Evening Star Newspaper, October 21, 1923, Page 39

Communists Active. Communists through Premier Zeig- ler of Saxomy have initiated their movement toward communismfor the reich, but, inasmuch as the Strese- monarchist military elements in the mann government has had the sup-| port, morally and physically, of the THE SUNDAY STAR, BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a.brief summary of the most Important news of the world for the seven days ended October 20. Germany.—On October 13, the reichstag passed, 316 to 64, Stresemann’s “authorization biil,” vesting his government with dTctatorial, cconomie, financial and social powers. The most important development of the week was the Heclaration by Stresemann (conveyed in identical notes to the French and Belgian governments) that the German government could not, pending rehabllitation of the na- tional finances, reimburse the industrial mag- nates for deliveries upon the account of repa- rations. “Why bless us,” say the French, “If there ain't passive resistance again all togged up in a ndw dress. My, but you do look sweet, child.” Besides the declaration noticed above, tho note announced that the German government had ordered the German railroad men in the occupled territory back to work, and it re- newed the proposal of a conference on the Ruhr situation between representatives of the reichswehr in scotching communistic outbreaks, the Saxons and Thurin- gians have not gone far in their at- tempt to effect disruption of the reich or Instigating widespread com- munistic movement, However, remains to be seen just how sugcessful they may be in case the German workman is made {to believe that the nationalists and monarchists are on the verge of re storing the old order. It remains to be seen whether or not the workmen of the nation can be swayed to th cause of communism when the mon- archists n _ point the pros perous years for all Germany under monarchical forms of government. But the communists naturally wili say that this form bL’fl\ rnment was Should They Fail Separation of Reich BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN. | Wittelsbach emperor and the hated in the saddle and it is with the ides to monarclical forms for the courses in the face of Stresemann from Prussian control, is within the observers the world over, realize to amellorate extremely trying in- |ing as they must discontent in every | any later period. into any sort of negotiations on the financiai and economic burden, with To,add to the extreme dissatisfac- ounced that, because of the bank- ! sistance, Berlin no longer can finance the past. Unless the French and Bel- thousands will he left to hunger, dustrial products turned over to the varalyzing of industrial machinery. and turn o the government. The | FoiqnsIble for the T e o nsoduen POWER ‘OF MONARCHISTS . . 1 Believed Certain—French IVIL war within Gormany, | Hohenzolierns 'will' have lost all of extending Bavarian influence that whole of the reich or com- ediets. . immediate horizon. | o that unless the monarchists win ternal conditions. It has faifled to | #ection of Germany, there will be 1it- the French becauso of the absolute | reparations question which might consequent stabillzing of currency tion of the people generally, the rupt condition of the government and the million workers in the Ruhr and | slan occupying forces act stremuous- The German government's refusal to occupying powers on account of rep- idustrialists declare that they re- 'Eovernment replies: “Wo cannot; we in Resisted. ain hesisted. chance of control. Bavaria will be leading to an early return von Kahr has pursued his recalcitrant nlete separation of Germanic states Monarchists, as well as political The government in Berlin has failed | within the next few weeks, capitaliz- even obtaln % meeting ground. with | t1° chance of achleving thelr goal at refusal of Premier Polncare to enter lead to the easylng of Germany's and payments of international debts. Stresemann _ government has an- in view of thc end to passive re- the Rh been done in Iy and expeditiously hundreds of Kuarantee payments on coal and in- arations will lead to the complete fuse to shoulder the burden further are broke.” affiliate with the proposed new o Radicals Drawn Together. In view of Stresemann’s position in regard to France and his refusal to further aid the workmen of the i nation, particularly those in the j Ruhr, hoping to establish through | hunger the alleged iniquitles of | France’s purpose, there has been a | rapid growth of sympathy between the extreme communistic democratic of the Charge and Countercharge. The French see an attempt to di the Poincare policy and place M™e onus for the demoralization cer- tain to follow squarely upon them. The Germans declare that they will not be responsible for conditions pursuant to the abandonment of orkmen’s doles and that if the rench had shown any desire to ap- proach the whole question fairly and | The socialists and “quarely solution could have heen | gooo SG® Fo8 AN ound storation of industrial! force general ur progress assured. ! ment of the po The French viewpoint is heightened | government, Strescmann s _suspect- by the statement of Chancellor | &g of athizing with- the mon- Stresemann to the press of Germany | irchical cause, even though he be a in which he declares that Germany | socialist. vould not openly defy the French a|*°Ne mutter what ma: éw weeks ago, for it was necessary éptain to beha mace that time elapse to prove that the ¢nd of passive resistance was NOt|many and the liberal elements as solely desired by the French and that | reprasented by the socialists and com- they onl¥ were striving for complete | muntars Mercy will not be shown dissolution of the reich. Significance | to the other once either is In power, must be attached to the Stresemann |and this fact being well recognized, statement that Germany will defy | jo quarter will be shown once Ger- elemen nation. ical perils aval and readjust- tion of the present come, ther is for control S o e S TR B T BRI TS kind because there can be no pay- |°n¢% ments when the French hold the in- Determined Action Sure. dustrial heart of Germany and T = that Germans have sent Tuse Germans rights in Germanic ter- | 1f it 18 trile that Germans hav 5l ritory. The burden of resistance and | notice to ‘the allled powers that n ;;;!mlcht ‘m f‘lflm squal 3 v ;n‘ the | further payments in kind or cash will rench by Stresemann, who deelares v the Gei zovernment | that, while insisting that the Ger.