Evening Star Newspaper, April 6, 1924, Page 45

EVERYDAY RELIGION By RT. REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D., Bishop of Washington. MEN OF VISION. ROVERBS, 29.18: “Where there is mo vision, the people per- ish.” We have come to associate the men of vision with things purely visionary and impossible of accom- plishment, and yet, startling as it seems, the whole forward progress of the world rests with those who have dreamed dreams and seen visions. It's the man who dares to project himself into the future, who seeks to discover how certain causes must produce cer- tain effects, who eventually leads a hesitant world into finer and better conditions. True, the general public has a tendency to refuse leadership to the man who. is moving too fast, look- ing too far ahead, concerned too much with the future. . Listening recently to a very strik- ing and suggestive address on Thomas | Jeffergon, we were struck with one: thing in this great statesman's work | that seemed to disclose his dominant purpose; it was his unfailing habit of dealing 'with every question with a view to its influence upon the future. He refused to legislate for toda without reference to the bearing it might have upon life of tomorrow. Practical as he was, he had the ge- nius of the seer, he was essentially a man of vision. It was this that made | him as an individual force one of the greatest this country has eder known. A study of his life and work, a work of incomparable value, makes it per- | fectly clear that he was no opportun- ist, seizing for the sake of political advantage every plausible device that might serve the purpose of an emer- Beney. / Far-seeing Forefathers, It is remarkable when we study these men of our formative period, how far-seeing they were in project- iog the plan of the new republic. Far- seeing, that is a fine definition of the | man of vision. Over against men of | the type of Jefferson and Hamilton, | Washington and Marshall, as we | measure ourselves today, do we seri- | cusly feel that our so-called mental | aleriness and cleverness are a fair match for their extraordinar nius? True, conditions change, new conditions call for different qual- ities of leadership, but are we certain that a Jefferson would not serve the purposes of our present age? Re: peatedly in recent years we have given scant recognition to the man of | vision, the man who “seeing for an end sublime” has been willing to ac- cept the jibes and, sometime, scorn of & misur anding present, in order that he might lay more secure the foundations for a happy and peaceful rous future. We have an v in this country for ! of the past who vision has made us we have a like facility for criticizing and condemning those } of the present who are seeking emulate their virtues. unusu extolling had vision what we a to | Abandonment of Ideals. I was greatly struck the talk of a clear-visioned, singular- Iy eflicient, young newspaper man, who remarked that in hi arvation of men in public life (and his oppo: cs for observation are wide and he had ain and again ! recently by 83 } where—in the state, |this was the Son of God," i | mor! been disappointed and disillusioned as he saw their gradual! but certain decline from strong ideals. as they came to feel the impact and influence of practical politics. Beginning with a lofty vision of duty and obligation, they had at length succumbed and yielded to the cold and calculating methods of a party caucus. To this acute observer nothing was more tragic than this tendency to abandon ideals for the immediate advantages of party power and prestige. Only infrequently does some one disclose sufficient independence and stability of character to stand for policies and rrinciples that have in the visions of the future the well-being and happi- ness of the whole nation. After all, in this, as in other spheres of human action, it is the deep, re- ligious conviction that really counts. One can hardly expect vision in the man who sees life only as a game of chance and who believes that always and ever “to the victors belong the spoils.” Nor, again, can one expect vision in the man, no matter In what place he serves, when he is uncon- trolied by any high and holy motive. takes courage, rare courage, to hold to one’s ideals, to stand, if need be, against public opinion for a great principle. It is only now and again that some Luther-spirited man aris “to contend, despising party rag and to say with proud affirmation, “Here I stand; 1 can do no other, o help me God.” When such a man does arise he may suffer “proud isolation.” but he comes at length to be the ac- credited benefactor of a people. Are Needed Everywhere. Just now we are peculiarly in need of such men. We nced them every- in commerce, in church. We have grown a bit we've lost something of the heroic out of our natures. This is to be expected when everything is meas- ured by material standards. We need to be sternly reminded today of that old dictum, “Where there is no vision the people perish.” What if having a vision of things as they ought to be is unpopular? Every trailmaker, every advance agent of the race, has experienced this, but he has not fal- tered; he has held to his vision; he may have suffered tei feat, but he has left behind him a new and better way for others who were to follow after. Jesus was brutally treated, men scored Him as an innovator, as & disturber of old customs and conven- tions. Ultimately they undertook to make an end of Him, and when at length they crucified Him they bade Him work a miracle and descend from the cross. A wise Roman soldier as he beheld Him die, said: “Truly, and all succeeding ages have confirmed his statement. Today a distracted world's vision, blurred as it may be, is focused on this same Christ, and at length men { vf every name and race are beginning to “Never man spake like this 77 It marks the triumph t vision. What are we here for not to project ourselves into the future—this _is the way of im- ality. This very practical age ma gr