Evening Star Newspaper, December 9, 1923, Page 49

EDITORIAL PAGE NATION SPEC AL PROBLEMS IAL ARTICLES “Part 2—20 Pages FUTURE BATTLES OF U. S. MAY BE FOUGHT IN AIR Congress and Other Govermment Agen- cies Alive to Need of Developing Flying Service. BY WILL P. KENNEDY T imperative that the United States be prepared to fight its future battles in the air. This Is the cheapest and most economical as weil as the most efficlent factor in the defense of the natlon,” says Representative Roy G. Fitzgerald of Ohio, the recognized | leader for aviation legislation in the; House. Prediction that this Congress will Pass at least two Important measures which will bring aviation to the fore- | front as an agency of national de-| fense and commerce, as made by Rep- resentative Fitzgerald emphasizes the scientific progress along this line that has come within the last twenty Years. Next week (December 17) is the twentieth anniversary of the first flight In a motor airplane, operated | by Orville Wright at Kitty Haw N. C. Dayton, Ohlo, the home city of Orville Wright and of Represen- tative Fitzgerald, has just spent $400,000 for a new field of 5,000 acres which has been presented to the War Department and which it is intended to make the greatest center of avia- tion in the whole world. Included ] 1n this fleld is the site where the first + experiments of the Wright brothers! with a heavier-than-air flying ma- | chine were made. On this field it Is Proposed to erect a magnificent me. morial to the pioneer work of the ‘Wright brothers in aviation. Afrplanes Held Vita Emphasizing the future of avia- tion in natlonal defense, Representa- tive Fitzgerald polnts out that a bat- tleship with {ts armament costs $40,- 000,000; an airship costs a few thou- sand. A battleship costs a fortune to keep in commission, with a great number of officers and crew, all of whose| lives may be destroyed as well as| the ship sunk by bombs from an alrship at so great a height it can not be reached by any missile from below, and the explosive bombs may be less terrible than the gas bombs, which are capable of destroying within & few minutes all life board the vessel, through envelop- ment of the ship in a most deadly gas as now worked out by the Alr and Chemical Warfare Services. “We cannot defend either the Philip- pine or Pacific possessions or the Panama canal without a force of air- planes,” Representative Fitzgerald says. 'Already it 1Is recognized that money put Into coast defense is money wasted.” he continued. “Our planes are now prepared to meet an incom- ing fleet many miles off the coast of the Unlted States. We can put a fleet of airplanes from the United States into Peking, China, in three! days. 1In the same perifod we can| navigate from this country to Europe by way of Greenland and Iceland. ‘Those planes are equipped with radio communication, and it is difi- oult to realize the tremendous ad- vance that has been made in both transportation and communication within the last few years.” ‘avorable to Development. is (13 i on appropriations committees of | » and Senate and the budget bureau are rably disposed to- ward increasing the appropriatio: for aviation development as a mili- tary sclence. It is made plain, how- aver, that this does not mean the bullding of a lot of alrships for use in the event of war, but for sclentific investlgation, discovery and practical tests under all conditions, so that the United Staotes, as a nation, will be before all the world in selentific knowledge zpplicable to aviation. The develdpment of airplanes, with all the marvels already at hand, is in & condition of rapid change, so that | what is a wonder today is obsolete | in a short time. “The most valuable | work that our government can do in connection with the national defense and commercial aviation,” Repre- sentative Fitzgerald advises, “is the research work being carried on at Dayton, Ohio, under the direction of the Army, where experts of the greatest ability and highest training are concentrating their efforts on improvements in all the factors of aviation. “It would be unwise to build more than a few of any type of our air- planes as we now know them, but our energies must be devoted to con- tinual development and experimenta- tion.” The aviation bill introduced during the last Congress by the interstate and foreign commerce committee, of ‘which Representative Samuel Wins- low of Massachusetts is chairman, has not yet been reintroduced at this session. Representative Winslow says sthat there have been such develop- ment in the air already as to make desirable some changes in the bill He recognizes that there is a uni- versal demand from every person who has made even a casual study of the question for some law de- fining the rights of airplane pilots and regulating the navigation of the air, landing fields and ships. As it is now anybody can fly, even in unseaworthy ships. and many lives have been lost in this way. Com- mercial companies can run such un- safe ships without any inspection or regulation. This is a most important rroblem to be solved, demanding just as care- ful regulations as are applied through steamship inspection service, because Iiurope has so many commercial