|De made by the German go Heral mans pay, the French cripple Ger- | in settling reparations accounts therc any’s plins slooking toward finan- | is certain to be determined action on | ul recovery. In other words, he ot ir At s < . Fur- points” out that, while the Frenoh | the Part of France and Belsium. Fur- | ’:f";fi that the German fnanclal | yere not within the immediate visio: | L L ded. they sist on | ¢ py er Poincare. Request for acs measures—principaliy guarantees for | Of Premicr Poncare. Roeaqusst (oF S0 | latels, Impossible for Germany to PV | domanding restoration of payments the value of the new goid eurrency | in kind per the Versailles schedule. vhich the German government Is at- | L1 belng signed by Ttaly and Eng- 2 o4 | 1and. Poincare ca el for o- S ment that he has the backing of the Upheaval Believed Certain, | milies i ferthier attampta 1o/ press " & ‘rench wi upo! h ie! 8. Whatever the merits of the cleims | the other hand, if the Germans reply and counterclalms emanating from | that they cannot pay they must be Berlin and Parls, it is o foregone con: | Elven chance to advance reasons, and clusion that present conditions can- | beped§e 0T thIS ,,,,’mm’:ms‘,fi'm,ms_‘ mot continue within the reich for!sion, a thins sterenuously resisted by many more days without upheaval.|Polncaro up until such time us the The monarchists are declared to have | {fgrmans have made plain their good undermined the will of the reichswehr | ¥ lo Berve the government in times of | Humbling on East Fronticis. «civil strife. Throughout Germany, re- » : af- ent advices indicate, gymnasiums| It 18 sienificant at this stage of af ind various social clubs have been|falrs, when everything appears »ut pretex fr;r the '.’rg“’-’l’mfl" of | cloudy, that the Polish government | an army outside an army. Millions | ¢noy1q announce to its people that 1t Is | when nationalist leaders, those in|Preparing to embark upon ventures extreme sympathy with the mon-( reflecting the honor and glory of the archist cause, give the word. Strese- | nation. No mention is made of pur- nann or no other republican govern- | poses, but in view of the close work- ment can survive any crisis if the!ing arrangement between the soviet relchswehr is eaten with sedition, #f | officlals in Moscow and the German ndicated. Ludendorff and ®Prince Os- | communista and the assembly of | ‘ar, son of the kaiser, and the os- | many soviet divisions of troops with- | renstble heads of the movement, have | in striking distance of the Polish | heen extremely active in recent days | frontier the action of the Polish gov- | throughout the reich and are said to | ernment is significant. The Poles be- iave effected clos working agree- | ing bound offensively and defensively ients with relchswehr leaders in | to preserve Frances interests in eas Lvery section. | ern Europe, it is believed that the | The hotbed of nationalism is in Ba- | movements of both the Poles and the ' varla and there is every indication | Russians are In anticipation of chaos that there will be a complete break | within Germany. The Russ would hetween Bavarla and the Berlin | move forward {0 ald Germanic com- zovernment in the immediate fu-'munistic brethren. The Poles, true to i | ent-day nation and as a consequence i and social mmunists, in the | might |as between the old order in Ger-| German government and the occupying gu- thorities. A As to the alleged inability of the German government to pay for reparations deliveries in kind, renerked Poincare, to the German charge d'affaires, who presented tlfe note, it was up to it to get together with the industrial magnates and find a way. Passive resistance would not be considered ended prior to the re- sumption of reparations deliveries and France would 1ot enter into a general reparations ne- gotiation prior to cessation of passive resist- ance. For obvious reasons he would not dis- cuss with the German government the local situation in_the occupied territory 1 As I see it, Stresemann’s announcement of inability of his government to pay for repari- tions deliveries and his reiterated.proposal of participation of his government in negotia- tions looking to the resumption of work in the Ruhr are to be read together. By the an- nouncement he threw a monkey wrench into the machinery of negotiations between Gen Dogoutte and the industrial magnates. He de- termined, so it appears, to wreck those nego- tiations unless he should be allowed to sit in and bargain. Whatever may be the history of thosp negotiations, it seems that the indus- trial magnates are now working in accord Stresemann. They have let it be unde that if the French insist upon reparations de liveries, and if the reich government refuse to reimburse them therefore, no aiternative is left them but to shut down altogetier. The French coldly comment that the German gov- ernment and capitalists are still throwing dust into the eyes of the world; that the so- lution is not so difficult Let the billions of gold assets expatriated he reparated and be used to rehabilitate th national fisc, pay the workers in real mone: and set the wheels going. Let the government bring pressure on capitalists to this end. Dust _throwing, dust throwing” cry the French. The German government alleges that financing by it of reparations deliveries as per the schedule would completely nullify its program of deflation of currency and flscul reform “Fiddlesticks,” say the French. The repara- tion schedule calls for delivery to the allies of only 17 _per cent. Of the coal and coke output of the Ruhr, and for only a trifling percentage of other outputs of the reich. The 40 per cent coal tax should finance the coal deliveries, with a lot to spare, Be consider the immense saving from cessation of passive resistance. Assuming a genuine will to reform, money of sorts must be found to keep the wheels of in- dustry moving. To say that financing of repa- rations deliveries would seriously impede a program of reform is to say the thing that s not. Hello, why, If there ain’t little Miss“Pas- sive Resistance again In still another dress. Wherever does she get all those dresses. That remind us. We note that Berlin has annonuced abolition of the coal tax To sum up, the French see in this lategt development only a new phase of passive re- sistance. They have made resumption of repa- rations deliveries as per schedule, a test of German good faith, with results seen. the jare familia conditions But readers an eminent ploration a BY