must the man of vision. The world must progress else it stagnates. It must grow better else its boasted civiliza- tion must perish. It must follow its adventurers who dare to look ahead, ves, who dare to think ahead and who beekon it on to nobler, truer, more wholesome ways of living, and he greatest of all these adventurers s the Man of Nazareth (Copyriglt, 1924 Acute French Crises Prevail; Peace Is Insistent Demand (Continued from rst Page.) | In point of fact, and T state the thing for what it is worth, I have heard here | 8 surprising amonnit o7 talk about the need of Franco -operation and non the need keeping Germany weak, or of preventing a new war borate and conceivably | war provoking ‘mi France does | t desire more troubl he is dog of all debates, discussions and | conferences, disillusioned, bitterly dis- illusioned, both in the matter of | money and security, about as little in the temper of imperialism as a miner is in the condition for a fight after twelve hours underground at work. Now the Frenchman thinks of Poin- caro as a lawver and not a new or near Napoleon; he still thinks that in handling the French case Poincare hias proven the best counsel so far, despite many grave ces: but ai- ways conceding this, he is quite anxi- ous to have M. Poincare produce re- sults apd will not continue his con- fidence indefinitely. If Poincare lasts until election, if he lasts after the clectlon, it will be because there is a feeling ‘that it would be unwise to change horses at the river; that is, that with theexpert commission about to report and a program of settle- ment to be presented, France would be badly hadicapped it she indulged in_a domestic political revolution. But Poincare must have a solution, that is the price of power for him. He cannot, even if he would, wage war upon the report of the Dawes' commission; he must, rather adopt it and claim that its achicvement is his own since he was responsible for its appointment. He must, moreover, get for it the unanimous indorsement the reparations commission. His play, his obvious play, must be, however, to manage things so that the report of the Dawes commission is in the hands of the reparations commission at_the moment of election. Then he can ask a new mandate to finish what has already been brought far toward success, namely, a settlement. Against Isolation Idea. Beyond lies the vista of a real in- ternational conference preceded by a personal meeting between Mac- Donald and Poincare. But again it must be appreciated that we are no longer in the period when Poincare could flout Lloyd George, Bonar Law or Stanley Baldwin. France is in no mood for a great game of isolationist politics; she is really, in my judg- ment, in no state of mind favorable to playing a great role in the world at the expense of her home peace. France, as I see her at the moment, is desperately sick of responsibilities of the great power game and not in the least willing to keep that form of show up beyond the minimum of ne- cessity. Want British Friendship. MacDonald, coming into power in Britain, has not only exercised & pro- found influence upon British opinion, but he has similarly affected French. The French do not want trouble with Britain, they look with incredulity upon British apprehension growing out of French aircraft. The desire for peace in France is at least as im- pressive as it is in England. And M. Poincare will be expected to get on with MacDeaald because MacDonald has succeeded in getting French con- fidence at the precise moment Wheu the desire for a real understancing with Great Britain is perhaps the dominant impulse in the French mind. T do not think aay decisive number of Prenchmen realiy believe an under- standing with Germany is possible, but most Frenchmen feel sure that if there is an understanding with Britain, Germany will pay, will be- have, that now at last there is a chance of settlement—of peace. Criti- cism, recrimination, bitterness with ect of Britain I do not encounter. about ot by « Qulte frankly T must say 1 heard |not all of the inhabitants of these|so long and may last a lit: Trance far more severely censured in (countries are thinking in terms of |before he faces the final London than I have heard Britain [their own narrow but vital and dif- (cess or failure in settle: criticlzed in Papis. In a word, it is not & mement of jnfsted nationalism, or of international rivalrie. period of intense wearine; pathetic long for any that might even promise a period of calm Thus, w ference com summer or e w international con- it must come in the utumn at the latest —all_Europ: ts this and asks rly if America will be ‘*here— France will not be found secking (o establish RhineTand republic isting_upon economic control of tha Ruhr. The outside of what she ma/ h respect of the after the war of 1870 as a guarantee of French payment of the war demnities, Seeurity ®x Desired. If thero were ai od und enduring difficulty matter of security, could be with, even for an appreciable time, the solution of the rest of the dis- conceivable meth- of the French, the of af yme more and more to respect | Ruhr is | m- | | | i | { i | i | i s, nor in- { April 5: | the sun by which the single | P €V! dealt |is mone puted matters would be of little real | difficulty. There, and there alone, the ' in opposing it and the government French mind, as I see it, remains un- | would be badly defeated. Therefore changed. It does not matter who is prime minister, what stripe of part: politics he wears, he must in the na ture of things insist upon some f. of guarantee of French security. France will insist upon a demiti- tarized Rhine frontier; she will seek some international guarantee of it. Whether in the end she will accept the pet dream of the new Briiish | house, m | government would stand to the prin- BY HERBERT COREY. vmuls come crosswise in this world. If Maithew Fontaine Maury had not brokea his leg eighty-odd years ago the United States Navy might not now be snifing at Secretary Herbert Hoover because