lines in operation. Overseas airship voy- ages are about as common an occur- rence as buying a rallroad ticket. Now. the approved method of cross- ing the English channel is by airship. Representative Fitzgerald is very The the Ho jand would use the proceeds toward | mun; | During | proved the compass, making it prac- national defense. This measare was first drafted by Gen. Mason M. Patrick, chief of air service. It was revised by the House milltary affairs committee and favorably reported too late to get through in the last sion of Congress. It was cne of the first bills reintroduced In the new Congress. It provides for the disposal of obsolete property and abandoned fields of the alr service of the Army. s the development of the field and equipment for the engineering givi- n of the air service now located at McCook Fleld, Dayton, Ohin. There all the research and experimental work Is belng carri=1 on under the direction of the government, both b: Army and Navy officers and by civilian experts. Some Late Inventions. There the most wonderful discov- erfes and inventions have been already made and problems worked out, while the promise for the future is startling nd - wellnigh incred- Ible. Some of the achievements are as follows: The earliest references to the use of the mariner's compass are to be found in Chinese history about 121 A. D. A knowledge of the compass was com- ed to the early Arabs, and through them Introduced into Europe. the regime of Charles of the King of Naples, Flavio the Neapolitan mariner, Im- Anjou, Gioja, tically indispensible to mariners. It was, of course, used by Columbus when he sailed west across the At- lantic, but no substantlal change in | the compass was made until the per- sistent effort of those engaged in re- | search for the air service. Now there has been devised what is known as the ground indicator compass. where- by the course of the plane in the air may be determined and set and the reading taken by the pilot In the cockpit with the electrical and mag- netic apparatus at a remote part of the plane, whers it can not be af- fected, as heretofore, by the metal and electrical equipment of the motor. That is a tremendous advantage. No- where in the world before has it been possible to read a compass except where it Is located. Under this new In- tion the reading of the compass is made at a distance and accuracy as never before is obtalned. There has also been invented a bombing sight far superior to any- thing known during the days of the war, whereby bombs are dropped with extreme accuracy from a helght of 10,000 feet and more. At that height the plane is above the reach of any anti-afrcraft defense. | Work of Supercharger. | The supercharger. the finest ex- ample of which has been invented in the United Stat. welghing but a few pounds, compresses the rare atmos- phere of high aititude so as to enable | the motor to function with its full horsepower as at the sea level, which without this instrument, would be impossible. The list of inventions and dis- coverles includes electrically heated clothing for use at high altitudes | oxygen breathing devices, coating| for the goggles, and electrical wiring which prevents the formation of frost from the molsture of the human eve in the extreme cold. which s fifty degrees below zero at 40,000 feet in the air; a device for changing the pitch of the propeller so as to op- erate more effectively in the rarefied atmosphere. An interesting plane is the battle plane, with its three-sixteenths-inch steel armor, equipped Wwith twelve machine guns and a three-inch can- non, a five-inch gun having been| successfully fired from an airplane. Photographic apparatus has been s0 perfected that pictures showing details can be taken from such an altitude as will keep the plane out of sight of those on the earth's sur- face. The Almen, or barrel-type, motor is belng perfected, which promises to revolutionize the power system of airplanes. While the engine of a motor truck on our streets produces but one horsepower for twenty pounds of weight, motors have now been developed which will produce one horsepower for less than two pounds of weight. The Almen motor, operating with elghteen cylinders set horizontally, nine on each side of a wobble plate, bids fair to be revo- lutionary in securing enormous power for little weight in the smallest and most compact motor yet devised. The Barling Is the greatest airplane ever built in the world—sixty-five feet from nose to tall, twenty-seven feet high, 110 feet in wing spread and with a weight, loaded, of more than twenty tons. It has six notors of 450 horsepower each. It rises into the air and lands as easily as a small ship. The Barling is capable of carrying a 10,000-pound bomb of TNT, the effect of the explosion of which would wipe out a city, a 2,000- pound bomb having been sufficient to sink the Ostfriesland, the boasted ‘unsinkable” ship of the Germans, off the capes in the demonstration a year ago. It is sald that the Barling is but the beginning of great ships for both the national defense and transportation in the great era of air navigation which is almost upon us. There is also an appealing human side to this aviation experimenta- tion, as