BURT M. McCONNELL. Meteorologist, Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-1914. HE announcemenrt that Capt. Amundsen intends to fly from Spitzbergen to Alaska, over the north pole, instead of from Aluska to Spitzbergen, Is a remlmier‘ that somewhere between Siberia and the north pole, and held In an fey grasp | from which few ships have escaped, 1s this intrepid explorer's schooner Maud, designed by him and named for Nor- way's Queen. A Hemmed in by thousands of square miles of paleocrystic ice, this little vessel, manned by a few volunteers, Journey vears to g0 Jjourney of (Contint Peary’s navigator never return_alive from | of the Arctic ocean. As a Union Man Sees It - WASHINGTO. / Of the food riots T shall say little. They have “been numerous, but not so numgrous and with not so many clashes and casualties as might have been expected. This aspect of the general situation is, or, should be, far less serious thay several others. There is sufficient food in the reich. It is a question of distribution. It is up to_the food minister. & iohary Bavaria continues to practice “passive resistance” against the Stresemann government. She does not object to dictator- ship, military or economic in principle, au con- traire. She objects to dictatorship by the Stresemann government because of its social- ist afiiliations. A nationalist dictatorship in full accord with Bavarian ideals—that would be the ticket. Stresemann forbears to put pres- sure on_ Bavaria. Red Saxony and red Thuringia rejoice in mixed sociallst-communist governments, not that the socialists and communists love each other, but that their differences are forgotten in a common hatred and fear of Bavarla, There have been disorders, some say a veritable red terror in both states, industrial magnates have fled’ for their lives to Berlin and made the welkin ring with their protests. The Saxon minister-president asserts his competency to cope with the disofders in his state, counter blasts against the indutrial chief, charges that the reichswehr commander in Saxony has ex- ercised his delegates dictatorial powers op- ively, demands lifting of the “state of and asks why the reichswehr should such zeal to suppress the “proletarian hundreds” (without arms in the open, what- ever their caches), organized to defend the re public iIn case the reactionaries should le war against it, or to defend Saxony should th threatening Bavarian invade. Stresemann is in a quandry. Should he yield a 1ot to Saxony, no telling what Bavaria might do, On the other hand, the governing board of the united socialist party has declarcd sym- pathy with the Saxon president, They support his demand for abolition of the state of sjege. Must the second coalition cabinet go? It looks like it. Further notice of this important de- velopment must go over to next week. The above summary is based on dispatches to includes those of Friday. 1 may only brietly notice Saturday's dispatches, some of which herald stark, uncompromisin, defiance o Francg, by Stresemann, absolutely refused b: him of rep: tion deliveries to Fran and an appeal by him to the world against’ Poincare’ pdlicy coldly calculated to ruin the reich, reparations deliveries being a minor considera- tion. Apart from other consequences such a move would start a world logomas , those on the one part justifying jt, those on the other aracterizing it as the last word in passive resistance and in the art of propaganda. The Saturday dispatches tell also of fresh igstance of Bavarian recaleitrance and of fresh striking evidence of a soclalist-tendency leftward. * ok K Kk China. Almost the first act of Tsauo Kuu's new government was to answer the diplomat's second note of protest and demand concerning the Lin Ching affair.From the brief digest in the dispatches it would scem that the Chinese note promises substantial compliance except as regards the diplomat's proposal of super- ision of the railway police by foreign offi- cers. One cannot but sympathize with Tsao Kun's refusal to allow such a renewed in- fringement on China's sovereignty. &t any rate, it is certain that.imposition of foreign military control on the railroads would be return to the “old forgotten, far-off” methods of the days before the Washington conference. 1 am awaiting with much curiosi the full text of the new Chinese constitution. The ex- tracts 1 have seen aré very satisfactory. They prescribe a large measure of provincial auton- omy, but the abolition of all military forces except a national army under central control, and that “the milltary expense of the nation shall not exceed one-quarter of the national annual expenditure, except in the event of a foreign war.” This is precisely as it should be. But it remains to be seen whether the Tuchuns will consent to be abolished. But what {s Wu Pel-Fu thinking or propos- ing the while? I spoke last week somewhat disparagingly of Tsao Kun. I should have remarked that he has a considerable share of Bonhomie, and that a good deal of his success has been attributed to this tra r with sce and weather | in the western Arctic. may also recall that such authority on arctic ex- s Capt. Robert Bartlett, in_his successful the pole, predicted a few that Stefansson would his sled | 750 miles over the ic failure for Amund: | into_consideration to overcome. judgment will be Millan's—or mine. sen's proposed flight ued from First Page.) is slowly drifting over the “top of the world.” If she is not crushed by the enormous ice flelds, as scores of other ‘ships have been, the Maud may drift within two or three vears beyond the pole; to the vicinity of Spitzbergen, where } Union, then vention. pressure of drifting | of influence and numbers in the fed- ! eration, and so the machinists took their grievance to a federation con- In other words, without any federa- paign of 1924 the largest union in potnt | (J1 its fleld It first |are a suffi ADETe, OCTOBER 21, 1923—PART “telling of disaffection Before we predict either success or with death. let the’ man himself. ! the his flying equipment, the factors conditions that are in his favor, and the obstacles he may be-called upon | quest "n, When all is said and done, Amund- | plant the fla is against tremendous odds: | torles in preparation for ; of extenson work the | journ: ion has been very successful.