Evening Star Newspaper, August 5, 1923, Page 27

! t ALDWIN REACHES HOUR OF HIS GREAT DECISION| {Political Future De '3 tion of Repara pends Upon Expedi- tions Settlement. Firmness Believed Certain. BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN, IEMIER BALDWIN is at one of the crossroads of his political career. Foreign policies, particularly in regard to reparations and the Ruhr, must be crystallized and car- ried forward along definite lines, else—— The British premier open to charges, from the * clements in British politics stination and failure to British cal councils, ie-hard" of pro- the use in He will be accused of in- bility to remedy British chaos through advancement of Brit- ain's trade and financial throughout Europe. But there is little or no at the is to be firm policy in regard to reparation + @nd the Ruhr and future settlement rmany, in the hope that even- may be saved from a state of chaos which every one aud- even Paris, will come as the re- with tually Germany mits sult of complete German col At the moment Baldwin' matic sun has been overshadowed by he refusal of the French and the Bel .&lans to consider any proposition in regard to ¢ sive Voccupying allied powers and the S verees of the reparations commission. Announce Britain's Position. Tn the commons on Thursday Pre- | ¢mier Baldwin announced upon which Britain priciple: time to time { wises based ca outlined in detail. lays himself advance | uropean politi- | late to the French, admit the validity of ndustrial advantages indication moment that Premier Baldwin permanently deterred from a reparations and the Ruhr!io Which does not embrace early aban- idonment by the Germans of all pas- resistance to the dictates of the e- the prem- | Bri her which have been from ¥or- | position to the disadvantage of England —politically chiefly. Possibly at no time since the war has a premier had stronger pub- lic backing among his people as & Wwhole than has Premier Baldwin at the present moment. Everywhere there apparently prevails the predomi- nating _view that the British should establish a definite policy at once and no longer defer action in the futile attempt to placate Poincare and Thenuis or even attempt to influ- ence them to the British viewpoint. The “die hard” element does not ask the government to continue nego- tiations ‘with the French as much as it would have Premier Baldwin capitu- | the French position and even go so far as to back it up in future actions in the Ruhr and in the Rh land. This course, however, generally is unpopular. Enemien to Seize One thing is Premier Raldwin's may be xpected to seize every ad- vantage. If he is to perpetuate his policies he will be forced to extreme agility in avoiding currents running counter to his general desire to “put Iingland across’ tion of reparations and continental peace, security and advance, as he has outlined There is a feeling in London among most all classes that Premier Bald- win should do something agires preserve general British prestige. There is an inclination on the part of the government. however, to pro- ceed cautiously before splitting with France and sending direct reparations reply to Germany until the public and the world at large has had adequate time to become informed fully of the many British attempts to restore con- tinental equilibrium. In short the ish go nment. with full justi- fication for its particular viewpoint. { will attempt to *“pass the buck™ to nce and hold her completely to in case the British should act Advantages. | certain, political however. enemies $eign Minister Curzon, in the house of | independently. lords, in addition to echoing the po- | ‘s tion of England and the failure of | tformer allies fhalf way tor combin to meet Britain upon proposals d allied reply to Germany. Wwent out of his way to bitterly cen- re- Belgium it them that | even from the inception of the wai sure the minded and must otiter more mans, thesc “tected The p French attitude. d France that while rance desired reparations, not be forgotten by nations, more desirous lenient also desired rights always by the remicr He of reparations would 'l British government. wnite could be ¢in bringing F Istate wh xpected immediately re they would view the B ish proposuls with complacency short, both rit- J In Buldwin and Curzon tac- Aty admitted that the British effort “to bring about a conference of the iallies in which the subject of repara- ~tions was to be reviewed and total ;Sums possibly revised with the view of allaving “Germanic distress, had dismally failed, Remarks Significant. In of the keen resentment &gainst the French policy which ap- parently is growing apace in Eng- Jand. the remarks of both the pre- micr and Lord Curzon were signi cant. While both indicated the de- sire of the British government not 10 break with France,on the question of reparations ‘and fprolonged oc- cupation of the Ruhr, nevertheless, 3t is believed in both Paris and Lon- don that that break is coming. It is but a question of time. There is every ground for bef that the British will continue to at- tempt negotiation in regard to ihe anatter until such time as the Britisa Kovernment can reveal correspond- nd records of negotiations that have gone on in recent weeks. Eng- land fecls that the British case will be proven to the world and to the disadvantage of the French position The French, fundamentally, care lit- Ile. according to various wdvices, the British do inasmuch have established a stat, situation to the advantage of Fi interests. If Poincare could swing the British government to his pres- 1t position unquestionably he would pleased. But inasmuch as British influence would be materially cur- tailed and discredited on the con- tinent were Baldwin finally to agree 10 the French thesis after once pub- Yicly denouncing it. there is no hope that England will bend in the fi analysi On the other hand. the Yieve that if present negotiati-ns can be prolonged the whole riddle will be solved by conditions in Ger- many view ief quo ach French be- Purported French Desire. It is charged in England, and given some credence elsewhere, that the French are desirous of seelng the Germans prostrated under the weight of their present load in order that the French may force eventual ad- mittance of the error of German pa- It is charged in ench are backing sive resistance. Beriin that the I the Rhineland separatist movement sind have even gone so far as to attempt to undermine the Cuno gov- ernment. with the belief that an- other German government will be anore amenable to reason, as Cuin even ! suggested policy toward the Ger- nd his