Evening Star Newspaper, June 29, 1924, Page 37

EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES Part 2—12 Pages GREATEST CRISIS SINCE' NOW Germany Has It Within Power to Dictate Progress or Chaos Through Her Actions. WAR WY FRANK H. SIMONDS. OW that the excitement and confusion of the French elec- tion and its consequent up- °ts is over, with Poincara and Millerand ousted from office, cer- tain facts are becoming patent. At the outset it is manifest that the changes, the election itself and the inevitable displacements which fol- lowed have enormously strengthened French position in the world. There has been a marked change in British opinion, which promises a degree of c€o-operation between the war-time and, in addition, all over the world, in America as well as in Eu- Tope, the legend of a imperialistic ¥rance seeking revenge and the destruction of Germany has been abolished by the victory of the ¥rench liberals and the demonstra- tion of their purpose. But perhaps the most important consequence has been the disclosure of at least a faint sign of division among Germans themselves. With the coming of Herriot vo have been raised in Germany to combat the policy of the reactionaries, to support the idea of some form of scttlement with France other than a settlement by a new war. In a word there is more than a hint that Ger- many, last of all the great belliger- ents, beginning to emerge from the war mood. To glance first at the amelioration of the French position in the eyes of the world, it is to be noted at once that the Dawes report, while it cer- tainly disposed of any French policy ©f destruction, and fatally compro- mised the German purpose to evade reparations and also did equal dam- age tto the effort of the junkers, un- der cover of patriotic emotion, to re- £ain power and reorganize Germany for a new war. Before the Dawes report came to light the whole world was faced by the scemingly insoluble puzzle of finding a way to make Germany pay without resorting to methods which would arouse German resistance. You had the vicious circle, Germany refusing to pay and proclaiming her bankruptey and France determined to be paid and driven step by step to adopt methods which united Germans in a passionate, if hopeless, resistance to all payments. Purpeses of Twe Nations. TPoincare in France succeeded to power and was supported by the ¥rench nation in the use of foftd because for France secufity and reparations were matters of life and death. But Ludendorff, Tirpitz and the old crowd in Germany in their turn regained influence and ulti- mately a measure of power, because they were able to convince the mass of the German people that the course of Poincare was designed to destroy Germany while ostensibly seeking to collect reparations. ¥rance and Great Britain broke, because the mass of the British people in turn came to suspect the Poincare method, because they be- lioved that this method was actually responsible for British industrial suf- fering and that there was a close conriection between the occupation of the Ruhr and the continuance of Britich unemployment. But the break between France and Britain served to encourage the Germans to resist, while the resistance in turn drove Poincare to more and more ex- treme measures. The German resistance, following the occupation of the Ruhr, the nine months of passive resistance, which bankrupted Germany and produced economic and fiscal disorganization of vast proportions, was the culmina- tion phase of this post-war situa- tion. France, with Belgium, was, to all intents and purposes, again at war with Germany. German indus- trial regions were occupled by French and Belgian troops, German industries were themselves exploited by French agents protected by French bayonets. French Position Grows Worse. And all the time the French situa- tion in the world had grown worse. More and more, not with justice, per- haps, but inevitably, men and women of various nations were coming to hold France, and not Germany, re- sponsible for the unrest and unset- tlement in Europe. France was not isolated because there were too many small nations sharing her dangers and relying upon her military aid as the chief guarantee of their con- tinued existence, but France was, in a measure, morally isolated, particu- larly in the two great Anglo-Saxon countries, although the American sentlment was still much more sym- pathetic than the British. Moreover, as I have said, the most striking consequence of the French course was the gradual restoration of the influence of the old gang in Germany, which had been responsi- ble for the program of naval'chal- lenge to Britain, more than all re- sponsible for the manner in which Germany conducted the war, the manner - whichi slowly roused the whole world against the German and brought .America to intervene de- eisively in the critical year, 1917. A year 2g0 a ‘mew war between France and Germany not only seemed inevitable, but not long to be delayed. The mass of the Germans had become convinced that France under Poincare meant to destroy Germany, the mass of Frenchmen seeing Germany in- creasing signs of hatred and passion, were convinced that Germany was seeking first, by evasion, to complete the ruin of France begun in 