stressed by Representative Fitzgerald. During the best year the United States ever had in aviation 8 per cent of the Army aviators were killed. The retirement law for | the difterence in cost of construction {makes a ship subsidy, to be granted "EDITORIAL SECTION The Sy Star. WASHINGTON, D. , SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 9, 1923. Foreign Nations, With Guile and Subtlety, Seek to Loosen U. S. Grip on Its Ships BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. HAT'S to be done with the American merchant ma- rine? Is the merchant fleet. built at enormous expense during and immediately following the world war, to be allowed to pass out of existence and leave America’s great adventure into the overseas trade merely a war memory? The new Congress will be called ‘upon to answer this question. Presi dent Coolidge, in his address to the Senate and House just delivered, has declared that the merchant fleet must be maintained as & measure of na- tional defense and as an ald to Anmerican commerce. In this he fol- lows closely in the footsteps of his predecessor, the late President Hard- ing. Great Britain and other mari nations of the world are walting with more or less eagerness for the with- drawal of the American flag from the seas, with the carrying trade left en- tirely 40 them. Not only are they waiting) but in some instances, they are participating in a campaign to| bring about this end. Obtatn American Ald. These foreign Interests, unfortu- nately, are not without American aid in the campaign of propaganda to discourage & permanent United States overseas merchant marine. There are certain American interests, closely allled with British and French, which have fallen in with the speci- ous argument that the United States should abandon the overseas-carrying trade so that fioreign nations may be allowed to pay in part for American goods by their transportation in for- eign bottoms. A prominent American banker re- cently in conversation with an offi- clal of the United States government volced his disapproval of the American overseas fleet. “The United States ought not to have a merchant fleet,” he sald, and “I wouldn't travel on an Strange doctrine from an American. But he is typlcal of a class of in- terests in this country which would be glad to see the merchant fleet abandoned. The government-owned fleet has other potentlal ememies in America. There are those who would rather seo the fleet abandoned If it is not to be operated as they desire—which means entirely without government operation. To them government operation of anything is like a red flag to a bull. Conditions, Not Theory, Faced. But the merchant fleet faces a con- dition today. not a theory. Even the groat influence of the late President Harding was (nsufficlent to bring about the enactment in the last Con- gress of a ship subsidy law to offset and operation of American shipping in competition with European fleets. The comploxion of the new Congress | to private American shipping com- panies, out of the question. President Coolidge, in his message to Congress, made no reference to the ship subsidy plan. What remalns? In some quarters it is insisted| that the thing to do is to enact laws | giving preference to American ship- ping in American ports and to carry out the laws already on the statute books providing for lower duties on fmports brought to this country in' American bottoms. The British have invented a name for this—"flag di crimination” They are prepared to retaliato if such means are attempt- ed, and so are the Italians, the French and other: Mierely because there is to be a con- test is no reason for abandoning a plan to discriminate in favor of Amer- fcan ships. But it is the part of wis- dom to examine the situation In an effort to determine whether such dis- crimination would be effective in es- tablishing the American merchant marine on a firm basis. To make money a ship must run ladened from an American port and return ladened. It cannot be a one-way carrier and not go bankrupt. What assurance is there that American ships will be In any better shape to compets with for- eign vessels, if forelgn nations under- take retaliatory measures should the United States embark on a system of discrimination In favor of American ships? Threat in Great Britain. A most significant thing occurred recently at the so-called imperial eco- nomic conference In London, when Great Britain and her dominions fore- gathered to discuss ways and means of bettering the British empire. The following resolution, a copy of which has just been received here, was adopted: “In view of the vital importance to the British emplre of safeguarding its overseas-carrying trade against all torms of discrimination by foreign countries, whether open or disgulsed, the representatives of the govern- ments of the empire declare: “(1) That it Is their established practice to make no discrimination between the flags of shipping using their ports. and that they have no intention of departing from this practice as regards countries which treat ocean-going shipping under the British flag on a footing of equality with their own national shipping; “(2) That in the event. of danger arising in the future to the overseas shipping of the empire through an attempt by a foreign country to dis- criminate agalnst the British flag. the governments of the empire will consult together as to the best means of meeting the situation.” Alltance Agatust What? All of which amounts to a de- fensive alliance—against what?