the abusive document, since that would have been obliged to admit that it had been opened and read while being transmitted through the malls. But, at the same time, the court and government, having been enlightened as to the derogatory opinion which Bompard entertained concerning them. and indignant with his efforts to wreck the loan which they were endeavoring to float in Paris, quickly found mears of render- ing his existence on the banks of the Neva so intolerable that he hastened to demand his transfer to some other post on_the ground that the climate of the Muscovite metropolis was in- jurious and even dangerous to his health. Then, too, Bompard, who does not speak a word of Turkish, knows little or nothing about Asia Minor, and above all, thoee regions to the Persian_border, whereas that entire part of the world hae long been ‘ familiar to Sir Horace Rumbold who was secretary and charge d'affaires stion than any one{of any further Muscovite loans on the |of the British legation at Teheran. and who is today still in receipt of & _special allowance from the foreign |office for his exceptional knowledge | of Persian. | | Roads 2,000 Years 0ld. | From the Adventure M zine. | The Roman empire was intersected | by roads, constructed principally be- tween the second and fourth cer turles after Christ. These highways varied in width from eight to fifteen feet, and were almost universally built in straight lines without regard to grade, probably because the use of beasts of burden as the chief means of transport made the preservation of the level an affair of minor im- portance. Soldiers, slaves and crim- inals frere employed In the construc- tion of these highways, the durability of which is shown by the fact that, in some cases, they have sustained the trafc of 2,000 years without material infury. The Roman forum is sald to have been the point of convergence of twenty-four roads, which, with its branches, had a total length of 52,904 Roman miles. The Romans are said to have learned the art of road building from the Carthaginians,