1370 and continued in 1914-18. France follow- ing Poincare and Millerand, Germany following more and more closely Tirpits and Ludendorff and the old crowd were. drifting unmistakably into militaristic and | AT HAND new colllsmioh. The grewt question was whether Germany, goaded into fury, would strike while she was still weak, in an access of madness, or wait her | time. ] And, following the Ruhr occupa- | tion, it was no longer possible, even had they desired it, for moderate men in Germany to counsel submis- | sion and settlement. Germany was | invaded and the fact of invasion pre- | cluded any examination of the causes. It suficed, to say that the| French were in the Ruhr, to rouse | the whole German pcople and to pro- | mote unity, as Clemenceau's old| phrase, “The Germans are at Novon,” renchmen during the war | Deadlock Prevails, In the fatal deadlock which had | come about Frange could get no real |reparations, but she could ocer.py | German territory and paralyze Ger- | man industrial life. Germany could| de all payménts, but she could! not prevent French invasion. Both countries suffered excessively, but for neither was their any escape com- patible with the conception each | people had of its own rights and lib- | erties and of its own unity and se-| curity, At all times, of course, the vice in the situation lay in the fact that| the inevitable failure of the treaty | of Versailles to fix any sum of repara- | tions decisively and the later failure of the reparations commission to fix |any sum reasonably possible gave to the Germans at lcast a shadow of a | basis for resistance. Germany, pal- | pably asked to pay more than was possible, asked in principle, although |no impossible payments were di- | rectly demanded, found a ground for | evading all payments. The world, and particularly the United States and Great Britain,| were agreed that Germany should pay up to the limit of capacity, but they were equally agreed that to demand more than was reasonable was at once foolish and inequitable. But the British situation was com- promised hopelessly by the fact that British representatives had indorsed impossible figures and the British change had only come about when it became clear that British interests were to be best served, not by the collection of reparations, but by the restoration of trade. | No solution of the problem was then possible until there had been some fixation of the sum which Ger- many could be asked to pay, a fix- &tfon w0 made as to satisfy the rea- sonable opinion of the world that i rested upon economic and not poHti- cal calculations. When such a fixa- tion had been {made—and it was made by the Dawes committee—then instantly the whole German case col- lapsed. When France accepted the re- port, as she well might, since It cor- roborated all her claims that Ger- many could pay, and pay largely, then Germany was put before the world in the situation of having to disclose her real purposes. Since, moreover, the Dawes report. while fixing German obligations at considerable sums, insisted upon the restoration of the economic, unity of Germany, which meant in terms the return to the Germans of the Ruhr industries. and since France accepted this condition, there, too, was an end of the German plea that France, un- der cover of reparations claims, was seeking to destroy German unity. Resistance Collapwes. When France called Herriot to suc- ceed Poincare, the last pillar of Ger- man resistance collapsed. The world, and Britain and America particular- ly, instantly accepted the French election results as evidence of the good fafth of France, of the triumph of liberal and moderate views, of the removal of even the shadow of im- perialism. It promptly recognized that now the problem was purely one which concerns Germany; would she show herself ready to meet a fair bill presented in a reasonable spirit, to comply with the conditions of the Dawes report and with the other con- ditions concerning the limitations of her armies and armaments, or would she openly convict herself of fidelity to the old faith? | birth and a Texan by adoption. Had Poincare won the recent elec- tions Germany undoubtedly would have rejected the Dawes report and put the responsibility on Poincare. And in doing this she would undoubt- edly have enlisted much British and even some American support. The German election which preceded the French by one week was based on the assumption that Poineate would win the French elections and the victory of the reactionaries and the reds was the direct comsequence of the Ruhr war and the expectation of a continu- ation of this struggle. But the victory of the French Left was in reality a crowning disaster for tha German Right, it was a worse defeat for Ludendorff and his crowd politically than the battle of Aungust 8, 1918; was militarily. Their case rested upon the assumption that there was nothing for Germany but a grim and despalring resistance to forces and men determined to destroy, re- solved ,upon the extinction of the German state and the slavery of the German people. But to urge, such purposes agalnst Herriot, Painleve, Doumergue, this was palpable ab- surdity. And when Herriot announced that France would retire from the Ruhr not when Germany had paid