— American shipping? If discrimination in favor of Amer- ican shipping is not found to be an effective measure to establish the American overseas merchant fleet on a payving basis, what remains? The government of the United States, backed by the billions of dollars which are contributed by American taxpavers. If the American people are heart and soul in favor of Amer- fcan merchant marine there s one way they can have it, without sub- sidy and without discrimination, until conditions change %o that private American Interests can take over the business. That is through the gov- ernment operation of the ships. After all, what is there to be afraid of in that? The government has been in the shipping business ever since the war. It is operating the ships today, both directly and indirectly—in either case it is paying all the losses of the ships. If the American overseas fleet is to be run—and It is assumed that ft 15 in view of the statement of Presi- dent Coolidge and the fact that prac- tically the entire Congress is in favor of an American merchant marine, though the members differ regarding the means to be adopted—two things are vitally necessary. First, there must be definite assur- ance given to the government organ- ization running the vessels that the fleet s to be permanent, and to ship- pers both in America and in foreign nations that there will be American bottoms in which to transport their goods. Second, there must be adopted a ! plan whereby the greatest efficiency and economy In operation can be at- tained. The second need will find its an- swer largely in the giving of defi- nite assurance that the vessels are to be run, Chairman Edward P. Farley of the United States Shipping Board has recently returned from Lurope, where he made personal observations of conditions affecting American ship- ping. He found that the uncertainty of continued operation—the lack of a | definite plan—the fact that the mer- {chant fleet is kept on the suction | block from day to day—is militating | against efficlency of operation. He found that shippers who would be glad to do business with the American lines are fearful that if they turn from the old lines to ship in Amer- ican vessels and the latter were with- drawn in a short time, they would be left at the mercy of thé European lines and that they might put the screws to them. Held Onty Temporary Affair. Incidentally our European compet- itors are helping to create the feel- ing abroad that the American mer- chant fleet is only a temporary affair, llkely to go out of business any day. Such reports not only have their ef- fect upon shippers, but also upon po- tential travelers to the United States particularly In Central Burope and away from the coast. They fear that even in the interval betwecn the time they buy their tickets and the date of sailing, the American ships may ceass to run. Chairman Farley became so strong- ly impressed with the need of a definite understanding that the American merchant fleet is to be permanent that in all his pubdlic etatements and in all his conferences abroad, he lald particular emphasis on the fact the American flag is in the overseas trade to stay. Plans of Mr. Farley. Mr. Farlex has a plan to bring about more efficient and economical operation of the fleet while It fis owned by the government. It is not a Lasker-Farley plan—as it has been called—but a Farley plan. It calls for the establishment of subsidiary corporations of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, to take over and op- erate the vessels. These corpora- tions are to be formedeither under state incorporation laws or under a national act. The subsidiary corpo- rations will turn over their bonds or stock to the president of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, who will hold them as government and who will have direct tration of the corporations. He him- self will be directly responsible to the President of the United States. The plan makes of him, in effect, a director of shipping. The subsidiary corporations under the Farley plan are to be operated as any other commercial enterprise; are to be taxable and suable. It is expected that they will also have all the benfits derived from the cor- porate method of doing business. At present the government-owned ships, exclusive of the United States (Continued on Seventeenth Page.) 