foreign minister | tion Pointed out plainly that nothing defi- the British for impeding the general England's Posxible Allies. England will not stand alone in cas | she makes it plain that she can no long- er go side by side with France in the general settiement of the German prob- lem. It is known that all the Scand | navian countries, which have been more lor less sympathetic to the Germans, and | who more or less have been the victims of trade dislocation, will back England chaos. In addition it is known ! that Spain is cager to assist in rest proce Russia, though hating | brocess of Russian would recognition, ance and Belgium to a1 sympathize with any move that would the extension of the French and diplomatic power on the Premier Mussolini, through | dor in London, but last week | voiced general compliance with the more {generul terms of the British. It lik ! wise is known that there will be little {difficulty in adjusting the Italian and { British governmental viewpoints when the time is ripe for definite_announce- jment of plans. In fact, the British and i Ttalian notes to the Germans may forward at the same time. { prevent military i continent. | his ambass Question as to Future Courses. There is some question as to fu- ture courses of southcastern Europe. particularly some of the nations of the little entente, which formerly were part of the old. Teutonic em- pires. Though through the war they became independent and aré there- fore extremely desirous of maintain- ing their independence, it 1s believed in London that they are in measure bound by racial and sentimental ties ' to Germany and Austria Their fu- ture prosperity in large measure is dependent upon a goink central | urope. | i Should England and other nations | jactively go to the aid of Germany in settling its present dilemma and in- | suring recovery, it is not certain that some of the nations now composing | the little entente will not be swayed | from French domination and thereby undermine the political grip Franc has gained in_ castern Europe since the peace of Versailles There is a feeling in many well in- formed circles that disaffection is ex- tremely possible, inasmuch as Ru- mani; 'zechoslovakia. and even Jugo- slavia, are most interested in recon- structive proccsses within their own domain. and these reconstructive processes can best be aided by the ination that holds most securely Euro- | pean purse strings. That is England. There also are signs of disunion in the little entente over the question of Poland’s admittance to the Balkan league, @ thing most desired by France, and it is reported in London that even the adroit mancuverings of Premier Benes of Czechoslovakia will fail to maintain the present union. Unquestionabjy. politically and mili- tarily, France dominates a major portion of continental Europe. | Quextion of the Hour. Can Premier Baldwin, by dealing di- frectly with rman. and giving other countries, worn down to a point of des by dislocated economic, {financial and social conditions, some {hope of a settled order. wig support from France's present-day smaller allies? If he can air do so, by deferring a break with Irance and establishing in the general ques- | | | i and | to the finish in efforts to restore order | be pro- | from THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, AUGUST 5 , 1923—PART 2. The Story the Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief summary of the most important.news of the world for the seven days ended August 4: United States of Ameriea.—On the night of August 2, at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, President Harding was stricken with apoplexy and died almost instantly. He had passed an casy day and was thought to be safely on the road (o recovery from bronco-pneumonia following ptomaine poisoning. The next morn- ing Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as thirtieth President of the United States. Mr. Lloyd George will visit Canada and the United States this autumn. A new remedy for diabetes, which he de- seribes as complementary to insulin, has been announced by Dr. Max Kahn, associate in hiological chemistry in the Medical $chool of ‘olumbia University, New York. It an artificial edible fat which. it is claimed, when catabolized in the body does not yield cer- tain substances which cause acidosis and diabetes. Tt is not quite clear from the press account to whom iz dume the credit for the discovery. The substance has been named “intarvin.” In contests between Americans this year the British continue to have the beiter of it. In a series of races still in process off South Sea. Encland. between six American and sl British six-day meter yachts the British has a big lead. The number of motor cars and trucks regis- tered in the United States on July 1 was over thi~teen millions, a gain of more than two millio in one year. There is now a car or truck for every eight and five-tenths per- Sons in the country. California leads with one motor vehiele for every four and nine one- hundredths persons Five-sixths of the motor vehicles of the world are in the United States, and one-third of the railroad mileage. though the popula- tion of the United States is only one-seventicth of the population of the world. There is one telephone set for every seven persons in the United States, In July two hundred and thirty-one persons (an increase of twenty-two over July last vear) were killed in automobile accidents in New York state; seventy-six of these in New York city. The consumption of tobacco in the United States has increased from a yearly four pounds per capita before the ci a present s nd Britons il ‘war to eight and one-half pounds. * ok ok ok rmany.—So much misconception has been displayed regarding the matter discussed be- low that it seemed worth while to attempt a clarification. No opinion is expressed as to the respective merits of French and British views concerning reparations policy. 1t will be recalled how the British govern- ment drafted a joint allied reply to the Berlin reparations note of June 7, and on July 20 sent_it. with a covering note. to the Kovern- ments of the other great allies for criticism and suggestions. On July 30 replies were reeeived from Paris and Brussels. On August 2 Premicr Baldwin read to the commons tement concerning this correspondence, and Lord Curzon read an identic statement to the lords. This statement contained a resume of the British “draft reply” to Berlin and de- red that the French and Belgian letters con- tained notning to the purpose of a joint allied reply. “Indeed.” complains the statement, “the draft reply is not mentioned in the French and Belgian replies, nor do these let- ters appear to hold out any definite prospect. cither, of an carly alteration of the Situation in the Ruhr of the commencement of discus- sions about reparations. 