he wants to put its hydro- graphic office in his Department of Commerce. It was the age of canvas and clipper ships when Maury was a boy. Sea captains left port with a Bible, a cask of rum, a few odds and ends of in- struments and a conviction that ulti- mately they would blow into the port at the distant end of the route. Little was known of the dependability of the trades and monsoons and other winds. Then Lieut. Maury fell through a hatchway. “Let us give him a nice, easy job” gaid the Navy Departmeft of that day, “where he can stay until his leg knits and he is fit to go to sea again.” The easiest job possible was to be found in the bureau of charts and in- struments. It was a sort of ware- house, in which chronometers and sex- tants were deposited with recluses when a naval vessel returned from a cruise. Instead of sitting back in his chair, Maury exhibited frritabil- ity. He said that he had an idea that at certain seasons certain winds were invariable. Mariners might take ad- vantage of them if they only knew. “The poor boy's leg must be hurt- ing him,” the naval officials of that day probably said. But they gave Maury permission to spend his time as he saw fit, doubtless reasoning that a game-legged man could not be of much service anyhow. He examined the logs of more than 3,000 sea voyages into almost every patch of salt water known and worked out his theory of winds, on which the science of deep-sea sailing has rested ever since. Not steaming, mind you. Steaming is a horse of another color. The wind-roses which decorate the pilots’ charts of the seas are due to him, Saflors Called Maury Crazy. “The man is crazy,” said the sailors of that day when he made known his discovery. So other sea captains were started on a deep-sea race, with the result that those who followed Maury's revolutionary ideas saved forty-five days over the sailing time of the con- servatives on the voyage from San Francisco to New York. That estab- lished his theory firmly, and in 1842 he was made chief of the hydro- graphic office of the Navy, nee the bureau of charts. The National Academy of Sciences adopted a reso- lution twenty years later to the effect that because Maury, who was a southerner, had taken the side of the south in the civil war, his trumpery ideas about winds should thereupon be dismissed by the navigators. Whereupon the heary shipmen gave the scientists what is now known as the razz. Keep your scientific snoots out of our business,” they sald, or words to that effect. R This may seem to be ancient his- tory. But Maury's theory is honored by every seafaring nation today It has been amplified and elaborated, but in no particular has it been found faulty. Deep-sea commerce is mostly carried in steam-iriven vessels now, but Maury's wind roses are stiff on the charts for those who sail. And it was Maury who uplifted the hydro- graphic office from a mere depot for wornout chronometers into the place in naval estimation which it occupies today. He made it worth taking. Mr. Hoover would not want to take over a dusty garage for old clocks. Nowadays if has half a dozen func- tions. For one thing the nayal ob- servatory in Washington is under its direction. The naval observatory's time signals are relied on as far away as Austr; Its astronomers check up the sun, the moon and stars and have recently published what is to the lay reader the most intensely unin- teresting book in the world. By it a |sea captain can find the exact position of his ship without resorting to the odious pursuit of mathematics. For- CAPT. F. B. BASSETT | what a sun spot does to telephone and | - merly he shot a star or the sun at| noon and then went into the great silence with his slate pencil. Now he steps on deck at almost any hour, shoots almost any star, turns to the right page in the book and logs his place on the sea. He only needs to find the star. The rest has been done for him. Logarithms have been abolished. Sun Spots and Ieebergn. Another thing the naval observa-| tory does is to spot sun spots. Just telegraph wires, and probably also to the radio sets which have done so mach to keep America at home lately, is not understood by the writer. Only, the nearer a spot gets to the center of the sun the worse grow the wires, and so the observatory notifles the wire companies by telegraph as the spots move. The hydrographic office keeps tab on ocean currents, too, for they are continually changing place. By a system of radio communica- tion with ships at sea it identifies the to which the hot and cold currents are shifting icebergs in the summer. Then the coast guard sends out its ice patrol and, so to speak, bangs a bell on each berg. If the master of the Titanic had obeyed the H. O.'s warn- ing that great steamer would not have been lost eleven years ago. Thanks to its familiarity with the antics of the currents Herbert J. Browne is able to tell us a year or so ahead whether or not we will have a wet or dry season. Laws That Govern Weather. “I am working out the natural laws that govern the weather,” says browne. So far I have been 100 per cent right.” The fly in the cup of the hydro- graphic office’s happiness is the de- bate whether it shall swallow the coast and geodetic survey or be swal- lowed by its rival. The hydrographic office is charged with the duty of | charting waters and the coast survey with that of mapping those of the United States and its possessions. The hydrographic office is of the United States Navy and the coast survey is an organization of civillan seamen and engineers. The Browne plan for the reorganization of the government departments calls for the absorption of the hydrographic office by the coast survey. 