Evening Star Newspaper, April 13, 1924, Page 41

DITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES EDI ORIAL SECTION he Sunday Staf Part 2—16 Pages WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY DRASTIC REMEDY URGED TO CURE ILLS OF FARMER McNary-Haugen Bill Likely to Pass Un less Some Other Way Is Found 1o Succor Wheat Growers. " osn HALL 0N S CLINE. Ameri nger profitabl zed econom condition: be subsidized and made profit- Te by ocess of government price fixing? ‘That is the question which must be answered in considering the McNary- Haugen bill. now pending before Con- RTess and backed by one of the mast powerful and skillful propa- zanda organizations ever brought to hear in support of a legislative meas- ure. One member of the President’s . the Seeretary of Agriculture, has declared for it. The Senate com- mittee has reported now being House com- growing. hecause of most abine on agriculture favorably it. It partly n by the mittec on agriculture, but a majority ©f the members of that committee are counted as champions of its essential features. Must Be Taken Seriously. It will to Nary-Haugen bill as a piece eved radicalism. It will avail nothing denouce proponents as hair- brained fanatics. Those are the tac- which some opponents of the bill ere adopting, and they are mak- ing « fearful mistake. There is no urer way of driving it through both houses of Congress and placing the President in a position where he either must sign it face the wrath of an outraged west. For those who are back of the McNary-Haugen bill are in deadly earnest. Party politics mean nothing to them. and the politi- cal fortunes of individuals, however highly placed, mean everi I They have “sold” their program to an over- whelming majority of farm organi tions, and these organizations are selling it to the individual farmer. Farmers in general, and wheat growers in particular, are their representatives in Congress with demands that this measure shall be enacted into law s “unsound” is not an answer that will satisfy the farmers. They tired of being told that measures for their relief do not meet the approval of high-brow economists. The wheat ¢ sick and they some desperate remedy i they need. They are not threats that such a rem- to their disadvantage They mood to subseribe to medical logic which would permit a man to di rather than risk administering to him 2 habit-forming drug. A man facing death today can’t be expected to get much worked up over what may hap- pen in the world tomorrow. Must Find Another Way. upon rewritt not do dismiss the Me- to its tics are desperate Just what terrified by edy may react in the future. re in no It there is no other way in which wheat growers be rescued from their present plight, opponents of the McNary-Haugen bill haven't a leg to stand upon. In such dase opposi- tion to the bill would be an appaling political and social crime, for it would mean condemnation of milllions of honest, loyal Americans to utter and hopeless ruin, 1f the MeNary- Haugen bill were the only way, no man should balk at possible conse- Qquences, for no consequences could be as dreadful as the future which the wheat growers would face. But is the McNary-Haugen bill the only way? By the answer to that question the case must stand or fall. It is contended by proponents of the McNary-Haugen bill, and admitted by can of wild-{ flooding | That the program | 'loss is $75,000,000 | amounted { commission and a farm { poration, the latter with of capital provided from the States Treasury, supplemented authority to borrow. The purpose ! would be to maintain wheig at a fair price compared with the price of other commodities. A “fair” price for wheat L would be a price which had the same relation to the prices of other com- modities that wheat averaged hav ing to other commodities during the ten years prior to the war. It estimated that that price for wheat today would be $1.50 a bushel. What | the price of wheat would continue to be would be determined by a monthly | computation based on Department of Labor statistics, but for the purpose of illustration it will be assumed that it held steadily at $1.50 a bushel Whenever the price of wheat fell below $1.50 a bushel the export cor- poration would go into the market as a buyer and by buying would main- tain wheat at the prescribed price Theoretically, it would have to buy only the exportable surplus, as do- mestic consumers would have to pay | the government price in order to sup- ply their requirements. They would have to do this because the Presi-| | dent, by proclamation, would fix the | tariff duty on wheat high enough so [ that import wheat could not be sold | | below the government price i | How It Would Work Out. ] Assuming the crop figures and the | world price used above, the export | corporation would buy 150,000,000 bushels of wheat at $1.30 a bushel, which it would have to rll on the world market at $1 a bushel,.netting a loss of $75,000,000, plus the costs of operation. The McNary-Haugen bill | | undertakes to provide that every man who grows and sells bushel of | Iwheat shall bear proportionats share of that loss, regardless of | whether his wheat entered into ex- {port or was consumed at home. In {other words, the entire crop of 85i0,- a export cor- 200,000,000 United with | 1o a I_,;ague of Nations Prove But Never Will Dominate Governments BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. ENEVA.