1t is apparent that many weeks might be consumed in a prelim- st inary exchange of opinions between the allies on the lines foreshadowed by these letters before any effective step can be taken for terminating the present situation.” Now I cannot but think that Mr. Baldwin's handling of this extremely delicate matter is not marked by the delicacy and precision dicated.” Parliament was clamoring for statement before its adjournment (immediately after debate on the statement it adjourned to November 13). and time was lacking for due consideration of the French and Belgian replies and preparation of the British state- ment. Mr. Baldwin has proposed to the French and Belgian governments publication of all the documents in -the case, and those governments have, I understood. assented. Yending such publication, we have the resume ove referred to and quoted below, and a resume issued by the Quai D'Orsay’ of the French letter of July 30. The following is the more important part of the British regume: ‘The draft reply expressed the opinion that while nothing should be done inconsistent with the stipulations of the treaty of Ver- sailles, advantage would be derived from an examination by impartial experts in co-oper- tion with the reparations commission into iermany’s capacity for payment As to the question of the guarantees offered by ‘the German government. the draft reply went on to point out that the economic value of any such guarantees must largely depend upon factors of which the German memoran- dum had made no mention, such as stabiliza- tlon of the mark and balincing of the Ger- man budget, and that no guarantees ould be effective unless provision were made for some form of international control of the Ger- man_financial administration: “The draft reply ended by advising the Ger- man government. if it desired a resumption of the inquiry. to withdraw without further de- lay the ordinances and decrees which had or- ganized and fomented the policy of passive resistance, and unequivocally to disavow the acts of violence and sabotage which had in some cases accompanied it: and it expressed the belief t such action on the part of Germany would involve rcconsideration by the occupying powers of the conditions of the wccupation and a gradual return to the normal of industrial life in the Ruhr; covering note with the draft reply, sty's government gave fuller explana- the views which they held on all these points. and they urged upon they allies that interaliied discussigns should be’ opened with little delay as Dossible, whether bLy conference otherw| for the purpose of claborating a comprehensive plan of a gen- eral and final financial settlement.” The French letter (if the French resume is to be accepted) clearly scts forth the Franco-Belgian intentions-regarding the Ruhr occupation The French and Belgians hold to their de- termination not to relinquish the “productive guarantees” they have seized in the Ruhr. that is. the machinery of revenue collection They will evacuate the Ruhr only pari. passu with reparations payments. If. however. Germany ceases “passive resistance” they will thereupon “immediately modify the upi- tion. so far as may be compatible with the safety of the civilian agents and the execu- tion of their central purpose of collecting reparations.’ The French letter delicately st that the British government “would simply make known to the reich that it disapproves of the latt liey evervthing could easily and at_one, ightened out.” The { this suggestion gannot be overe The French and Belgians desire (for what would be its immense moral effect). British participation in an unquali- fied condemnation of Germany's passive resist- ance. The British draft reply < not con- demn the German policy, at most it calls f disavowal of “acts of violence and sabotuge which have in some ex ed it and it joins to its “advice” a e pledge of compensation in case of its acceptan In the Franco-Belgian view only unconditional German surrender in the Ruhr can furnish sound basis for negotiation The French government in its letter clares itself completely in accord with if de- the British views as to the necessity of drastic action looking to stabilization of the mark, balancing of the German budget, etc.; but re- marks that it has been .giving Germany ad- Viee in this sense since 1920. £ As to the proposal in the British covering note, of interallied discussions with a view to “elaborating a comprehensive plan of a general And final financial settlement,” the French letter asks whether the question of the interallied debts is to be included in the discussions. The query seems to me perti- nent because in the opinion of the French, the Belgians and the Jtalians the questions of ons and interallied debts are inex- interrelated, so that discussion of the one apart from the other would be useless. Finally, the French government in its letter asks for' further information regarding the proposed commission of “impartial experts’ to examine into Germany's capacity of pay- ment. The letter points out that the expres- sion “capacity of payment” is a variable one. You may fix the amount of damages, as the reparations commission did; you may deter- mine the amount Germany is able to pay to- day, but You cannot definitely fix Germany’s pacity of payment any distance ahead. It is in recognition of this fact, says the note, that the Versailles treaty wisely assigns Lo reparations commission * task of time to time the resources and capacity rmany. The note axks pertinently enough what would be the relation of the proposed commis- <ion to the reparations commission. what pre- cisely it would be called on to find and re- port. how the members would be chosen, etc. If the resume of the French reply is accu- rate, it is difficult to understand Mr. Baldwin's latter ignores the “draft letter makes clear the »n_certain items of the “draft and asks pertinent questions, answers to Which are necessary to definite French de- on other items. It is true that it ke time and head-scratching to answer French questions. But in submitting his aft_reply” and its covering note, did Mr ldwin expect a simple “O. K." from Paris and Brussels? It has. however, to be remarked in conclu- sion that the French letter pretty completely dispels hope of u joint allicd reply to the German note of June 7 The “anti-fascisti day” (July 29) proclaimed the communists was punctured. The