'THE PASSING SHOW IN POLITICS BY N. O. MESSENGER. RESIDENT COOLIDGE'S Congress is still the topic sion among the plain people as well Seldom has a as the politicians. presidential message been so wi judging from the extent of the comment upon it and the familiarity of with its terms. porters and the perfunctory par cism, the latter to be expected from demo- cratic politicians, it can truthfully be said that the mass of opinion in Washington is, in the main, favorable to the policies he enunciates. The courageousness ness with which he declares them receive recognition. * ok K “People hate a “pussy-footer, politician, “and President Coolidge has shown It required that he is not a pussy-footer. courage for him to say some of he did in that address, in view of hostility to him which his utterances would create. * ¥ Xk % The country is likely to consider the message as being in a manner dent’s platform in his candidacy for the pres- idential nomination in 1924. That ceptive candidate no sensible man or woman doubts. It does not necessarily devolve upon him to announce his candidacy in terms. The voters now know where he stands on the He does not leading issues of the times. straddle any question. Some of are urging him, however, to write a letter declaring his willingness to be put into the presidential race. Although he is already in it, he may yet say it, and if he does it will be laconic. Some of the current comment on the those courageous men requires thirty years of service, the same as for other branches of the Army. Casual much behind this bill, but he himself has already introduced another bill which he considers of the utmost fm- portance toward strengthening the computations shows that on an aver- age an aviator is entitled to re- tirement on half pay after he has been killed 2.4 times, message touched upon the litera it, and people seemed to like the departure from the ponderous phrases of papers of former Presidents. The sharp, in- cisive, at times almost curt, declarations ap- They were very charac- peared to please. the agent of the| control of the policies and adminis- | Outside of the bonus sup- teristic of the man—clear and to the point in all his reasoning. * k k k It was noted that Presidént Coolidge, while announcing his stand on the soldier bonus in nine words, took pains to expatiate on the desirability and necessity of tax re- duction. That leaves Senator Hiram W. Johnson, his only rival at present, to defend the bonus and to prove that it can be granted and tax reduction effected as well. Senator Johnson says it can be done, put- ting his opinion against the flat statement to the contrary of the government’s highest actuarial official, the Secretary of the Treasury. address to of discus- idely read, the public tisan criti- and frank- * % Kk % Senator Johnson of California is expected to take the field and start the nomination campaign, now that he has the President on record as to his policies. Senator Johnson went to New York for a conference with his lieutenants the day after his defeat in South Dakota, where President Coolidge won the preferential declaration over him by practi- cally a two-to-one vote. Senator Johnson expressed himself as not being dismayed by that outcome, but rather encouraged, saying that in 1920 he had no support at all in South Dakota. * * kX . Report has it that Senator Johnson in- tends to carry the fight for delegates into Massachusetts, ignoring the usual tacit un- derstanding among contenders for nomina- tion that they will not invade a “favorite son’s” own state. In that event the Coolidge men will, undoubtedly, comb California pret- ty thoroughly for Coolidge delegates there. That will be a peach of a battle! * Kk ok K : . In the South Dakota convention senti- ment was disclosed favorable to the nomi- nation of Senator Capper of Kansas for the vice presidency on the Coolidge ticket. Re- publican politicians are inclined to think that it would make a pretty formidable ticket, calculated to link up the farmers with the republican party. " said one the things the known the Presi- he is a re- his friends ry style of some state Speaking of farmers, a politician who is on from the northwest says that out there he frequently heard the farmers say: “Well, we now have a poor man in the White House. He was just a plain farmer-boy, helping his dad on the place, and he can feel for us.” * K ox % Republican leaders of parts are taking President Coolidge’s nomination for granted, and they are showing growing confidence in the party’s future, barring possible defection at the polls in November' of disappointed fol- lowers of Senator Johnson. They argue for their own satisfaction that the country is normally republican, except when the republicans split up among them- selves, and they are looking to a continuance of good business conditions to satisfy the people with the republican administration and renewal of its tenure. * ok k¥ Naturally, the democratic leaders hoot in derision at the republican optimism and in- sist that the republicans are bluffing reality the in. ; that in e men in the party manage- ment who get reports of political conditions are in a state nearly bordering on despair. The democrats assert that the factional troubles in the republican party, indicated by the flurry over the election of Speaker of the House, are just beginning, and say that this will be made manifest very shortly over the fight in the Senate and the House over committee assignments by the progres- sives. EEEE ‘Wonder if a neutral would not be justified in harboring the suspicion that both parties are doing a little bluffing; in thinking that when all is said and done that neither party is certain of a “ inch” on the election, and that the campaign is destined