|a ra | organizes local unions particular vocation, and when ent number of these locals the federation organizes them into an international union, and with the as-| |sistance of the federation and through 2 " The Story the Week Has Told | ¥'The Philippines—The problems facing Gen. Wood, governor general of the Philippines, srow more and more perplexing and exasper- ating. In his report for 1922 thg general showed how governmenj operation of a na- tiond]l bank and other government busine enterprises in the Philippines had proved failures, how all had been carried 6n at a loss, and with lamentable lapses from honesty, the " obvious inference from these and other facts being that the Filipinos are not yet to be trust- ed with complete self-government. This ex- positfon, at once so truthful and so unflatter- ing, enraged the nationalistic leaders, of whom Manuel Quezon is chief. The seat falling va- cant for senator in the Manila district, they announced that the bye-elgetion to fill it would be a test of the relative strengths of the op- ponents, and the supporters of Gen. Wood— home- rule against alien domination, freedom against “autocracy” and all that—and bent every energy to defeat the candidate of the democratic party, which party supports Gen. Wood's policies. The coalitionist or nationalist candidate won by 45,000 votes to his opponents 40,000, 2 At first blush this result might seem a re- buff to Gen. Wood, but considering the ad vantages enjoyed by nationalist propaganda it is regarded by the judicious as highly flatter- ing to the great administrator. A recent flock of dispatches from Manila gave us a bad quarter of an hour, dispatches among the Philippiue outs of a nationalist sentiment in the con- stabulary growing more bellicose every in- stant, of secret societies resembling the old Italian Carbonari, only mor. and of mul plying signs and omens portending insurre tion. The which turned out to be exaggerative, but there's no exaggerating Quezon's uncom- promising zeal. To be sure, having hoped that his propaganda would discredit Gen. Wood with the Washington gevernment and feo a vociferousreaction in the United States favor- able to his purposes ple message from Seeretary Weeks ,assgring Washington's whole-hearted suppoft of Gen. Wood's : damped his ardor for a moment, hut ¢ moment. On October 16 the Philippine legis- lature in joint session listened quictly to Gen. Wood's message, but the next day both houses voted a resolution demanding the re- call of Gen. Wood, copies of which will be for- warded to P ént Coolidge and the Wash- ington Congre: The coming proceedings the legislature will be ched with intere Quezon is sald to control twenty of the twénty-four votes of the senat the hous. he can surely count on fifty-six of the ninety- three votes, sixty-two being required to over- ride the governor general te. He claims to have won over six democrats, completing the magic number. That little adventure cast deserves attention. s poli of ours in the fur il 3 United States of America A the North Canadlan river burst the other day and the flood swept up to the heart of Oklahoma City, completely submerging the val section The loss of 1ife was slight, owing to admirable cue organization, but the loss of property in the city and vailey was great, that of the-cot- ton farmers alone being reckoned above $15,000,000. Whether the Klan or the governor is the more responsible for the visitation is a nice question. The session of the Oklahoma house on the 17th was a stormy one. There was language worthy of the most brilliant traditions of the southwest, and the sergeant-at-arms was a busy man, one legislator addressed to another the following compendious and beautiful * preciation:” “You are a piki pussy-footing, political jackal." Out of the melee emerged a resolution pro- viding for investigation of Klan ities by a committes of six. K %k Note.—Still no news from Spain and nonc concerning the Fiume question. Can it be that Mussolini, an economist of sorts, is cultivating silence for its golden quality? dam in p- -eating, But the Norwegman plorer is accustomed to flirting with srim Reaper; he has been doing it for twenty years. Fired with am- bition by his comparatively edsy con- of the Northwe: Passage, ex- us and That done, the reader's ! which had been the goal of Aroctic e s good as Ma | plorers Years, for nearly three hundred Amundsen next e essayed to of Norway at the Soy Pt & way at the South o Pole. gamble, Amugdsen's luck in_ other expedi- | tions, coupled twith efficiency, endur- :lh(“""' nd a fortunate choice of com- panions, has been proverbial, If he is fortunate enough to have eclear I\ln‘nlh('r, and if the engines of his three airplanes, fiying in relays, can b kept droning steadily for from { twelve to eighteen hours, it is hoped the cam- | top this ime. But the fact that he | under kKing an extremely hazardo must not be overlooiced b adventure, in afof Capt. Alcock there | across the and tlantic. Lieut. with stunt. Scores of stout ships have disap- and belleved that he will come out on | such as the flight | Brown s little | ility to recommend it; a dangerous peared into the insatiable white maw ture, the Bavarians may be rally around the cause of Crown Prince Rupprecht and initiate from | Munlch erystallized movements lead- | ng toward the overthrow of the re publte. If this mann can do little to suppress the snovement by virtue of the weakness of relchswehr morale. If the Bavarian and monarchist plans are carried to frultion then Premier von Kabr ofj Bavaria will have achicved hfb pur- v0se in rallying Germany around a ex Surplus in U. S. Declared Propaganda Fiction “When the ncxt Congress meets) 1 shall make an effort to learn juet | how much money the Chicago wheat | speculators spent to propaganda the <laim that we raised too much wheat and must therefore sell it for less than cost and discontinue sowing it,” says Representative E. C. Little of Kansas, who 18 the author of a bill to stabilize the price of wheat| through federal price-fixing or fed ral purchase and storage. “We have no surplus. did have any. 4 thing as a surplus bushel of wheat. Ivery vear the world disposes of one crop before the next comes in, oxcept the ordinary and necessary carry-over for flour and other heces. sary requirements. This surplus bub- Dble is the biggest anu cruelest fake er,perpetrated in this country. It wost our farmers millions of dollars 1nd made no money for anybody, ex t cept the speculators.” Cites Official Figures. In 1922 the farmers raised $62,000,~ 700 bushels of wheat and sold every single solitary bushel, except gbout 15,000,000, Representative ttle points out, quoting statistics, which iio secured