gov- ernment forbade demonstrations and massed troops; the comimnunists took the hint and indoors. In oniy onc instance did they gay.” In a small town near Berlin they o storm w jail: result, one dead and wounded communists The paper mark is now worth less than one- millionth of a dollar. The food crisis is said € be past. there i sufficient food within the reich to prevent famine or even suffering for at least several months ahead. The prob- lem is one chiefly of price regulation and dis- tribution. Th vernment has had a bad scare: it cannot afford to neglect this matter. According to an ex-cabinet minister of Ger- many, production per worker In Germany is cqual only to 60 per cent of the pre- war production, while consumption comes to at least X0 per cent of pre-war consumption “Germany.” savs he, “is being betrayed by it own people tried seven * ok The news of the world fur- during the past week Even Musso failed Miscellanevus. nished by the was singularly to oblige. he British mons the other day press reager ni minister of labor told the con that he feared that indus- irial conditions in Britain would be no better in the coming winter than they were last Winter. The present trade of Britain is said o be only 70 per cent of her pre-war trade It is eapected that this vear's wheat crop of French North-Africa will be double that of last year. and will supply all the wheat required by continental France be. »nd its own Exedient cr AT last_report the between Mr. ew and ceeding only ro-—so. negotiations at Lausanne Ismet Pasha were pro- FARMER-LABOR PARTY LIKE POPULISTS OF 90S Based as Was Other Movement Upon Agriculture’s Dissatisfaction With Distressing BY G. GOULD LINCOL: The agrarian revolt in the north- west, sweeping into office Senator Magnus Johnson and Senator Hendrik Shipstead of Minnesota of the farmer- labor party and radicals from other states under other party designations, parallels the populist movement of thirty years ago. Back of the pres- ent movement, just as it was when the people's party became the third jparty in numbers and power in the early nineties, is the distress of the farmer. When times grew better for {the fgrmer the populist party dis- appeared to very large extent. 1f times grow better for the farmer to- day or tomorrow the farmer-labor arty also may fade into political {history. One factor in the situation today, however, makes the farmer- labor ' party more likely to endure. The farmers of the country are or- ganized more fully than ever before. There is the farm bloc in Congress. 100, which has to a large extent domi- nated legislative affairs and promises to_continue to do so. The people’s party as the populist party, grew into na- | tional ~existence and prominence through the co-ordination of a num- ber of smaller organizations. Promi- nent among these smaller organiza- tions was the National Farmers' Alli- ice. The Grangerd, the greenback Iparty and other organizations of | workingmen and farmers also had their part in the formation of the national people’s party. Its first na- tional convention was held in Cincin- nati, Ohio, May 19, 1891. Important Factor for Decade. The populists became the third po- litical party in size, next to the re- publicans and democrats, just as the | farmer-labor party is now doing. For {a decade it remained an important factor which had to be reckoned with by _the major party leaders. The original platform of the popu- {list party contained many of the de- mands now made by the farmer- laborites and others who are support- ing them. For example, the populists demanded the issue of fiat money in sufficient quantity to transact the {business of the country on a cash basis and the loan of such currenc: to the people, particularly the farm- ers, at not more than 2 per cent per annum on non-perishable agricultural products. In other words, the gov- ernment was to finance the farmers, lending sufficient money to enable t as they { usually known market them ta the Kreatest advantage. This differs lit- tle materially from the plan ad- anced today by Senator Brookhart Towa, progressive republican, who co-operating with the farmer- laborites. which cglls for a govern- ment guarantge of for farm products, Only One Plank Differs. populists did have one plank, which is not yet advanced )¥ the farmer-laborites—the free could The however, m t0 hold their crops to such time | minimum price | SIMPLER CONTROL SEEN lieved Impressed With Need of Co- Ordinating Administrative Units HAT is to be expected result of the “clo spection of Alaska by official party, and what place will Alaskan affairs take in the reorganization of government adminis- tration which is now in progres It will be recalled that the reorganization of the federal activities in the interests of economy and efficiency and good | government was one of the particular tasks to which President .Harding ad- dressed himself. President Coolidge has already announced that he will seck to carry out the policies of President Harding. The fact that the Secretaries of Commerce, Agriculture and made the Alaskan trip has given rise to speculation that something in the nature of assistant secretaries in each of these three departments will be named to give particular attention to development of Alaska by a well co-ordinated plan. 5 That some sort of reorganization of Alaskan affairs is necessary is obvieus from the fact that there are 135 different activities now adminis- tered through thirty-five departments and agencies of the federal govern ment. Plan Being Prepared. The only concrete proposal for re- Interior | | government are peculiarly close and s-up” in- | important, Dr. W. 1. Willoughby, di-| the ! rector of the institute, points out Such supervision in effect is | mostly in the names of the Corps of ingineers of the War Department There can be doubt, the joint committee on reclassification is ad- vised by the institute, that the inter: ests of our dependencies, and par- ticularly Alaska, have suffered greatly on account of there being no service at Washington whose special duty it as no informed regarding their ds to take the initiative in securing ffrom Congress or otherwise the action | requirea ne 1d Nominal Supervision. The supervision exercised by Interior Department over Alask: Hawaii is little more than nominal. {Except on special occcasions when |matters of unusual moment have jarisen, the department has served as {little more than an office for the re- the ! channel of official communications. i Probably the most important mat- iter involved in the administration o {the territories and dependencies is the | welection of the proper persons to fill loflicial positions there and keeping track of the manner in which they jperform their duties. All persons {having had experience in the admin- | istration of affairs in the of the most important needs is for a permanent corps of officials trained in the administration of territorial is currently and continuously to keep| and ceipt and filing of reports and the de- | pendencies are of one mind that one | SILVER PRODUCERS OF U.S. FOR ALASKA IN FUTURE AND GOVERNMENT AT ODDS Official Party, on Inspection Tlf-ii). Be- Legal Fight Likely Over Interpretation of Pittman Act Regulating Pur- chases of Precious Metal. \ | i | i HE country are “on almost he difference of opinion over istration of the Pittman And if the silver producers frqm west succeed in their present <.'