to be one of the closest presidential contests in many years? Let's take a chance on-that view, any- how. Be Solved by BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN. REMIER BALDWIN and his conservative party attempted to walk the tightrope of pro- tection spanning the British | political abyss. He and his costars in the conservative constellation failed. The prime minister may re-| sign. A new conservative premier may be asked by the king to carry on untll another election iy held. Else a coalition ministry might be chosen. Another contingency Is a| labor premier and government. But| this 1s unlikely. The result of the British electlons is to place British ‘domestic and foreign policles in a maze of doubt and misunderstanding. | Emerge the nation will. How and when, of course, remain matters of conjecture. But there is one out- standing fact: England today must veer her domestlc and forelgn barlk into safer waters, at least even- tually pick some pilot whose hand ts firm, whose vision is clear and whose knowledge and far-sighted- ness In forelgn political questions can In measure restore the confidence in 10 Downing street and the foreign office once predominant the world over. Forelgn Issues to Rule. Though the immediate domestic re- actlons to the election may give Brit- ish politicians ground for serious worry, there is but little question that the foreign equations involved in present uncertaintles eventually will outweigh the importance attached to more merely national matters. For, without a going, constructive forelgn policy—one designed to bolster Brit- ish influence and protect her against the inroads of other nations in Eng- land's particular fields of endeavor— any party that may be intrusted with the reins of government will find itself embarrassed. Britain's very prosperity depends upon manipulation of foreign policles to the end that commerce, the foun- | tainhead of British welfare, may be protected and enhanced. A weak for- eign policy means a weak England. A | strong one means extension of Brit- ish effort into the far corners of the | earth—even the preservation of inter- | ests already established. Strong Government Needed. It is with this in mind that the Brit- ish people must look askance upon the recent election, which has settled nothing except granting a commit- jment against protective tariffs, and which leaves a government without 2 mafority in parllament—a govern- ment that by the very force of cir- cumstanoe, i maintained. must equivocate and qualify to maintain its position until new elections can | be held with the hope of obtaining | powers and a parliamentary majority | insuring progress in any attempted Flood of Bills For P. O. Buildings Nearly every member of Congress, 1f not all, during the week has been introducing bills to authorize the construction of federal buildings at | 2 number of places in their respective | district. Representative John W. Langley of Kentucky, chairman of the House | committee on public bulldings and' grounds, has for several years been emphasizing the need for a general public bufldings bill to provide adequate federal housing throughout the country, pointing out that there has been no building of this kind| done since before the war. Représentative Langley has been at the White House several times| seeking presidential .indorsement of | his proposals. Members of Congress have now been advised by Postmaster General New that real economy of public funds will result from housing post offices in government-owned bulldings. Postmaster General New censures the unbusiness-like method of secur- ing quarters for post offices and postal stations under the leasing system. In many cases the govern- ment is paying in annual rent from; 10 to 17 per cent of the value of the premises occupled. On August 21, 1922, a letter was addressed by the| then Postmaster General to the joint commission on postal service, setting forth fully the department's views with reference to government owner- ship of post office bulldings. This| letter was published in the last an-| nual report and the conclusions con- | tained therein have been considered | by Postmaster General New and re-| ceive his full approval. With a view of avalling itself of| the opportunity, should authority be granted, nearly all the leased con- tracts entered Into during the fiscal year for large buildings constructed especlally for postal purposes cor- tained an option to the government to purchase the property at a stipulat- | ed price, usually at the end of three, five or ten years. These options were secured without expense to the government. Real Water Naval Reserves Sought The reorganization of naval reserves and their formation only at points near real water is contemplated in a bill sponsored in the House by Rep- resentative Burton French, of Idaho. Mr. French, who is slated to be chair- ENGLAND NOW FORCED INTO DANGER PERIOD Foreign and Domestic Problems Cannot Any Stop-Gap Government. line of governmental activity, whether it be forelgn or domestic. During the persent impasse no government can attempt to solve contentious matters No one in England apparently wants another election immediate!l there s & possibility that any