from Secretary Wallace of the United States Department of Agriculture. “In 1923 they raised 73,- 000,000 bushels less than last year, continued Representative Little. “There never has been the slightest oxcuse at any minute for this ein- ster and hysterical propaganda, which cuiminated fin the surplus Once this situation eventuates | ected ln} eventuates Strese- l We never | There never was such | their pledges to France, would strive to frustrate llaison of Germanic and Russian interests. France immediate- ly would be forced to act in eastern Europe, and particularly if conditions within Germany become more chaotic dally. Both Stresemann and Poincare today arc in the position of small boys poking poles into a hornet's nest to | see If the hornets will sting the other. And ‘l’t twoul;:‘aprlenr that the hornets | are but making ready to givi both a busy half hou: ) Eiveuthem ! B1 vithout the e s will | tion law on the subject, wit ot d";’;::g"m“ 2 { formal ceding of rights therefore re- Sriale andismayed | SeFved to its afiliates, the federation by the mecident to his airpiane at|¥as asked to “mediate” between two Wainwright, Alaska, last June, is of its associates, and to that extent returning to Norway by way of the the machinists’ union surrendered its United States. dThcdl)r’ig\nul ))lhflll is autonomy. t to be abandoned; he merely has 2 s Pl o & Toversed thd direction of the pro-| This fight lasted for vyears, and Dosed flight. {while it never was decided by the “Not sinco’ Andre, a Swedish enel- | federation and the machinists never neer, tried some ‘twenty-five years' o Wl % 0 B CRC Ypographical ago to discover the north pole b union today includes practically all {of the machine caretakers employed Amundsen, Wheat Bins the time the next crop comes, there i no surplus. “In 1922 we h 81,000,000 bush, 862,000,000 we ail a carry-over of els and adding this to | raised, we started the season last vear ivith 943,000,000 | bushels: Of this we exported 154,- | 000,000 bushels, leaving 789,000,000 bushels for the home market, which | bought every bushel of it, except the | 35,000,000 the farmers carried over| because they wanted to. TUse All Wheat Raised. | “Curlously enough, 789,000,000 | bushels is the exact amount of wheat | In other words we used up at home last year ex- | we ralsed this year. ¢ actly as much wheat as we raised ' ance flight. | this year, and will use it agaln it | we do not export a bushel. “There has never been an hour| | when a careful examination of the facts wouldn't have demonstrated without any question the absurdity | | of this surplus bubble, and yet our| people have been told to give away ! thelr wheat and iiscontinue sowing ! it, because men who want to buy their wheat for nothing were able to circulate that stuff.- If the law, of supply and demand had been in force in the United States since the | last harvest, every bushel of good | No. 2 wheat in our state would have sold at its owner's home at $1.95 a bushel and would be worth that much right now. “This tale of a world surplus is just as great a hoax, and the esti- mates from Canada seem to be a de- liberate effort to deceive the market, 1 would rather have the opinion of the Pottawatomie medicine man than wheat bubble. The farmers raise wheat to sell, and it makes no dif-l ‘erence whether they sell it to New York or Rome, if they sell it all by any tale that comes out of Canada concerning wheat, all imaginary and located at the other end of the rain- bow.” {flight of roughly 2,000 miles, from {ous—some say foolhardy—adventure? means of a specially constructed balloon, has such a daring- plan_as Amundsen’s been _attempted. ThIS | iy composing rooms. Then, with the improvement in and more extensive use of machinery, to- Spitzbergen to Point Barrow, ls, in fact, generally conceded to be the greatest venture into the unknown since Columbus set out from the shores of Spain. * ¥k * ¥ Andre’s fate may never be known, although there are legends among the Eskimos of the Hudson's Bay reglon that ho perished after landing in that inhospitable coun- try. Does the same fate await unions working in new trades and new materials, the questions of juris- diction began to multiply, and federation conventions were fairly ! deluged with them, the weak untion {always protesting against grabbing by the large union. In the end the power of settle- ment of these jurisdiction flghts was | practically ceded to the federation, although the law was not amended, jand tho federation changed from an Amundsen and oné or more of his|arbitrator without power of enforce- {ment to a tribunal asserting the rig! three pllots. Andre was - entirely o "oyforcement. International unions dependent far his crulsing speed and | were expelled because they refused his direction upon air currents, of | to recognize this right. which little was known twenty-five| The power of ‘;h;mloe:;;;tl‘gyumg ars ago: Amundsen will have thres | ginning to disappear. Not a little of new all-metal airplanes, Cauwhed!the violence that has marred the his Wwith a sturdy type of engine that has | ;.. "¢ the unions is directly trace- functioned steadily for more than | oIy of the unions i Cirect twenty-six hours in a single endur- * .k k% In its beginnings the federation was rather & weak and loosely asso- ciated band of international unions. Its headquarters were in New York city, and mainly a name. Then of- fices were established In Indianapolis. What, then, are his chances emerging safely from this hazard- for and one of ine hal What are the _factors, against the explorer, any which may be sufficient to dete; the success or failure of this el journey through the clouds? Donald B. MacMillan, o of Peary's licutenants on his succeSstul dash’ to the -pole, feels sure the pro- posed flight will end in certain death for both Amundsen and his pilot. My own opinion, after having strug- gled with dog teams over the chaotic ice fields north of Alaska with Stef- ansson and his party; after having carefully observed weather and ice conditions in the Arctic; after having had two years' experlence in the United States Army air service dur- ing and after the war—after all this, my opinion is that the chances are soven to one that Amundsen will not reach his goal. * %ok % It is dangerous to predict elther success or failure In an adventure of this sort. MacMillan holds out no hope whatever for success, and this fecling is shared by many . active explorers and whaling captains who Were removed to Washington. ~Now began