!nrl.s find some legal basis for \uvtl akainst the Treasury Department| there may be an even livelier tilt at] ;the bar of ju than has taken} place already in correspondence and| congressional investigation. But thel Treasury now stands pat | It all happens because the silver producers are convinced the govern-! ment ought to buy from them some | 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 ounces more | of silver at the Pittman silver actl price of $1 an ounce. The Treasury contents just as earnestly that unde he law it has contracted to buy all} the silver it is forced to buy at the “higher than market price” demand- ed by the Pittman act. The market price of silver now fluctuates from 62 to 63 cents an ounce. { Variance of View Shown. You are violating the law and we hope to hale you into court for dis eriminating against a great industry in spite of the expressed intent of Congress,” declare the silver men. “We have bought all the silver we need and are forced to buy,” replics the Treasury. standing on a decision producers of the and the government the cuts” It called a fight, silver could | this | | ito A ice I H 1 i fcalled for a g out 300,000 ounces “pure sil-| The Treasury now has on hand ver. in the form of accepted tenders ap- | measures now urged by the farmer-| of silver.| proximately that amount It has to all intents and purposes, | and under contract, bought that sil-| ver. some of which is still to be deliv- a Ther is also involved the question of metallurgical losses. which the sil- Ver producers say amount to 13,000,000 r 14000000 ounc but which the Treasury contends i€ not to be con- sidered under the law Senator Pittman in where he will confer with silver pro- ! ducers. and where on September 4! | there will be held @ conference of the ! from existing conditions and the peo- | railre silver producers of America. Although called largely to consider the possis| bilities of forming a silver export as-{ sociation. similar to the Copper Ex-i port Association, the convention willi take up, it is known. the fight with the government over purchase of Pitts | man_ silver. Counsel for the silver men a 3 ing the possibility of instituting man- | damus proceedings against Treasury | officials. There has heen some talk | of attempting additional legislation | study- | !to carry out what the silver men con- tend is the intent of the law. Parker Gilbert, undersecretary of the Treasury has carried on a; voluminous correspondence with Sena- | tor Pittman over the matte Summed up in sharp sentences on! both sides, from the voluminous cor- respondenc the conflict, which prom- ses to b prolonged, perhaps either into the courts or the next Congress. | is as follows ! Undersecretary Gilbert: coinage of silver. This plank later was adopted by the democratic party in 1896, when. in a measure, the democrats swallowed, hook, line and sinker, many of the planks of the populist platform. and when the democratic standardbearer, William Jennings Bryan, was also the nomi- nee of the populist party. The populists also demanded public ownership of all public means of transportation and communication, which has a strangely familiar ring today. They demanded establishment of the initiative and referendum in legislation and the prohibition o {alien ownership of land s which the land mendment aduated income tax and election of United It is not unreason- that history will re that some of the Two of the populist have become the law through constitutional plan of for the popular States senators. able to believe peat itself and laborites will become 1. decade or two. Times laws change with them. Named 1592 Candidates. The second national convention of the populist party was held in 1892 at Omaha, Neb. There the delegates named Jumes B. Weaver of lowa for sident and James B. Field of Vir- zinia for Viee President. The popu- list party had considerable strength w in the next change and Nevada, | in the southern states as well as in | ment the west in those days. farmers had suffered The cotton very greatly ple were ripe for a break with the so- calied bourbon democrats. “Tom" Watson, Georgia firebrand. was leader of the movement in his state and was hailed by the people in the icultural districts almost as a to lead them out of bondake ,In the national election in 1892 the the | Conditions. populist ticket received twenty-two lec- toral votes and a popular vote of 1,055 424. In those days the population of the United States ran around 65,000,000— and the women were not voting in most of the states—so the populist vote was a sizeable factor. In the succeeding years the dem crats were more and more bitten with the ideas of the populists. until in 1896 they well-nigh swallowed up th populist party, naming as their candi- date for President William Jennings Bryan, who also was the selection of the populists in convention. There used to be an expression in the north- west as follows: “Scratch a populist and you find a democrat”” But in 1896 the populists insistcd upon nam ing Thomas E. Watson of Georgia as their vice presidential candidate along with Mr. Bryan for the presi- dency. The democrats, on the other hand. named W. J of Maine as their candidate vice presi- dency. The electi swember re sulted in the « of 176 clectoral votes for Bryan, 149 for Sewall. the democratic_candidate for Vice Presi dent, and 17 for Tom Watson. United Forees Beaten. The populists Sewall for the n in had thrown in their fortunes with the democrats in this year to a very large extent and the democrats had sought to make capl- tal out of the populist movement The more conservative clements in the country, however. had defeated them both. the gold democrats and republicans lining up against Bryan Will the democrats seek to swallow the farmer-laborites, or will the re- publicans do s0? Or