—Five years ago it was my fortune to be present on that memo- rable day when, in the first plenary ion of the peace conference, the late I'r dent Wilson presented to the confer- and to the world and obtained from the former the acceptance of his covenant of the league of nations. Kor all of those who wers then present the memory of Mr. Wilson, flushed with triumph, conscious of the fact that the eves of the whole world were upon him, contrasted with the pathetic fizure of the dying man who lingered in Washington for brief but bitter years thereafter, consti- tutes one of the supreme tragedies of ex- perience. And, with the memory of this past event stirred by a recent stay in Paris, where many things and many people recalled that other da, 1 came to G a during the session of the council of the league to see what had been the development of the idea in the still bricf period of time between the Paris con- ference and the present moment. Now, when one attempts to write abont the league of nations, even about the fact which is disclosed here in Geneva, there always in- terposes the realities and—if you please—the futilities of the long political battle in America. Thus, one must, in recording facts, struggle with two memories—that of Mr. Wilson as he delivered his great pronounce- ment, which was the origin of the league in Paris in 1919, and that of the United States Senate and all the enormous battle over th league, which was carried on in Ameri politics and measurably still continucs Not a Superstate. enes The first impression, then, of the league of rations in Geneva, and, perhaps the last, i that it is something equally different from the thing which Mr. Wilson dreamed and the United States Senate feared. The first reac- tion is not of a body engaged in tremendous tasks and backed by the public sentiment of mankind; not of men or of an institution ca- pabie of preventing future wars, and it is just as unmistakably not of an institution seeking or even threatening to become a su- perstate, invading the liberties of free coun- tries and subordinating nations to its brand of internationalism To get even the remotest conception of the league of ions as it exists, not as'it has {000,000 bushels should participate in | the export loss, because the entire crop would have profited by the ar- tificial price maintained. | In order to accomplish this an es | mate would be made in advance as to | what the probable export losses and ! operating for the would {be. To make figu will b ssumed that th export costs vear estimated the estimated cost of operations, with a margin for safety, is $10,000,000, a total of $55.- 900,000. On = crop of '§50,000,000 this | would represent a reduction of 10, cents a bushel below the established | price of $1.50. In order to distribute | this. reduction, with every purchase of : wheat, whether by the exp poration or by a private buyer, pay- ment would be made $1.40 in cash and 10 cents in a special “script” to provided for that purpose. The script would be placed on sale at all post offices, and who refused to accept it for his wheat would be liable to civil damages. If, when all the wheat had been marketed snd the books balanced, it was found that the export losces and operating costs had to the full estimate of $85.000,000, the script would be worth- less. If, on the contrary, the losses and costs had been only $12,500,000, the corporation would redeem the script at fifty cents on the dollar of its face value. The scrint would be transferable and redeemable to| bearer. Applies to Other Crops. Such, stripped to the bone of bare and be a selle ils oppoments, that the difficulties of the wheat farmer arise from the fact! that the exportable surplus of his| crop must be sold in the world mar- | ket in competition with wheat which | less to a that llm: he receives for export wheat nes the receives for e larger portion of his crop which | is consumed at home. So far there is| no dispute. It also is contended and conceded that the price the American farmer receives for wheat today is less than the cost of production; that it is less than its fair ratio price when compared with other commodi- ties, and that the farmer cannot con- tinue to grow wheat unless something is done either to enhance its price or 10 lower the cost of production and the farmer's cost of living. The dif- forence of opinion arises as to what can and should be done to remedy this condition. Situation As o Whent. Here is the wheat situation, without attempted exactness as to bushels or slight variations in price: The Ameri- can wheat crop is 850,000,000 bushels and the American market consumes, including seed wheat, 700,000,000 bushels, leaving 150,000,000 bushels for export. It is a fundamental eco- nomic law that the price at which a