the supremacy of the federation in matters of leglslation; at first, of course, in a modest way and gradually expanding until today it is one of the most important and far-reaching of its activities. It ad- vises its affiliates of the attitude to take on pending legislation, reflecting in this advice its support of or oppo- sition to a pending bill. It opposes nominees for office that may be disastrous—that is, not friend- Iy to its cause. It compiles the legis- lative records.of senators and rep- resentatives, and circulates these rec- {ords in election compaigns for the guidance of wage earners in the cast- Ing of their ballots. Tt but recently sent out a statement in which the claim is iade that it was a factor in the election of more than twenty United States senators and about 150 representatives. It is now consolidating its political vie- gether with the organization of new | the | After a few years the headquarters | | their own efforts the work is carried on_until the new body is able to walk without assistance. | In an instance where an industry s largely local or where there is un- | usual” difficulty in establishing a chain of local unions, such unions as |t is possible to organize continue in direct charter relationship with the federation, and there are thousands o these local bodies. | Unions in the various states are or- | 8anized into state federations, mainly ! for the promotion of favorable I |lation and the opposing of legis | that may be thought to be inimical | These state bodies also promote the | organization of the wage earners. | They are as a rule powerful ad- juncts of the parent body. In many States in the last campaign they were active politically, and they claim that the results show that they have at last marshaled labor into & victorious political legion. In New York state they are not at all backward in as- serting that they ruined a most prom- | ising presidential aspiration. . . . | The American Fegeration of Labor conduets its political activities through | & non-partisan campaign committee, |and directly afiiliated local unions {and state federations follow closely | the political plans outlined and the attitude toward candidates for office |as outlined by the federation com- | mittee. | Thus the committee may influence ‘many thousands of voters directly through the affiliated local unions, and | through ~the state federations it | reaches all other union members ir-| | respective of international afiliation. !In the great industrial and highly or- ganized Empire state this means more | than 1.000,000 voters. Therefore, when the American Fed- \ eration of Labor speaks politically it | has the means and the methods for making its voice heard in the land. If some one tells you that the work- ers do not heed, refer him to recent results. | 'There is still left to federation af- filiates the matter of wages, hours and working conditions—that is, up to a certain point. If the union is one | of the strong combinations and abun- dantly able to manage its own affairs, then there will be no interferemge. except, of course, in the giving of all the assistance in the power of the federation. But, on the other hand, if any union becomes so reckless that .ts ambition is exceeding its discretion, then a < way will be found—there will be no mussing up of labor's forward move- ment. In other words, the American Federation of Labor is a very power- ful union of unions, with certain very broud powers that are admitted rather than formally ceded, and, the very astute and experienced offiders of the federation know how to apply that power. 4 (Copyright. 1928, by the McClure Newspaher Syndicate.) of the Arctic, and the dreds of good men, and true have Deen snuffed out since man first hegan | seeking a northwest pa {hundreds of years a million square miles {hat ha | been explored. This is the { Region” shown on maps, Expert geographers tidal phenomena believe, jvation and study, that | mass 1 somewhere b ;and the FPole. ,In support theory, Eskimo now living i north coast of Alaska tell go. There are a vast of on the having been swept out drifting ice fields, from again. bowhead whales cruise | through Bering Strait, past Wrangel y1sland, and are not séen again until they emerge along the coast of Banks 'land. a thousand miles to the east- ward. to 1 on row, the northernmos say that each vear millions of water i sea, and that when these return they {come directly out of the north. At {least three of. these observations i dicate that land does exist in t “Unknown Region.” The bowhead whale, for example, must find sus- tenance in comparatively shallow water. Does he find his_way northward blocked by land. and is he forced to cruise along its southern edge to Banks land, feeding he goes? As for the ducks and geese, which come in millions, what is their habitat for | the severl months they remain in the Arctis Surely it can not be the ice flelds. * ok ok ok Whether or not land dogs exist in the area mentioned Amundsen may— and may not—find out. For such land | is likely to be covered by snow, and | therefore yhard to distinguish from the surrounding ice. It may also be covered by an impenetrable blanket of fog. But if Amundsen does d termine the existente or non-exist- ence of land between Alaska and the Pole, he will have accomplished a feat of incalcuable value to science. For it is of quite as much importance to sciente to know that land does not exist in a given area as that it does exist. Amundsen " is to undertake his flight from a base on shore. Whether he will reach his goal will depend mainly on how well his engines func- tion. His three airplanes are of the all-metal monoplan s type, with a type of engine that has been tested on flights from New_York to San Fran- cisco, from San Francisco to M. City, and from Chicagn to Fort man, just bemeath the.Are lives of hun- ssage to China a never “Unknown and students of ! & from obser- | land tween Alaska this oust : weird tales | of whole villages of their forebears | never to be heard : Whalers inform us that northward | And white men living at Point Bar- tip of Alaska, | ye fowl fly from the land straight out to! | | CLE SAM HOLDS BAG IN RECLAMATION WORK lSecretary Work Will Strive to Undo BY BEN McKELWAY. CASUAL reading of Secretary Work’s address convening his “fact finding commission” last week in its investigation of the country’s reclamation problem would go far towasd convineing the confirmed pessimist that there's something very { rotten in Denmark