will the farmer laborites be successful in swallowing up one of the two old parties? Of course, the new party would like very much to accomplish the last-named result. Time alone will show the out come of the present resugiption of the agricultural political movement The same efforts are being made to- day to hook up together the dis | Kruntled farmers and the laboring | men. As a_matter of fact, howeve labor is being well paid at present and there is a demand for labor. even to the extent of secking to let down the immixration bars. The interests of the farmers, who produce what bor desires to purchase as cheaply as possible, and the interests of lubor whose products the farmers desire to purchase as cheaply as may be, have never in the past run along together very well. The very economic ques- tions involved make it extremely doubtful that these two interests w ever he one and the same Had Foree in Congress. The populist party in the nineties had its representatives in the Senate and House—in fact, to a_greater ex- tent probably than ®he farmer-labor party will be represented in the next Congress. In the Senate was Peffer of Kansas and Kyle of South Dakota who was dubbed an independent. but really elected by the populists after an historic battle in the state legis- !lature, when the present Senator from |South Dakota. Mr. Sterling. was the republican candidate for the Senate In the House was Tom Watson, who !diea a_democratic member of the “Sockless” Jerry Simpson of William Baker and John vis, also of Kansas, and Lafe Pence »f Colorado. all stalwart members of the people's party. Their speeches of thirty vears ago read today like the fulminations from Johngon, Shipstead Brookhart and others Tom Watson did accomplish on- important measure for the farmer: He was the father of the bill estab lishing the rural free delivery of mail i matter. But the decline of the popu list party was traceable to the in creased prosperity of the agr culturalists and after 1900 the pop {lists amounted to litt In the dass of populism the charges were mad that the two old parties were con trolled by business interests—charges similar to those of today The development of industry an ade under the old regime in Geor for example, far outstripped th development of agriculture. Th KTeat majority of the farmers were in the toils of a credit system whic ate up their profits and really kep them in perpetual bondage. it ha been said. The merchants who “ran | the farmers were the bosses. As now the farmers were not financially able |to hold their crops for better mar kets, but when harvested must hu | their produce to the first availabl- tmarket When the there | | ! 1 { it | &i anic of 1883 came about was discontent and unempl In that period 642 banks fail !ed, and mercantile failures reached total of $374,000,000; 29340 miles d went into the hands of re interest charges went soar- there was little credit 3 as usual, were the worst sufferers from these conditions. Wheat went below 15 cents a bushel and cot- fton below 5 cents a pound—prices that make th, of today look like extreme wealth for the farmers. ceivers Holds Sugar Price Changes Acquit the Tariff of Blame To the Editor of The Star Within the last few change in the rate of duty or in the estimated size of the present Cuban erop. the New York price of both raw weeks. with no New York price of refined sugar made i from imported raws ranged from 21.05 to 26.5 cents per pound. Producers of sugar in Cuba had waxed rich be- | vond the dreams of avarice. but their cupidity knew no bounds. Our sugar ‘The Treas- | efined has declined over 1 cent ury. of course, has to consider the 2nd Tefine ’r:h Ither the 3-cent|DPINs Werc empty. the canning season interests of the people as a whole, | Per pound. atans s approaching and there was mot organization is now before the Jointi,n; gependency affairs. Such a corps committed to perpetual resistance congressional committee on reorgani- | cannot be brought into existence and the allies. France will !by Controller General McCarl nd. England’s position in the meantime, i i furthermore, if you producers. who o then there is little question but thit % various ter- profit, according to Germany 'collapses—which the French a firmer hold on xtensive territory than now will profit by her present England, if would give n more cld—or she British national prestige on the con- tinent will ascend by leaps and bounds and Premier Baldwin's position in England proper will be made more | secure. Chance for Rich Americans To Get Ti The reeent insertion in a New York _paper of an advertisement unnamed “European princess” offered tn adopt some person of ‘‘unquestioned Teputation” and possessed of the finan- cial qualifications that should go with an ancient and exalted title is Amer- jca’s first introduction to a graft that is providing many a member of the im- poverished German aristocracy with nourishment. “Princess advanced in years, with no Teirs,” ran the advertisement, inserted under the ‘“‘personal” classification, “desires to perpetuate title and will Jegally adopt American, conferring thereby inalienable title; one of the principal European kingdoms; title ab- solutely authentic, dating back to eighth century, person adopted must possess culture and refinement, be of unquestioned reputation and ' means commensurate with highest social posi- tion In Germany this sort of thing has been going on for several vears. Ever &ince the decline of the mark wiped out the funded fortunes of the German mobility the adoption of “social climb- ers,” who long for the coveted en- nobling particle “von” before their names, or desire to adorn their cards with a title, has provided a steady in- come for many a ruined aristocrat whose poverty has dulled his scruples. Under the German law an adopted hild acquirgs not only the name but he rank, titles and family tree of his oster to the-exclusive Almanach de Gotha in which an | parent. One can really break | tles and Parents | if properly adopted. No matter how humble your origin, or in how plebeian a calling you made vour money, you can become noble—if you have the price. | It’s quite touching in its new-found | devotion: the foster parent of perhaps | twenty-five vears taking under his.pa- | ternal wing a fat “‘schieber” of perhaps fifty, whose wife has suddenly acquired a hankering for social glory. The foster child likewise acquires a responsibility toward his new-found parent. How could it be otherwise, when name, title, rank and family have just been conferred upon him? And as the problem of making both ends meet is the biggest one the German noble has to