surplus must be sold determines the price for the entire crop, provided, of course, that the surplus is large produce, a price he fact, is the McNary-Haugen plan. The bill makes the same procedure apply to corn, cotton, li stock and other farm products, but every one knows it is intended primarily to meet the situation of the wheat farmers. When cach “emergency” of low prices had been met and overcome, the mon drawn from the Treasury would be returned, to be drawn out again when | another “emergency” arose. It ispro- vided that the law shall remain inl force for a period of five years only. [ That the measure is patermalistic in the extreme, its most earmest propo- nents will hardly deny. That it would establish a précedent which might be applied to steel, copper or any line of production is asserted, but over this proponents of the bill refuse to worry. That artificial price fixing by governmental decree has been tried repeatedly since the Emperor Diocle- tian c(wcflved the notion sixteen cen- turies ago, and that it always has broken down is admitted, but back- ers of the McNary-Haugen bill be- lieve that this time they have found the sure-hit way. That there is likely to be speculation in the pro- posed script is conceded, but that it will operate as currency inflation is denied. So that must remain a mat- ter of opinion. Arbitrary mainte- nance of a ratio of pricces is de- nounced as a social and economic enough to be a factor in the market. 1t costs the American farmer $1.15 to produce a bushel of wheat. It costs farmers in Canada, in Argentina, in India and elsewhere enough less to srow wheat so that they can sell it at $1 a bushel and still make a profit. ‘Therefore, the Liverpool price of wheat, which is the world price, Is §1 2 bushel. The American farmer has To sell his 150,000,000 bushels of export wheat at the Liverpool price, and be- canse he ean get only $1 a bushel for this he gets only $1 a bushel for the 700,- €00,000 bushels consumed at home. He receives, therefore, $850,000,000 for a crop which has cost him $977,- 500,000 to grow, a met loss of $127,~ 0,000 on his year's operations. Is it Any wonder the wheat farmer is wil- ling to take chances with a remedy, however seemingly desperate? Here is the remedy which the Mc- Nary-Haugen bill prescribes for him: It &= proposed to set up am export evil, but the distressed wheat farm- ers are not worrying about social and economic evils. To the com- plaint that it would be govern- mental interference with business for the benefit of a class it is answered that the government already has done that very thing in the case of | the protective tariff for industry and the “fair return” rate fixing pow- | ers of the Interstate Commerce Com- mission. When all the arguments against | the measure have been marshaled and | set forth in their most terrifying aspects, the wheat growers come back ! with this one vitally pertinent ques- | tion: If this is not the way to relieve us of our distriss, how can we be re- lieved? If that question cannot be | answered to his satisfaction he is | going to keep on demanding the McNary-Haugen bill, with better than aven chances that he will get it. So, it is necessary to go back to the (Continued on Third Paged . been conceived or forecast, one must see it actually within its own field of operation. en there, what does the league appear like? First of all, detail as Incongruous, perhaps, as it is striking, the headquarters of the league are in what was once one of the con- siderable hotels of Geneva, a hotel which has preserved all furnishings and its char- acter, something as distinct from any con- cept of world politics or international affairs as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotfl in New York might scem if it were suddenly annexed as a new seat of Congress. What I mean is that ou never for a single moment in the Palace of the Society of Nations in Geneva quite es- ape the sense of the hotel—the hotel where tions encounter each other its And the second Impression—fer in a sense it is all & matter of impression—is of the won- derful beauty and calm in which the lecague meets. From the windows of the room in which the council meets you look through evergreen tr ross a tranquil lake at the smow-clad majesty of Mont Blanc. In the days of warm and carly spring, when the last session took place, there was a sense of peace which was astonishing; you had a feel- ing that had the conference to make peace five years ago met in Geneva instead of in Paris it might have done a better job. Meets in Old Tea Room. But the passing impressions give way to the observation of the council of the league beginning operations. It is meeting in one of the saloons where, undoubtedly, ten years throng of tourists met to take te s the hour of tea. Dut now the room n transformed into something recall- at the moment the schoolroom of childhosd and a committee room in the Capitol at Washington, where, for example, a com- mittee of the Senate is exploring into some national question. Seated about a long table facing the audi- ence are a dozen or more citizens