1t is freely admitted that there is a duplication of functions. One effi- clent organization could do the work of both, with presumably less motion and a gain in economy. But the hy- drographic office says that charting the seas is a navy job. Seamen, it says, will not talk freely to civilians. It has more than 6,000 correspondents afloat, in consequence of which it is able to publish a daily newspaper in which those tidal and lighthouse and floating derelict items, which are of such vital importance to mariners, are published. Its “Sailing Directions™ are the seaman’s Bible. [The decision rests with Congress, and seems apt to continue to rest there. His men say that Capt. F. B. Bas- sett is “human.” Capt. Bassett is the present chief hydrographer. He is a tall, kindly, affable naval officer, who is intensely interested in every detail of his work. Quires of letters from scientists come into his desk. They want the volunteer correspondents of the hydrographic office to report on odd bugs on a distant island, on the cannibalistic practices of a shock- headed tribe of savages, on the prev- alence of fish-eating humming birds in the mandates, on everything else that may seem to be interesting to a scientist. And Capt. Bassett does his best. During the war he was a rear ad- miral in command of the destroyers along the Atlantic coast, and during his forty vears' sea service he has served on fifteen ships and had almost as many shore assignments, covering One would say that he would ret; his self-command under any circum- stances, after such an experience. precise place in the North Atlantic ask him about the coast survey. The Story the Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNN. The following is a brief summary of the most important news of world for the seven days * The British Empire.—Debate in the | jonal maintenance of a few |house of commons on April 2 brought s in barracks, as the (Germans |into vivid relief the precariousas occupied the eastern cities of Franca | of the labor tenure of power. A rents bill was before the house, one clause of which provided that a tenant out of employment should not icted. No relief was proposed for the landlord; he could whistle for The discussion, which was violent, made it clear that should the bill, as presented, come to a vote, the liberals would join the conservatives government’s Mr. Clynes, the labor leader of the announced that, though the ciple of non-eviction of an unem- ployed tenant, it proposed to amend the bill so as to provide for relief of the unfortunate landlord out of the prime minister, a_guarantee through |public funds. the league of nations. remains open to question, although some scheme might awaken less contempt- | clause. | Mr. Nevil Chamberlain’s characteriza- uous resistance in France today then f |five years ago. But the real pacifi- cation of Burope, after all, must de- pend upon the success of Mr. Mac- Donald in meeting, not the extreme but the minimum requirements on the head of security, and for France, se- curity means some form of under- standing with Great Britain. As far as Germany is concerned, ths French expect nothing which is nct the result of allied unity and common coercion, coercion which may not have to go bevond words, if unity is preserved. They hope and Dbelieve that the fact that the Dawes report will show Germany has great capa- city for payment, will serve #s & vin- dication of ¥rance before the world for her contention and action in the past. They hope and belisve that the Dawes commission report will give an economic justification for French claimg, which _ hitherto havs had moral and legal warrant. Above all the French people hope that when an international ccmmie- sion has found that Germanv can pay largely, suspicion of Frencn purpose in demanding payment will disappear and the world will accept tha French statement that France seeks only reparations due her for her devastated jareas and, once these reparations are forthcoming, will abandon all military interference with Germany. Nothing Yet Settled. It is well to remember that up to the present moment nothing has been settled, all the real obstacles remain. Solution in the sense.of a final, per- manent adjustment is, beyond much doubt, an irridescent dream. We are very far from the mood of five vears ago when Mr. Wilson came to Parls and the world talked about a new era. There is not, let us concede quit, frankly, any re-echo of that idealism which was abroad everywhere at the moment when the Pasis peace confer- ence opened. 5 But, by contrast, there is intense Discussion was therefore suspended, such |pending recasting of the offensive Most people agree with tion of that clause as not merely so- cialistic but revolutionary. Amended as proposed, the bill will yet retain a rich socialistic bouguet, and the renewed discussion will be important. That same day, April 2, a conserva- tive resolution condemning the prin- ciple of the capital levy, was debated in the commons. The object of the resolution was to bring out a definite statement of the labor government’s attitude. Mr. Clynes observed that his government had no intention of prososing a capital levy to the present pariiament. But declared [it to be his conviction that ulti- mately & capital levy would be recog- nized as necessary. Tt is a plausible conservative contention that, under the present system of taxation, a sufficiently drastic capital levy (though lacking so sweet a name) is actually in operation. The resolution was carried 325 to 160. The labor government continues to move with utmost circumspection. All in good time, when it feels confident of winning a majority of parliamen- tary seats in a general election, it will “put it to the teeth” and court defeat in parliament. And then we shall see what we shall see. /Certain interesting dmendments to the annual army bill were proposed the other day by labor members of the house of commons, but defeated, of which the most curions was one which called for insertion in the con- tract of enlistment of a clause per- mitting the soldier to refuse to serve or brilliant futures painted by imagi- native patriots. Peace in peace has become as insist- ent a demand now as peace even in war was becoming when at last vic- ory came to our cause. ‘What strikes one is that in the pras- ent state of the French mind, states- men or