stop-gap ad minstration will get the tacit s port of other parties so long as it does not trample the tenets of the opposition. Posaible Alignments. On the gace of election returns it would appear that the conservative party, having lost its majority in parliament, must step down. At least it will be inocuous during the period elapsing before another general elec-,’ tion. Lord Derby, Austin Chamber% lain and others have been suggested as conservative prime ministers serve until more definite results can be obtained. The laborites commit ted to capital levies and other strict ly soclalistic reforms in England, hardly will be entrusted with the government until the laborites have definitely proven their power by the winning of a parliamentary major- ity. The liberals at the present junc- ture, though having gained many new seats at the expense of rival parties, nevertheless cannot assume power until they have either won at the polls or effected a coalition with either the conservative or liberal ele- ments. With labor they may have nothing to do. Though the conserva- tive and liberal leaders declare there wiil be no conservative-liberal coal tion in any government, it may forced upon them if the alternative is the assumption by Ramsev Ma Donald of the pre rogatives prime minister's Strong Government Needed. It is believed chief attention of all political parties, particularly the conservative and liberal, will be di- rected toward eventual solution of those problems which will prevent England from asserting very definite policles at home and abroad. It gen- erally is recognized that a weak, tim- orous government at the mom not protect England’s interests i tinental matters, particularly tho of reparations and th Rhinel and the Ruhr. There must emerge government which plainly has the mandate of the people to proceed along definite lines. Unquestionably the result of the British election gives comfort to the French foreign office, which, accord- ing to reports, is inclined to see & public rebuke for the Curzon foreign policy, which antagonized France, least prevented England from marc ing toe-to-toe in the applicatio penalties upon Germany for non-fu filiment of treaty terms Whet it be a rebuke to Curzon, indirectly or not. there is no question but that Premier Foincare will, if he wees fit, be able to proceed with his plans and policies without giving great weight to the British viewpoint. However, there Is every indication that Premier Poincare, in view of approaching French elections and in the face of enemy attacks on the ground t is hazarding the Franco-E tente, will do nothing in the to alienate England nt can in intetin Poincare Victories Admitted. On the other hand there ing sentiment in England British government cin enforce a change in the icy whatever it may be, by the fallures of Bonar Law Baldwin. It is admitted that Polncare school of political thought has won great victories on the con tinent all to the disinterest of Brit ish policy. But there is a question in the minds of many British statesmen now as to whether it d be gool policy at the present incture to alienate France further. They would wait for the time when it would be safer to promulgate a definite British policy, one designed to promote Brit- ish influence in every quarter. Notwithstanding apparent freedon of movement gained by the French, there nevertheless is a fear that Lloyd George, who during the p e conference and afterward as premier, stood firmly against extension of French policies which success fully had been carried out since the lMttle Welshman turned over the prime ministership to another, will return to power either as the head of a liberal government or one com- posed of liberals and conservatives. Former Premier Asquith, though known to oppose m; the an- cophile policies now dominating the continent, nevertheless can, th French declare, “be handled to tha interest of French policy.” 1f any of the present so-called conservative or liberal leaders are to ve returned they would rather see him than any other. that t} do little to French pol evidenced wy of Face Quiet Period. In face of all the hubbub over con- tinental political policies, particul ly those of England and ¥rance, the next few months are bound to wit- ness few conclusive action, where, but a few months back, the national- istic policies of the allies were run- ning at full tide and in many in- stances counter current. Any stop- gap British government will fear to initiate a firm course toward regaf ing continental diplomatic ascendancy because of its necessarily weak posi- tion. The French, and Premier Poin- care particularly, also face elections which will be hard fought. The strictly Francophile policy ob- noxifous to former co-partners in warfare will not be pressed to the dangerous point for fear of danger- man and has for several years been a member of the naval subcommittee of the House committee on appropria- tions, has been making a study of the reserves and has a desire to make them worth while. ous antagonisms at home. Both gov- ernments as a consequence may b expected to mark time until there is, greater crystalization of public senti- | ment behind definitely intrenched | leaders. i