of Europe, who are the council. In the center sits the chief permanent officer of the secretariat of of the league, Sir Eric Drummond, the pertfect outward semblance of that marvelous thing which has administered the British empire for several centuries, namely, the public school boy who has become the British civil servant. Right and left of him, without distinction of arec the members of the is ago a same dress manne: council It is with the membership of the that one has, 1 think, the first real shock at Theoretically, the league is the great of the represcntatives of the peo- ples of Europe./ Instinctively you look to see men of presence or of importance. ‘What you actually discover is several rather fussy and tmpatient men, obviously eager to be through with the business and be off home, for the session ends at once. There is Hanotaux for France, once a for- eign minister ever =o long ago and now con- tent to be here. Lord PParmoor of Britain, who, succeeding Lord Robert Ceril, has dem- how little importance the British r can attach to the present ses- sion of the league. Sallandra of Italy. Ischii of Japan more consicerable figure, but Japan is not interested. Of all who are pres- ent only Benes of Czechoslovakia and Branting of Sweden count in their own country. cmember, at the moment when this session of the council is meeting great events are happening in Burope. In Paris there has been the great crisis over the exchange and the expert have been at work on the task plan to solve rep- arations and reconstruction. In Berlin a great election is just to take place \hich may again unsettle Europe. In Britain a new and vigorous prime minister is casting about to find a way to reorganize Anglo- French relations, to get at the business of recunstruction, of peac or council neva. athering onstrated prime minist is a commjssions of finding European a MORNING, APRIL 13, 1924, s Usefulness, in the Palace of the Society of certain number of relatively in- significant politicians—second string men, 0 far as the great countries are concerned— have been for a week wrestling with the prob- lems of Memel, of Javorina, of police ef- tives in the Sarre valley, and, perhaps a shade more important, of the financial recon- struction of Hungary. Inevitably, thenm, you have the impression that in Geneva you are in a back eddy, a side street of Europe; that somehow, for reasons which may be of one kind or another, the big procession has gone by the other street. The brief session which 1 am seeking to describe lasts but a minute. All has been settled; this is the end of the week; what is left is routine, the merest routine—conver- sation in French, declarations of principle on the part of Poles in French, more or less formal inquisition by Lord Parmoor, suggest- ing desire for notice rather than information While this continues the audience, Inconsid- erable, made up mainly of the relatives of the permanent secretariat or of the visiting del- cgates, stirs uneasily. Most of what is said is too inaudible to challence interest. You feel that you came to see not to hear; that overy one came to see, and, having seen, is quite ready to depart. Again the odd recol- lection of the hotel comes back, guests who strayed in a salon where a public lecture was going on and then strayed out. Then, ab- ruptly, the thing breaks up; the delegates, their secrotaries, every one rushes out for the hotel, as delegates after a national convention at home, This first general Yet here, Nations, a impression which T am | seeking to describe, then, one a little, T | of triviality. Is it quite fair? No, L am sure it is not. The more one observes the league, the more one talks with the men and women who are engaged in the necessary tasks, the more clearly it is demonstrated that there is here a great deal of devotion, not a little intelligence, and, looking out over Europe, not a little of achievement. Net the Thing Dreamed of. The two curses of the leagme of nations, so far have, in my judgment, been the result of claiming too much for it and then treating it as too insignificant. Scen at close hand, it certainly fs not the thing that Mr. Wilson and the world dreamed about five years ago. What it exactly is at the moment is &n ex- traordinary and useful little machine, working in a remote and tranquil corner of Europe, working relatively minor matters, but dealing with them in a pretty average efii- | clent manner. i As it stands at the moment, the league is not even remotely a thing which could pre- vent war between great powers. It has little or no concern with the larger questions of peace or war. The great powers do not re- gard it as important enough to send consid- crable men to attend its sessions, and the great questions of Europe are not being con- sidered in Geneva, but in Paris, London and Berlin. on i (Continued on Third Page.) in citizens COULD FRANCE SETTLE HER U. S. DEBT WITH ISLES? Believed America cially in Trad Billion By EDWARD F. ROBERTS. OULD France pay her debt to the United States by cession of her possessions in the western hemisphere? The possibility of such