politicians could not lead the masses very far by blowing up the dying coals of the wartimz flames. ‘weariness, a real and I think a uni- |France may not be too tired to fight, versal hunger for peace, ouiside of |I do not believe any nation is ever Germany, perhaps there, I canrot (quite that, but France is sd deathly say. Even victory has lost most, i not | tired of fighting and the talx of fight- all of its passing impetus to age-long |ing that her statesmen must obgerve aspirations and ambitions. Today in |utmost cautfon.in their international the little of Europs in which I have |dealing to survive national fealings. lingered, you have far more the France still beleves Poincare is the sense of people than of races. I mean [best man to bring a seitlemeat. But that you have, the sense that most, if |that is the sole reason he has jasted ficult problems rather than § of greal peripds in n terms longer est of suc- t Copyright, 1024, by the McClure Newwpaper sl the | ended | if called on to aid the civil power in |connection with an Industrial contro- ve k. France.—The make-up of Poincare’s rew cabinet is still the talk of France; in particular the fact that five of Poincare’s eleven new col- leagues were chosen from the mod- erate left. Of course, Poincare's idea was to conciliate the support of the moderate left, or at least to forestall important opposition from that quar- ter: partly with a view to the coming elections, still more with a view to the negotiations which will follow submittal of the Dawes-McKenna re- port to the reparations commission. But whether his proceeding in this matter displaved high statesmanship, or, rather, unscrupulous political cun- ning, that is what people are debat- ing. ' When partially explaining the motives of his choice to the chamber the other day Poincare was certaialy glancing at Loucheur and Francois- Marsal when he said: “I thought it would be most useful to have at my side men acquainted with the conver- sations which took place during 1919, 1920 and 1921." Poincare’s record justifies the i ference that his motives were mag- nanimous. In his speech of March 27 to the commons Premier MacDonald of Great Britain gave the coup de grace to French hope that he would consent to a treaty whereby Britain should guarantee French security. * % ¥ % Germany.—The Munich court which tried Ludendorff and the other par- ticipants i{n the ‘beer hall revolu- tion™ acquitted Ludendorff. It found his co-conspirators technically guilty, but imposed merely nominal Sen- tences. Ludendorff's connection with the affair was discovered to be one of “in- | Tribute to “two supremely impor- tant professions in the United States, one the profession of the school teacher and the other that of the hon- est, able, high-minded, public-spirited, tearless editor,” was paid on the floor of the House last week by Represen- tative Henry Allen Cooper, who is serving his thirtieth year in Congress. While the legislation establishing a new schedule of salaries for school teachers in tho Natlonal Capital was under consideration Representative Cooper emphasized that “a teacher takes a little boy or a little girl at the habit-forming age, and, as was said generations ago, habit is a ca- ble, we weave a strand a day and at last it becomes so strong that we can- not break it.” Then he quoted “the noble and true conception of the vocation of & school teacher held by ome of the noblest, wisest men this republic has ever Xnown, William Ellery Channing,” as follows: “The dignity of the vocation of a teacher is ing to be understood; the \dea is dawning upon us that no office’ can compare in solemnity and importance with that of training the child; that skill to form the young to energy, truth and virtue is worth more than the knowledge of all other arts and sciences; and that the en- couragement of excellent teachers Is the first duty which a community owes to itself. 1 say the truth is dawning_and must make its way— the whole worth of a school lies in 1he teacher, Xou may accumulate the | produce anything nocent complicity.” Farce attained its apogee at that trial; imaginative genius must ever strive in vain to so side-splitting. The German press of the center and left is very caustic on the verdict; but whether that verdict is destined to help or to maim the nationalist cause Is a very doubtful speculation. On April 3, in tho beer hall which was the scene of the famous revolu- tion, Gen. Ludendorff launched his campaign as candidate for a seat in the reichstag. Infinite was the ap- plause, infinite were steins Of Muenschner. The German political scene takes on an aspect more and more bizarre. Chancellor Marx makes a speech at Hanover declaring that victory at the coming elections of the extremists of the right would cause Germany's ruin. On the same day in the same city Foreign Minister Stresemann declare himself for the “people’s kaiserdom,” with other remarks which seem to denote him—well, anything you please except an enthusiast for the Weimar constitution and the republic. The press of the world, and espe- cially of the United States, manifest- ing surprise at such utterances from 2 member of the republican govern- ment, Stresemann i{ssues an elaborate “apology” to the press. He and his party, it seems—the people's party, the party of industrial magnates— are monarchists at_heart and com- sider restoration of kaiserdom the “uitimate goal of their efforts” but this is to bo achieved by the means and methods outlined in the Weimar constitution.” Ho adds that “this fundamental monarchical attitude stretches far to leftward into the ranks of members of the “centrist and democratio parties”’ Quite so; but one cannot help thinking that such utterances might be of help to the cause of those who would hasten the restoration of kaiserdom by means and methods not outlined in the Weimar constitution. It is cer- tainly very bizarre. \Gifted, High-Minded Teachers Are Held Essential to Nation most expensive apparatus for instruc- tion, but without an intellectual, gift- ed teacher it is little better than rub- bish, and such a teacher without ap- paratus may effect the happiest 1¢- sults. ““What we want is a race of teachers acquainted with the philosophy of the mind, gifted men and women, who shall’ respect human natore in the child and strive to touch and gently bring out its best powers and sympa- thies, and who shall devote themselves to this as the great end of life. This good, I trust, is to come, but it comes slowly. This good requires that edu- cation shall be recognized by the Gommunity as its highest Interest and “It requires that the instructors of youth shall take precedence of the money-getting class, and that the woman of fashion shall fall behind the female teacher.’ Steam has again bowed to electric- ity—this time in the California oil flelds. Drilling of two wells was started on the same day. For one steam power was used and for the other electricity. Both were com- pleted on the same day, but the cost of drilling the well with steam was $100 a day, while the cost of drilling with electricity was only $16 per day—a saving of $84 a day. e The new steel Ohio-Mississippi river steamboat City of Cincinnati, which recently made her maiden voyage with a full complement of passengers aboard, all bound for New Orleans to the Mardi Gras, is electri- cally lighted throughout.' The 220 foot main cabin is illuminated by Afteen coxstal Some be saying that Stresemann et Cie are throwing a gigantic bluff, hoping to scare Gen. Dawes and his colleague into modifying their report to the advantage of Germany—a charming idea The German government has at last replied to the allied note of March §, which demanded that said govern- ment facilitate renewal of allied in- spections to ascertain the state of German armament. The Germans propose the ‘“military control” of Germany be turned over to the coun- cil of the league of nations. At Friedrichshafen, in Wuerttem- berg, Germany, on the northern shore of the Lake of Constance (the Boden- see) they are putting the finishing touches ‘on two important aircraft. One is a plane for Amundsen’s polar venture; the other is the Zeppelin be- ing built to our reparations account, which is to sail soon for her adop- tive country. The Germans are lay ing themselves out to produce a bet- ter craft than the Shenando#h: and it will be exciting to compare the performances of the two mammoth ships. * ¥ k% Italy—~"Ttaly,” declared Mussolini in his speech the other day on the fifth anniversary of the birth of fascismo, “has pursaed and will continue to pur- sus a pacific policy. But naturally,” he added with his customary refresh- ing candor, “it is impossible to pur- sue a successtul forelgn policy unless the country is disciplined and armed. It is useless to put faith in humani- tarian and pacifist idealists. We must have an army, a navy and an air force.” This has the ring of “the olden days, the good ald dgys of yore.” * £ % % United " States of Ameriea—The President has nominated Harlan Fiske Stone to succeed Daugherty as At- torney General. Mr. Stone has been dean of the Columbia Law School since 1910. Last year he resigned that position in order to devote himself exclusively to law practice, but the resignation does not technically take effect until June 30. of this year. The nomination is generally acclaim- ed as a happy_one. Congress is being asked to appro- priate for a regular postal coast-to- coast airplane service, involving night fiying between Chicago and Cheyenne; machines to start each day from New York and San Francisco on a sched- ule of twenty-six hours and fifteen minutes. The route between Chicago and Cheyenne is sufficiently provided with _ illumination and emergency landing fields. There are estimated to be about 18,200,000 motor vehicles in the world of which about 15,200,000, or over 80 per cent, are in the United States. Great Britain has about 650, 000, Canada about the same number and France about 460,000. The rest are nowhere. vehicle for every seven and three- tenths persons in the United States. California leads among the states with a motor vehicle for every three and one-half persons. Our produc- tion in 1923 was over 4,000,000 vehicles; about 376,000 trucks, the rest passenger cars. The Ford plant turned out a little more than half of _the total. ¥ranz Hals’' painting, "The Laugh- ing Mandolin Player,” has been sold by the Duveens to John R. Thomp- son, the restaurant man, for $250,000. Mr. Thompson is collecting on the grand scale. * x k% Netes.—A conference of Russian and Rumanian representatives to discuss sundry matters broke up on April 2, after brief exchanges on the Bessarabian issue. ‘The ocean tonnage of today ex- ceeds the pre-war ocean tonnage by 30 per cent. but is doing 40 per cent less. b}m-. f ey There is one motor | Doubtless he would. But I did not|my particular case is an WHAT IS SUCCESS? V.—Judging the Business Weather BY ROGER W. BABSON. HE president of a great trans- continental railroad system lay in his bed in a Chicago hospital recozcring from an operation. For days the faithful nurse had been quietly and regularly recording the sick man's tempera- ture. One day he looked up to her and said: “I bave been thinking that every movement of a temperature chart portraye the progress of a hu- map life. Oh—if when men look at charts on business conditions, they could only see them in terms of hu- manity! Every slightest movement up or down on such charts changes the lives of 100,000,000 people, the whole population of the United States You yourself are among that 100,- 000,000. The movements of business reach out their influence to us all Our chances of suacess vary daily with the variations of business, as my chances of recovery vary with the movements of your chart” People say, “Oh, tiis may be all right for other folks, but my situa- tion is different. Fundamental law doesn’t affect me at all” Such peo- ple are wrong; it does affect all £TOUPS and all clasves. The head of a large business once showed me charts