and somebody ought to go to jail. For the Secre- tary quotes facts, both dark and dis- mal, which point unerringly down | the road which leads to ruin and| utger desolation. | A more optimistic look into the problem, which led Secretary Work | to initiate his investigation reveals | same time a somewhat yet nevertheless puzzling, ituation. "It indicates without doubt n unfortunate state of affairs, but it sheds little light on what can be done to remedy it. The problem it- self Justifie cretary Work ful in whatever investigation he under- { takes ond will place untold value on the solution, if the investigators | re fortunate enough to hit on one. | Seeretary Work has singled out | the reclamation service as one his pets®for one of his first acts ad Secretary of the Interior was to in- | | stigate an investigation by the in- spection force of the Department of the Tnterior designed to bring about | a reduction of overhead expenses of | the various reclamation projects near | completion or, already in operation. | Next he appointed Miles Cannon, | former commissioner of agricultu for 1daho, to the post of field reclan ation commissionery a position de signed to bring abod® less duplication | and more co-operation between the | various governmental agencles with ' which “the reclamation farmer has, to deal, and to secure for the farmer more direct benefit from these agen- | 5. Secretary Work, later, instruct- | all reclamation project managers to consult with settlers, call confer- enc with them, investigate com- | plaints of water users and redr justifiable grievances and do all in heir power to fulfill an outlined program of co-operation with the farm Yet another step in his determina- tion to rejuvenate the reclamation service was made by Secretary Work when he appointed D. W. Davis, an experienced_business man, as com- missioner of the reclamation bureau, | this appointment leading to the sep- gration from the service of A. P. Davis, who had held this post for many and a wave of criticism from ering socleties in the United S Seccretary Work then {put into a new reclamation poliey, by which it was hoped to in- culcate “business principles into the operation of existifg reclamation projects and in the construction of} ew project | Now Finding Facts. The formation of a fact-finding commission was announced by the Secretary last month, and this com- mission go- under way In its fact finding here last week. In bis address last Monday before this body, Secretary Work outlined | Inis problem. “Through complaints | from water users, individual water users, reports of agents, inspectors, official records of the department and Congress it appeared ‘that nearly all| of the projects were in such condi- | tion that some radical reforms or improvements must be had if they| were to be saved, farmers protected from loss of their homes, and the return of the money advanced by the government for thetr construction and_maintenance was to be secured. “The complaints included charges that in many of the original projects the estimates under which settlers | were induced to go upon the projects were from 50 to 100 per cent too low, and that the actual cost has been so great that it is Impossible for the farmers to pay out within the time and manner fixed by law,| Jeven at all; that mistakes, engineer: ng and otherwise, had been made ' { which added materially to the cost of constructed projects; that others {had been undertaken that should i i i ! | overhead costs of the service and many of the individual projects, all borne by water users, were burden- { some and excessive.’ { Explaining that under the present 172,000 acres, {to whom | that | broad | ations has gone Inever have been started; that the Government's Investment. | Mistakes and Instill - Business Principles. tary Work may show actual condi tions on some projects- which are recorded at the Department of the Interior. In one profect, whers the cost of maintenance ‘was estimated to the farmer at $1.50 an acre, the cost {s $3.50 an acr farm this difference is between estimated and $2.100 actual maintenance. The estimated cost of bu project was $30 an_ acre, actual cost of construction an acre. 3 In another profect the estimated ost was $15 an acre and the actua o5t 396 In still another project the gov ernment contemplated irrigating arn area embracing 370,000 acres. To this end canals were built to irrigate while the actual num- ber of acres under irrigation final amounted to 45,000, The estimate cost of maintenance in this wa virtually doubled for the users. But $41,000 Repaid on One. On one project which running for fiftten ernment has spe The settlers weré under agreement to repay this twenty years. The actual ount palc to date has been about $41,000. This leaves a balance of $2,959,000 to be re paid in five years. Another project has bee tion for about thirteen cost to the government was approxi mately 00.000. The g romen has received from this project about $500,000. Still bees gov £3,000,000 origina amount i1 has the about nother project has government approximately 100,00 to build, ‘the government still i losing money annually for its main tenance, while nothing has been pai back on the original investment. Instances such as these, and ther are more of them, together with stacks and stacks of letters to th department from settlers complaininig of conditions, might indicate that reclamation is a failure But within the recla reau itself there are many have spent vears of studious cation to the reclamation problem t in e an old story and who are still far from o vinced of the failure of reclamation and who are ready and w i day if nec cost th Can Lift Head Proudly. The relamation bureau itself accustomed to being Investigated it can lift its head proudly among the government agencies which have undergone, from time to time, this more or less trving ordeal cretary Work's Investigation is too in its scope to confine itsel? to the question of whether or not the reclamation bureau itself has been deficient. He states the fact himself that he is only anxious th the investigation develops a policy to safeguard the future of govern ment reclamation, and he declares further that no comprehensive, in- dependent and comparative study the success, partial success, or f. ure of reclamation projects has ev been made before. But investigations tion service have nearly every ganized in 13 committee ¢ merel the reclama conducted it was or- congressional for approp into the matter reclamation, and