a solution has been suggested more than once both in France and America, but 5o far no authoritative statement has been made as to the value of the French possessions should such a deal | be possible. For an opinion on that vital point I went to Oscar T. Crosby, of the American financial ad- visers at the time of the peace con- ference. Mr. Crosby's knowledge of interna- one | tional affairs was won at first hand. He has made international relation- ships his hobby since the days when, as a young man, he explored in equa- torial Africa, Abyssinia, Borneo and the misty lands of central Asla Mesopotamia was visited in 1914 Shortly after the world war he went to Belgium as director of the Ameri- can relief for that country and north- ern France. Later he returned home to accept the post of assistant secre- tary of the Treasury on the entrance of America into the war, and in No- vember, 1917, was appointed presi- dent of the interally council on war purchases and finance, with head- quarters in Londont and Paris. Might Be Poaxfble. “A settlement of the French debt on the basis of her ceding her posses- sions in this hemisphere might be possible,” said Mr. Crosby, “but it certainly would not be practieal from the point of view of the ordinary business transaction. I mean by that that it would not be a case where merchandise of known value is ex- changed for its equivalent in money. There is né way that I know of by which you can arrive at the value of such things as islands and colonies as you can, for instance, decide the value of a plot of land on which to build a house or the value of a store which you might desire to buy. “Let us see, first of all, what the French would have to offer, assum- ing, of course, that they would be interested in such a proposal at all. Their possessions in the West Indies | consist of the two larger islands of Guadeloupe and Martis ue, with a combined area of 1,100 square miles and a population of 400,000, and the two smaller islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, with a combined area of 91 square miles and a population of 4,600 Outside of these islands, they hold French Guiana, which has never been properly surveyed, but contains probably about 35,000 square miles, with a population of about 44,000. The first thing we would have to de Would Lose Finan- e, on Basis of Obligation. would be to find some basis on which to estimate the value of these pos- sessions.” “Could not our purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark offer some guide? I interjected. “Perhups,” said Mr. Crosby, dubi- ously, “but I have never yet heard any explanation of how the price of 25,000,000 which we paid for those islands, was arrived at. The deal was put through with a great deal of hurry and confusion, but I am not sure that at this day there is any one who knows what we paid for and why we bought it. If you figure the | purchase on the basis of population, you will find that we paid about $1,000, If you figure on the basis of area, we paid about $200,000 per square mile. If we buy the French islands on a similar population calculation, it Calculated per square mile, the price would be only $238,200,000. Figured either way, which France owes us. Neither would it help very much if we add Guiana On the population figures that colon would only add $44,000,000 to the total, excluding the uncivilized In- dian population, of which no reliable census has ever been taken. Of course, if you were to figure by the | square mile the purchase price of the colony would be $7,000,000,000, an ut- terly fantastic figure.” Little Trade Value. “There remains the question of trade value,” I suggested. “You would not arrive at a very high purchase figure that way,” said Mr. Crosby. is only about $20,000,000 vearly, counting both, imports and exports. French Guiana is practically unde- veloped, with less than 10,000 acres under cultivation, and placer gold mining its only important industry. Its total yearly trade is less than $3,000,000. “Which does not sound like a good bargain.” “Not when you consider it:from the point of view of an ordinary com- mercial transaction. ‘Does America need additional de- fenses?” I asked. U. S. Needs Defense. ’ In-my judgment,” said Mr. Crosby, earnestly, “she needs every defense that she. is capable of providing. Though I have written on the “Causes and Care of International War," I am not one of those who believe that the day of sreat wars is over. I believe that there are other tre- mendous conflicts coming, and that (Continued on Third Page.) in round figures, per native. | would mean a total of $404,600,000. | you would not get the| sum anywhere near the $3,000,000,000 | | | “The trade of the islands | fore the Se U. S. POURS OUT MILLIONS TO AID EUROPE’S HUNGRY German Relief Pla Senate, -But One of Many American Efforts. BY GOULD LINCOLN. HE joint resolution passed by the House March 24, by an overwhelming vote, authoriz- ing the expenditure by the government of the United States of $10,000,000 for the relief of the dis- tressed and starving women and chil- | dren of Germany, is at