face, the overwelling gratitude, quite naturally, takes the form of a substantial sum of forelgn money. For no German wants German money. To become merely noble is fairly in-! expensive. A title like Graf or Freiherr is more expensive. The cost of ac- quiring princely rank mounts up inlol money. H Most of the nobility, of course, would ! not stoop to such a procedure. What- ever its faults, the German nobility is proud. Only the weaker brethren sell their birthright. And now the game is being intro- | duced here. To be sure, the object of stipulating wealth in the present case, attorneys for our unnamed princess teli us, is merely a proper desire to make certain that the obligations of the fo ter child's newly acquired social posi- tion will be properly discharged. A cynic, however. might suggest that one's parents must always be support- ed, in case of need, no matter how one has acquired them, ation, coming from the institute fo government research. This recom- mends the creation in the State De- partment of a bureau of territories and dependencies to take over the duties of the bureau of insular affairs (War Department) and of the Sec- retary of the Interior in respect to the territories. This plan includes a change in administration for the Na- tional Capital as well as for Alaska. The national government now exer- cises supervision over the affairs of the following dependent territory: The District of Columbta, the territo- ries of Alaska and Hawali, the in- sular dependencies of the Philippines, Porto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Tu- ituila or American Samoa, Guam and a few smaller islands. such as Wake Islands, Midway Islands, and the Panama Canal and Canal Zone. Favor Cemtral Office. Important as is this territory, it is not sufficiently extensive, the insti- tute feels, to warrant the setting up of a colonial department such as is possessed by other governments hav- ing important colonial interests. It is desirable, howevet, that the admin- istration of the affairs of this terri- tory, in so far as control is exercised over the local governments, should Le concentrated in a single service. At the present time no one service has responsibility the interests or of exercising any control over the administration of the affairs of these territorfes. Su- pervision of the most general charac- | ter over the territaries proper— Alaska and Hawali—is vested in the Department of the Interior. The bureau of insular affairs of the War Department exercises a similar though somewhat greater authority in respect to the governments of the Philippines (where now there is seri- ous friction between the governor general and a native leader), Porto Rico and some of the smaller islands. Status of District. No department or service other than the President himself exercises complete supervision over the Dis- trict of Columbia, notwithstanding the fact that the administrative rela- tions between the government of th nation’s capital and the national 1 for looking after! maintained upless the ritories anq dependencies are treated as one system. at least to the extent that transfers and promotions can readily be made. Needs Are Summarized. To summarize the recommendations of the institute— That there is need for a service that shall have general charge of the jaffairs of all the territories and de- { pendencies of the United States, with the exception of those zmall islands valuable chiefly as naval, cable and wireless stations. That the service should be analo- ! 1 | igous to the colonial departments of | i foreign governments, but should be a bureau rather than an independent | department. due to the relatively smaller importance of these de- ipendencies and the character of the ipolicy of the United States toward their government. ! "That such a_bureau finds its most llogical place in the Department of iState. which has duties most nearly (akin to those of the bureau proposed and makes use of a personnel whose general qualifications are similar to those required of territorial and de- pendency officials. Bureau Out of Place. That there is no justification what- soever for having in the War De partment a bureau of insular affairs which is now a purely and has no duties of a military character. That the arrangement under which the Department of the Interior now has supervision over the territories as distinguished from the depend- encies is an unsatisfactory one. That a great improvement would result by having concentrated in one service all functions of a general su- pervisory and control character over dependent territory of all kinds. That an equally important improve- ment would result by relieving the War_ and _Interior departments of duties in no way germane to their other and more primary functions. It will be noted that the action here recommended does not involve an addition to the number of exist- ing services, but, on the contrary, a reduction in such number through the concentration in one service of duties now divided among two departments. [ civil agency | {already have received a bonus of $62, 000,000 above market price for the Isu\-” we have bought. had your way i vou would be simply delivering $5.000. 000 more money from the public treasury to promote the special inter-| ests of the silver industry To this charge of a “bonus” the! producers_strenuously object. claim-i ing the $5.000,000 act: v belongs (ol’ the silver men under th®Pittman act. | The actual transaction by the; Treasury over which the discussion] larises was a technical procedure. claimed by the Treasury to be wholly within the law, by the producers to be wholly in violation of the and not at all understood by the aver: age man in the street. Reams of Testimony Taken. Reams of testimony over the mat- ter have been taken by the Subcom- mittee of the commission of gold and {silver inquiry of the United States Senate, the subcommittee consisting of dne man, Senator Pittman, demo- crat, of Nevada. and author of the Pittman act. He is strongly opposed to the action of the republican admin- istration, which would prevent the i purchase of millions of dollare’ worth {of silver at $1 an ounce from the silver producers of the country—of evada. i The Pittman act, approved.April 23, 11918, provided that the Treasury lcould melt silver dollars up to 350, 1000,000 and sell them, provided the Isilver was all replaced by purchase {from the mines of the United States 1at the dollar price. This was for the purpose, accord- ing to the language of the act, of conserving the gold supply. of the { United States; “to permit the settle- { ment in silver of trade balances