very little has been done to remedy the principal evils outlined by Secretary Work. Reclamation Started in 1902, 1902, th of Reclamation started in llaw creating the service contempls ting a revolving fund which should originate from revenues from public lands, oil leases, etc, and be applied partially to reclaiming waste areas Settlers in this reclaimed 1 would repay the original cost of the project at the rate of 10 per cen year for a period of ten years, wi the government bore the expense of maintaining the projects until paid for. It looked too good and too easy to be true to the hearty settlers who | proposed to take oyer this converted land and turn it®into prosperous farms. But they found it harder than it looked. It took years to get the farm on its feet, to purchase necessary ejulpment, ' to co: {svstem he 1s unable to obtaln de- [ pendable figures, Secretary Work es- timates that the government's total Investment to Junme, 1923, in round numbers, is $181,000.000, and its re- about $46.000,000, leaving a invested and unpaid of $135,- And Secretary Work con- udes the reclumation service is in need of reorganization. An_agricultural expert already has testified before the commission that 65 per cent of all the farmers on reclamation projects are unable to mect their expenses. fon has been®told that out of the wenty-eight projects built by the government, pletely, and out ing, only struction. alled upon to enlarge upon outlined in his speech. Secre- of the twenty-five Amundsen’s three | pontoons for use on snow, land or water. Which type of landing gear { he will use has not definitely been announced, but reports agree that he will equip his machine with wheels, and take off from a land base, because of the excessive weight of ipontoons In so dolng, however, Amundsen will militate against his success to an alarming degree. Let see why. Amundsen will have no railroads. rivers, mountains, or other known| sdandmarks to guide him in his filght, such as Licuts. Macready and Kelly had in thelr recent transcontinental trip, but he will have something which these pioneers did not enjoy— practically twenty-four hours of day- light. For in the Arctic, during the middie of summer, the sun actually Sets but for two or three hours, and | even while it is below the horizon ! its influence is not lost. Furthermore, the temperature of the wes n Arctic, contrary to the general belief, is no colder in July than that of northern New York, for ; example, In early October, o there is no danger of the engines being ad- Versely affected by the temperature. i * ok k k The second factor in Amundsen's favor is that he is an experienced navigator. It is expected that he will shape his course exactly as the navi- gating officer of a liner does, but slong the Point Barrow meridian. The deviation of the compass changes very heavily along the meridian from ithe pole to Point Barrow, whereas | it keeps constant from Spitzbergen to the pole. Accordingly, Amundsen [ will have to change his compass ! course quite frequently if he follows |the Point Barrow meridian after passing the pole. Still_andther factor in Amundsen’s favor is the constancy of the prevail- _ing northeasterly winds, which are in his favor and not likely to be strong enough to drift him from his course, Another advantage is the presence of large ice flelds, which tend to keep the surface of the sea comparatively | The commis- | three have falled com-| one has paid in full | monoplanes are | to be equipped with skids, wheels, or| suitable buildings. and time to keep paying off that 10 pe | cent every year. And about 1312 th. | reclamation work began to presen | the same problem it does today. TI {farmers couldn’t meect the paymen ! The time had to be extended. A law ear or so later makins N percentagr when he tooi over the land, hen gave hir five years leeway before the rest the payments started. The time for the total payments was extendec | from ten to twenty vears, and thing began to look up for the farmers. Farmers Plunge Duting War. There are those who belleve now that if it hadn't been for the war the present which allows the farmers tw vears to repay the government would have been a suc s. But there w T became prosperous and be surplus cash Inte ead of buying twen- ty acres and paying c they bought @ hundred acres and borrowed mones which looked then as if it would bu easy to repay. Then the crash—thc banks tightened up, and the farme was put in the hole again, with ne markets and no moncy. He was forced to stop paying the govern- ment for his water and for his land because he couldn't. He began fto cry for another extenslon. and in every case where it seemed (th farmer was In earnest and in actual hard luck, the Department of the Interior granted him extensions Some of the settlers were cvicted, but a very small percentage, for to ict those who couldn’t pay would be to rid the land of more than half its tenants. law as a war. Discrepancies Explained. The discrepanci which' exist tween the estimated costs of projects and the actual cost are platned in two ways by the reclama- tion service. There have been cases whero the settlers themselves urged that the government do more in thé way of irrigation than the original investment called for. The govern- ment acceded to their request, with the result that the actual cost was far greater than the cstimated cost. Another explanation of this discrep- ancy is found in the increasing costs of labor and materials, the estimate being made before the great Increase which made itself apparent in every. industry. Two suits against the gov- ernment grew out of this difference between the estimated and the actual cost. The government won by a Supreme Court degision which -ap- plied to both. The reclamation service admits there have been mistakes in its ad- ministration of a great and difficult task. But the men conducting this work believe their mistakes have been no more than human. Secre- tary Work"s investigation is not de- signed to seek out and expose those guilty of mistakes so much as it is to endeavor to find a_remedy for a system which evidently has beex faulty in its conception, Reclamation is not a failure, ko far smooth, =0 that in case of a forced landing a flylng boat will not be swamped by high waves. Here, then, are the factors—for and against Amundsen. 7 as the principle of reclamation has been practiced, but as a business proposition for the government there is a large and spacious room some- ' where for improvement. *