indicating how yhis business was growing, month after month and year after year. He shut his ears, however, to all warnings. He re- fused to make any preparations to meet the storm that was plainly coming.. When the storm finaQy broke it dashed him upon the rocks of bankruptcy. He failed financially, physically and spiritnally. Position of Farmers, Then there are the farmers. Farm- ers often think they lead an inde- pendent life. “Fundamental law,” they say, “appplies to bankers and business men but not to farmers.” They even want Congress to legislate fundamental law out of existence or exempt them from its jurisdiction. But what happens in a period of de- pression? Down comes the price of wheat. Down comes the price of cotton. Down comes the price of other farm products. Like all the rest of the world, the farmer 1s hit by hard times. He is hit by the law of action and reaction. There is no escape from this eter- nal and universal law. One cannot escape it by changing his occupation, because this law rules all occupa- tions. One cannot escape it by mov- ing to another locality, because this law rules all localities. This law of success is like the law of gravity, controlling the life of each one of us whatever we may be living and whatever we may be doing. There are many readers who are saying to themselves, “Well, well! | almost every branch of naval activity, | T1i8 Seems to be quite an important law but I am sure it doesn’t mean much in my life. The success' of every one else may be affected, but exception. ‘What do I care about these economic forces!” The following two or three examples may be worth while, as showing that there are no excep- tions: Charts and Churches. Here is the case of a minister of the gospel. He began his pastoral duties during a period of business de- pression. At such a time there is always a marked revival of interest in religion. One can show the actual figures to prove that church membership grows faster during hard times than during good times. This min.ster was very successful. The people flocked to his church and listened attentively to his preaching. He felt—and naturally so —that he was destined to do a great good in the world, that he was truly “called” to the ministry, that success ‘was assured to him. There came a day when his people seemed to be gradually slipping away from him and turning more and more to worldly affairs. Religious interest was distinctly on the wane, and mem- bership in his church began to de- cline. Conversions became less fre- quent. First one sign and then an- other began to point to the apparent fact that he was losing his hold and was not a success. He even began to doubt whether he had truly been called to his holy mission or had en- tered upon a mistaken vocation. Had this minister been familiar ‘with the fundamental law of action- reaction and realized that there are no exceptions to its operation, no such doubts would have assailed him. carlier period of his pastorate a very large share of his success was due not to his peculiar personal power, but rather to the fundamental condi- tions of the time. It was not so much his own influence that brought people into the fold as it was the chastening of economic adversity. On the other hand, when times changed and a wave of reckless prodigality swept the land, the minister ought to have recognized that his loss of influence was due not so much to any failure on his part as it was to the wayward tendencies that always accompany a business boom. School Temechers and Business. School teachers who read these ar- ticles will probably be astounded that few classes of people are so pro- foundly affected by this fundamental law as are school teachers. School teachers have what is commonly known as a fixed income. For exam- ple, a teacher may begin tcaching on a salary of $1,000 to $1,500 a year. In course of time this salary may be in- creased somewhat, but in the main the salary range is pretty definitely fixed and limited. It is unfortunate that the cost of ltving is not likewise fixed. The cost of living, however, is variable; it can rise to dizzy heights. Thus it rose during the period of 1914 to 1919, One thousand dollars may have been an adequate salary for the teacher in 1914, buf in 1919 this $1,000 had shrunk in actual purchasing power to almost half its former size. Hundreds of teachers were driven nearly to desperation—and this is no mere figure of speech, but the brutal fact. Thousands of teachers were forced to abandon their chosen calling altogether, as they were literally starved out. “What can a teacher do about it?"; one may ask. Even though foreseeing thesq terrible swings in the cost of living, can the teacher make any practical preparation to avert or miti- gate their dire results? The best so- lution is to educate the public to the need of paying teachers a salary suffi- cient to permit not merely of living but of saving-during & fair propor- \ | Tum: 1 | doctor Kee He would bave realized that in the | tion of the time. With even a mod- erate sum set asfde, the teacher could more successfully pass through the periodic ordeal of stationary salary and rising expense. Too Many Engineers? There are many parents who are sending their sons to engineering col- leges to be trained as electrical engi- neers, mechanical engineers, civil en~ glneers, mining engineers, etc. Engi- neering is an occupation that fluctu- ates widely. There will be a period when engineers are in great demand There will come a period when there is practically no call for engineers and many of them can hardly find work at all. The reason is that during a period of prosperity, when there great industrial expansion, engineers are needed to build factories, design equipment and carry on all Sorts of technical work. But when depression comes expansion turns into retrench- ment. Instead of hiring more engi- neers, corporations are inclined discharge those already in their em ploy. It is therefore extremely impo tant for the engineer who desires succeed to