present await- ing action by the Senate foreign re- lations committee. Two factors have halted, at least temporarily, the progress of this res- olution. One is the doubt that the Congress can constitutionally author- ize the expenditure of the revenues from American taxpayers for such a purpose. The other is the expecta- tion that the adjustment of the repa- rations muddle now suggested by the committee of experts in the Dawes re- port to the reparations commission will make it possible for Germany to get back to doing things for itself again, and will be able to care for the women and children now undernour- iched and in some instances starving. May Adept Loanm Plan. To avoid the question of constitu- tionality, the resolution may be amended so as to provide for a loan of $10,000,000 to Germany to be ex- pended upon the women and chil- dren. It is argued that if the purpose is really to make the German people a present it will matter little what terms are made in commection With such a loan. That there is real distress amons the women and children of Germany —and the men, too—appears from the testimony first before the House com- mittee on foreign affairs and now be- nate committee on foreign relations. A report from the United States ambassador in .Berlin Was quoted, in which he said that in large areas of Berlin more than 50 per cent of the children are tubercular, that they are weak from undernourish- ment and that thers has been less than 50 per cent of the amount of milk necessary to supply their needs, and they are without fuel to warm their homes. This is a terrible pie- ture, well calculated to awaken the sympathy of the American people, and consequently the officials and the government of the United States. Among the witnesses who appeared before the House committee in favor of the resolution introduced by Rep- resentative Hamilton Fish of New York, who served witH distinction in the A. E. F. in France during the war with Germany, was Gen. Henry T. Al- len, who commanded the 80th Division of the A. E. F. in France and later the American forces in the occupied area of Germany. n, Now Delayed in| | | 1 | | Gen. Allen is keenly interested in rolief measures for the women and children of Germany and is in charge of a relief organization engaged in collecting funds from the American public to send over to Germany food packets to be distributed by the Friends’ organization. Gen. Allen told | the committee that already $1,400.000 had been collected for this purpose. He said that $10,000,000 would not suffice to meet the situation, however. Situation May Change. 1t has been the hope of the admin- ,islralmn that the reparations com- mission would grant Germany prior- ity in making a $70,000,000 loan for this purpose. The plan now devised throngh the committec of experts may result, it is believed, in a very great change in the situation. America and Americans have not been slow to answer appeals for aid ito foreign peoples in distress. Dur- ling the world war and since the armistice was signed, November 11, 1918, this country has poured out millions of dollars in relief work in many nations. This has been ac- complished through action of the government itself and through such organizations as the American Red Cross, the Near Hast Relief, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Knights of Columbus and the Salvation Army. In 1919 Congress put through an act creating a $100,000,000 revolving fund to be administered by the Pres- ident of the United States for the relief of peoples in war-worn Europe. Herbert Hoover, now Secretary of | Commerce, was put in charge of the | American Relief Administration. For | part of the funds distributed obliga- | |tions of the countries alded were jreceived by the government, as fol- lows: Armenia, $8,028,412.15; Czecho- | slovakia, $6,428,089.19; Esthonia, $1,- 785,767.72; Finland, $8,281,926.17; Lat- via, $2,610,417.82; Lithuania, $822,- 1136.07; Poland, $51,671,749.36, and Russia, $4,465,465.07. Interest om these obligations has accrued in’con- siderable amounts since they . were | siven By act of Congress approved De- cember 22, 1921, the President was authorized to expend out of the funds of the United States Grain Corpora- tion a sum of $20,000,000 to purchase in the United States, transport and distribute corn, seed grain and pre- served milk for the distressed and . | SHOALS STILL. AHEAD OF DAWES PROPOSALS Whole Scheme of German Rehabilitation Now Faces Barrage of Political Intrigue. BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN. LD Gen. Pooh, Pooh scoffer, doubter, and his chief adju- tants, Jealousy, National Prejudice and Suspicion, who from time immemorial have been able to retard settlement of European problems, have been romted before American Influence. Through the report of international financial experts, chosen to find ways and means whereby Germany may be able to pay her reparations burdens and headed by Gen. Dawes, Europe may find a way to settle her difficul- ties and take the high roads toward economic, financial and social recov- Only through the medium of