ad- verse to the United States; to pro- vide silver for subsidiary coinage and for commercial use: to assist foreign governments at war with the enemies of the United States, and for the i{above purposes to stabilize the price tand encourage the production of sil- iver Sales Made to Britain. ! The Treasury melted up and sold to the British government for use in India 259,000,000 silver dollars, to re- place which it is estimated by the Treasury it will require the purchase and not merely the Special interests|rise nor the subsequent decline of|cnough Iver producers, and it would!1 cent was due to the increase of |sugar to supply the market and sta- 0 | sixteen one-hundredths of 1 cent per, of the s be manifestly improper for it t throw an additional burden of $5,000, 000 or more on the taxpayers of the country in order to help producers of silver by making purchases of | ver at the artificial price of $1 per ounce, 1.000 fine, beyond what is need- | ed under the act. The revocation of these allocations | of silver for subsidiary coinage,” it | tated, “means a saving to the peo- ple of the United States, or, in nlhpr' words, to the whole body of taxpayers | of over $5,000.000. representing in part the saving realized through not hav- | ing to purchase over 14,500,000 ounces | of silver at a price averaging about 20 cents an ounce over the regular market price, and in part a saving of interest resulting from making avail- able for immediate coinage into standard silver dollars. bullion, which | would otherwise be kept as a dead asset in the subsidiary silver bulliony acccount until such later time as fur- ther silver might be needed for sub sidiary coinage.” Senator Pittman’s Views. ' Senator Pittman: “The act au- thorized the sale by the Treasury De- partment of such silver dollars to the director of the mint for subsidiary coinage. The sales were completed. Thé act expressly provided how ch silver dollars =0 broken up and spld for subsidiary coinage should be re- placed, namely, by purchase of Amer- ican produced and reduced silver. There is no other way in which such silver dollars can be replaced. “You seem to desire to construe the act so that the government may have won either way. As long as| silver was above a dollar an ounce it was a sale even for a period of three years, and when silver goes down below a dollar an ounce it is not a sale. No such position could be maintained by an individual under the law. Why should such practices be attempted by departments of the government? “Irrespective of the legal question involved, it must be obvious to the Treasury Department that it has vio- lated the spirit of the law and has thereby deceived the producers of silver in the United States to thelr frreparable damage.” > [ September or to the estimated size of the Cuban crop, is obvious. Producers of .sugar in Cuba have tried for twenty vears to make the American people believe that it would be to our best interest to abandon our home sugar tndustry and allow Cuban | Sugar to enter our ports free or near- W free of duty. they contending that ' duty the cheaper the lower the less the liability of the the sugar and extortion. Past experience does not justify this contention. Not for thirty years has Cuban sugar enjoved so low a rate of duty when enteming our ports as from March, 1914, to May, 1921—a rate of 1 cent per pound. Yet it was under this very low rate of duty that, in 1920, when there was an apparent world shortage of sugar, in Cuba practiced the most mercile: piece of commercial piracy to which | this country has ever been subjected. Purchased During War. For several years during the war, the United States government pur- chased the entire Cuban crop of sugar !at a specific pre-arranged price. far in excess of what we had been paying Dbefore the war. In 1920 we were buylng Cuban sugar in the open mar- Ket, and from December to March, while the marketing of domestic beet sugar, regulated in price by the Tnited States Department of Justice, was in full swing, the New York price of granulated sugar made from Cuban raws declined 2% cents per pound. But when the domestic crop, the mar- Kketing of which had stabilized prices, had been largely absorbed, the price of imported sugar rapidly increased vofined rising from 11.03 cents March {9 to 23.57 cents May 19. In June of that year, producers of sugar in Cuba charged us $120.000,000 for 377,000 tons of sugar, an increase of 562 per cent above their average pre-war price. In other words, they charged us as much for this com- paratively small quantity of sugar as before the war they averaged to charge for a crop of 2,500,000 tons. Throughout the month of Junc the producers | left of the domestic beet s it does for severa! bilize the price. months every year. The 600,000 tons i pound in the rate of duty made 1ast|of unsold sugar in Cuban warehouses appeared to be the only surplus stock in the world. Under these conditions. with the United States duty of only 1 cent per pound, American and other producers of sugar in Cuba met in Havana on June 30 and formed a combination. under the terms of which they ‘agreed not to sell us or fany one else another bag of raw suga# at less than 24 cents per pound € 2 b. Cuba Break Cuban Combination. Th action so stirred our govern- ment that it scoured the world and found and brought in enough sugar to break the Cuban combination. But notwithstanding this, our 1920 for- cign sugar bill amounted to the pnormous sum of $3973.035,744, of { which amount $668,9 103 went to produmers of sugar in Cuba. All this under a 1-cent duty on sugar. Free sugar or a low enough rate of duty to put our domestic sugar industry out of business would destroy the only afeguard against the extortion jwhich these producers in foreign countries, unrestrained by our anti- trust laws, can practice throughout the vear without fear of serious con- sequences. | The extra $330.000.000. which, in 11920, the producers of sugar in Cuba ;\‘rnnl! from us over and above the average pre-war price of their prod- juct, was an amount sufficient to erect a string of 400 beet and cane sugar factories. which would supply us with 4,000,000 tons of sugar annually, every pound of which would be produced and marketed subject to all of our |anti-trust and trade regulatory laws which forbid pools, combinations and extortion. It would prevent future sugar gouges, render us independent of the world for a great staple food product and would annually divert more - than _$200,000.000 from the pockets of Wall street sugar ex- ploiters to the pockets of American farmers. TRUMAN G. PALMER, Sugar Statistician. |