study this fundamental law of success, 80 that he may foresee that a period of retrenchment must follow a period of abnormal expan- sion and guide himself accordingl Talk this over with your son who is studying engineering. Impress ypon him the tremendous practical impor- tance of understanding this law and shaping his career to conform with these irresistible swings. Time to Buy Real Estate. There are few families who do mot at some time need to buy or sell real estate. Of course real estate values are likely to be more steady than the prices of cotton, wheat, corn and other commodities. Nevertheless, real estate values swing slowly up and down over a considerable range. It is very foolish to buy property when values are abnormally high. Unless the need is most urgent, one can well afford to wait until the prices of land and houses have declined to a mini- n The same applies to building. Near the top of a business boom everybody feels prosperous and ex- pansive. You then think how nice it would be to build or buy a better home. You then feel that you well afford it, because your in has increased and the future looks bright. But then is exactly the wrong time to build or buy. Wait until the bottom of the following period of depression. Wait until most people are gloomy and discouraged and think the country is going to the dogs, when there are always good pro erties on the market at abnormal low prices and real bargains in land and houses. Moreover, at such times building materials are cheaper, labor is cheaper and conditions are ideal for putting up an excellent house minimum expense. . ‘When to Change Jobs. There is another problem which many families are called upon face—the problem of changing one's occupation. A farmer, for example, will sometimes desire to quit farm- ing and try storekeeping. A man en- gaged with one concern will decide that some other concern offers better opportunities. Such’ changes should never be made carelessly, but only after most serious study of condi- tions. Remember that the import thing to find out is not the present situation, but the future owtloo: 1t is the fufure tha: will make or break you—not the present nor the past. A man was offered a good job as sales manager of a concern which was doing a big business. He looked only at the present volume of sale: upon which he was offered a han some commission. He took the job, and for a few months everything went well Then came the turn and all business began to go downhill. Ot course, the man was blamed for the shrinking volume of sales, though this was no fault of his, but due solely to the genmeral economic d pression. Moreover, his commissions fell off until he was scarcely making a living. Countless examples of this kind conld be cited. Here is a fundamental .ule for success: Never take up new occupation until yvou are su that the country is at the beginnin of a period of prosperit: assure you of several creasing activity. During this upward movement you have the opportunity of rendering real service, and only b rendering service can one truly sus ceed. Princes and Paupers. Tt is simply astounding to see how widespread and far-reaching this re- morseless law #, for it even control the rate of marriages. During good times marriages Increase; during hard times they decrease. The law oper- ates upon advertising men. It trans forms them from princes to paupers and back again. The reason is that during a boom the volume of adver- tising is vastly increased, and consc- quently advertising men wax fat and prosperous, while during a business slump the reverse conditions obtain. This is also true of insurance men although insurance tends to be some- what more steady. You would think that doctors would be an exception to this law. Far from it! To be sure, the busy in hard times or i £ood—but what about his collections? A well known physiclan said to me: “During & period of business de- pression I send in my bill, and either it is not paid at all or else squeezed out most painfully in dimes and pen- nies. Byt during a boom payments come easily, and I am asked to make chango for iarge bills.” ‘Woman’s Opportunity. So much has been sald about men and success that some readers may have the impression that this law does not directly affect women. Noth- ing could be further from the truth. Scores of homes are filled with furni- ture bought at absurdly high price: when by merely waiting for more fa- vorable conditions precisely the same furniture would have been bought for fully a quarter less. Some women, at the begianing of an upward swing of commodity prices, will buy their household supplies “from hand to mouth,” when they should have stocked up heavily in anticipation of the price advance. Other women dur- ing a period of declining commodity prices, when they should have bought from 'hand to mouth, will stock up heavily, and_thus fail to benefit by the decline. Moreover, where is there any woman whose life is not influ- enced by the fortanes of her men folks? Every business failure, every business success, strikes back at once to the home and throws its light or shadow on the women and children So omnipotent is this fundamental law that it affects every person, and is one of the greatest factors in de- termining the success and happiness of all. (Copyright, 1023, Fleming H. Nevell Compe First published in this newspaper by ar- rangement with Babeon Institute, Babsoo Park, Mass.) e~ To Study Sound Waves. From the Chicago News. Experiments on the propagation of sound, Involving the use of large quantities of high explosives, are to be carried on in May by the French government. Three gigantic explo- sions, each of them using about ten tons of explosives, will be set off.at Camp de la Courtine in the center of France. The explosions will take place several days apart under differ- ing atmospheric conditions. The ox act time will be noted, and numero. seismographs, and other forms of reg- istering apparatus throughout Fran will record the direction, intensiig oL thesound