American moderating influence was the report effected ery The reparations commission has in- dorsed it and now it will go to va- rious governments for their stamp of approval before its terms, concrete and succinet, can be put into effect for the salvation of Germany and the economic welfars of the continent. The reparations commissions, through American effort, was apprised be- forehand of the expedlency of facil- itating the report that it might be put before interested governments be- fore it could be subject to the con- flicting currents of thought strug- gling assiduously, for the upper hand in the various countries most inter- ested. Other Agreements Alded. Ever since the war ended the most effective agreements have come to pass through the medium of disinter- ested mediation of Americans. The Lausanne conference was the chief example. The settloment of the vexed Memel question jis but one of the sev- eral other minor issues which have been ironed out under American in- fluence. This situation is not strange inasmuch as the jealousies and an- tipathies, centur! old, which have precluded progress of strictly Euro- pean deliberations, al are kept in the background when Americans are participating in European tlements. In many minds the thought has run carrent that Europeans merely desire to use America for their own ends. That they merely agree order that such agreements may promote American ezo to the point of further participation in things strictly European. Rather is it true that Europeans can better talk among themselves without strife, when they know that the disinterestedness of American statesmen or negotiators makes their voice one of reasonable- ness. It is a striking fact that Amer- ican participation, whether it has been official or non-efficial, has per- mitted several European conferences | to proceed without the fireworks usually accompanying delibsration when national prejudices crop out and national jealousies sway one dele- gation and then another toward courses inimical to settlement. To the Buropean mind American disinterestedness alone, conpled with an aptness in applying common sense | where those prone to diplomacy would use evasion and, quibbling, is a thing vitally needed. they say they court American par- ticipation, official or non-official, in the general process of reaching adjustments designed to restore set. tled order. This public respect for American participation may or may not be held in high official circles, but officialdom of Europe respects the viewpomt of the masses of peo- ple in large measure and, as & oon- sequence of the knowledge that the people welcome American effort of whatever character, makes official- dom less loath to do so. Babe Sare to Have Colic. Geeat as has been the accomplish- ment of Gen. Dawes in reaching deci- sions carried into the report of the financial experts, quick as the repara- tions commission has been to indorse the text of the report and eager as some of the allied nations have been to express their fealty to its provi- sions, it nevertheless remains a fact —— cash or credit on such terms as might be necessary to relieve the popula- tions in the countries of Kurope, flour in its possession. The obligations received and the countries from which they were re- ceived for this aid were as follows: Armenia, $3,931,505.34; Anstria, $24 055,708.92; Czechoslovakia, § 238.25; Hungary, $1,685.835.61, Poland, $24,312,514.37. The United States Grain Corpora- tion, acting as fiscal agent for the American Relief Administration, de- livered commodities for child feeding and for other charitable services, for which no obligations for repayment were taken, as follows: Cgzechoslo- vakia, $2,261,229.96; Esthonia, $376,- 621.73; Finland, $560,275.75; Latvia, $493,575.52; Lithuania, $279,721.53; Po- land, $4,743,147.07; Rumania, 3414,- 286.43; non-bolshevik Russia, $373,- 873.72; Serbia, $1,035407.59; freight on Red Cross supplies, $275,287.23; freight on typhus equipment, $110,- 462.60. Total, $10,923,889.13. Funds Spent by Red Cress. The American National Red Cross and { has expended the following amounts in various foreign countries for re« lief since the armistice: France, $66.- 933,000; Belgium,, $2.196,000: Italy, $8,099,000; Great Britain, $4,741,000; Switzerland, $718,000; Balkans, $13, 335,000; Palestine and near east, $4,- $22,000; Poland, $17,283,000; Czecho- slovakia, $881,000; Russia and Bal states, $13,221,000; Vienna-Budapest, $5,077,000; Constantinople and vicin- starving people of, Russia. Grain Corporations Work. The United States Grain Corpora- tion was authorized under an act ap- proved March.30; 1920, to sell for ity, for Russian refugees, $7,948,000; other aid in Europe, $8.111,000; Japan, for the reliet after the earthquake last year, $11,600,000; Siberia, $20,- 602,000, and China, $1,331,000. Total, Naturalty, | that the report is but | dling clothes sure to k =pells when various statesmen, represent- ing various governments without the restraining influence of the American nurse, rush to the side of the crib to apply panaceas, mostly noxious na- tionalistic theories, then the Dawes babé is in for a terrible half hour Each government, answering the con- flicting political currents within re- spective realms, is sure to have a dif- ferent remedy. And the fight for the right to administer chosen remedie s yet to begin. There is grave ques tion whether any one minister remedy agreements by consulta | force the babe ierate mess. wrecking even changing the whole course of ithe infant's life. And before the “chee-ild" has “perished completely’ undoubtedly there will come to America a frantic call for the gov- ernment, officially or unofficially, to | send surgeons and men of medicine to | save the situation. Whether Americn { will do so remains a moot question | with every sentiment indicating that | beyond unofficial advice and the ad- ministration of dollar tonies th | country will 2o no further. 1 bab all Like infants, colic. And it can its There may be ts which will conglom alth and | to a its he Faces Many Difficultios | Pessimistic nay appear. the {report must run dangerous shallows | Briefiy put. the Germans will be giver voice at a hearing during the present week. The Germans must accept refuse. Certainly they cannot make the report a foot ball and procrasti nate as to what they or may not do. and particularly in view {allied unity in regard to the applic tion of the measure. Then the a governments will begin their deli ations as to how the machinery ma: !be placed in motion. And here it i< | that the greatest trouble may he met | France will seek some sort of reas- |surances from England to comper | sate for the removal of economlc : financial guarantees held in th Rhineland and the Ruhr. England though it would appear at the {ment unlikely, may ist upon withdrawal cor curtailment of number of French and Belgian troop 1On the other hand the amount Ger many eventually is to pa: n ter {not fixed in the Dawes report, may t broached and with it the very gra | question of allicd debt eancellatior L AIl of- these things will have direct | bearing upon actual initiation of th fDawes plan of Germany's econor recovery, and inasmuch as they & founded directly upon the rocks ci national prejudice, there is sure to be much bickering. heeing and hawinz before allied nations agree upon work- ing plans. However, if German government accepts the report sud pledges itself to abide by its dict then there is every reason to belicv that greater progress will be ma bringing about workir | agreements between the allies ther selves. Germans Expected to Agree. There is every indication that il German government will agree t abide by the Dawes report and con- sent to the application of its provis ions, even though the sum total of reparations payments is not fixed. Th Dawes commission declares that Ger- many can only be expected to pay a the exports exceed her imports and though this sum is fixed at 2,500,000.- 000 gold marks a year there are r facts to prove that this sum can [raised. However, after weighin; | whole German economie and financi: situation it is thought that the 'don will not be too gr { many can well afford to g i ure provided her eec is well oiled with ini loans and other natic jthrowing sand of nationalis | sire into the cogwheels Allied nations are watching, and {justly so, the reactions in German: Though the government appears to be on the eve of consenting to the appli- cation of the Dawes plan, the real con- cern exists as to the junkers | nationalist upon definite omic 1 internationa! ns refrain fron de- German s, predicating their campaign a policy of resistanc to dictates, are continuing to progrese and there is grave doubt that cven though the German government should O. K. the Dawes scheme, the national ists—if they gain control of the reich tag, set up a dictatorship, and eventu- ally effect a restoration of the mon- archial order—would make the agree- ment a foot ball, and therefore initiat: their schemes of non-fulfillment Inasmmch as this is possible it can- not be expected that even England will resist retention of Belgian and French troops in the Ruhr until it has been pretty definitely proven thi the Germans mean to comply or ther. is little danger of the nationalists undoing what has been done to re- store Germany and continental ordcr generally. The fact that many of the chief industrial leaders of Ger- many, those most affected by the pro- posed settlement, have indorsed the Dawes report, pointing out the idiocy of further resisting if the nation is to recover, may weaken the national- ists’ cause. Most certainly indus- trial support is necessary to any pro- longed junker tenure of government The Dawes report is a fout credited to American common sense and disin- terestedness, but now that it has been made and it is about to be placed in the hands of individual governments for their action, the road toward suc- cess Is beset with bowlders and thorns. Furopean politics will beset it at every side and if the plan as outlined is made workable during the next six months, a miracle, in so far as things diplomatic and governmen- tal in Europe are concerned, will have been worked, allied