in full, but when she had given the pledges and complied with the conditions of the Dawes report, the old allegation of the purposes of France to stay on the lower Rhine went glimmering. Warning their fellow countrymen of the necessity to face a vindictive and remorseless France and thereby win- ning many seats and much strength (Continued on Eloventh Page.) EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday Staf WASHINGTON, D. C, BY EDWARD F. ROBERTS. NEW precedent in international relations, a precedent which points toward the fulfillment of the world's great dream— the abolition of war—has been es- tablished through the operation of the Mixed Claims Commission, which Is today laboring to settle thousands of claims of American citizens and the American government against rmany. . That, at least, is the interpretation of the commission’s work, according to Judge Edwin B. Parker, the dis- tinguished international lawyer, who is umpire of the commission. The whole commission, both in its titution and functions, is unique in history. As Judge Parker points out, it is the first time on record where a treaty between victor and vanquished nrovides a tribunal to de- ide what the conquered nation shall pay and gives the defeated country a place and voice on that tribunal. This long step forward in the strug- gle to substitute arbitration for force in disputes between nations, as be- tween individuals, is declared by Judge Parker to be a step toward the creation of a world court as an effective weapon to end war forever. Tribute to America, The agreement supplementary to the treaty between the United States and Germany provided for the ap- pointment of the present Mixed Claims Commission on the basis of a commissioner representing each of the two nations and an umpire, to be selected by mutual agreement. Chandler P. Anderson was named commissioner for America and Wil- helm Kiesselbach to represent Ger- many. When the question of select- Ing an umprie arose, the German gov- ernment announced that it had com- Dlete confidence in the good faith of the United States, and asked this government to nominate the umpire subject to Germany's approval. Mr. Justice Day of the United States Su- preme Court was selected, but soon thereafter died, and Judge Parker was appointed to take his place. Judge Parker is a Missourian by Dur- ing the war he was one of the or- ganizers of the war industries board, serving also as priorities commis- sioner, and, after Yhe armistice, as chairman of the United States Liquida- tion Commission. He is an authority both on American history and in- ternational law. “The Mixed Claims says Judge Parker, of Berlin, which is its charter, are unigue in history, but that treaty is entirely consistent with the prac. Commission,” ‘and the treaty JUDGE EDWIN SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE World Court Held Real Cure for War; . Nations Demand It to End All Strife PARKER. —_— tical idealism that carried America into war. Here are found no an- nexations, no penalties and no puni- tive indemnities, but only provisions for compensation or reparation for damage inflicted, which is the essence of justice. Wide Significance. “However, the commission's crea- tion and operation has, in my judg- ment, a far wider significance than the specific functions which it is called upon to perform. It is a finger- post pointing to the most effective means by which the ourse of war can be finally lifted from humanity— universal and international arbitra- tion.” “Does that imply the erastion of's orld court CLOUDS ‘DISAPPEARING IN EUROPE’S POLITICS General Trends Are Toward Complete and Early Settlement of Retard_ing BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN NLY snarling threats of Ger- man Nationalists mar gen- eral determination in various natins of western Europe that there shall not only be prolonged peace, but rupid and effective, eco- nomic and financial reconstruction. Through the conferences of Pre- miers MacDonald of England, Her- riot of France and Theunis of Bel- gium, coupled with understandings with Mussolini in Rome, it may be truthfully sald that the allies are more united than they have been at any time since the treaty of Ver- sallles. Premiers MacDonald and Herriot, furthering wishes of the masses, who are weary unto death of procrastina- tion in settlements of after-the-war problems, which have done so much to perpetuate chaos, conferred in at Checquors Court, the British pre- mier's residence, and as a result there was friendly unity in decisions designed to forever eradicate po- litical sores. That something must be done immediately to perpetuate peace and settled order was their first decision. That application of the Dawes report was essential to the general restorative process like- wise was declded. The future of Ger- many occupied the minds of the pre- miers. Their belief that the hands of the nationalist elements in German Hfe must be tied was indicated. That the allies themselves first of all must do everything possible to strengthen the hands of the present German gov- ernment against the assaults of its enemies by ameliorative action by the allies themselves was agreed upon. Convincing the German people that they have nothing to fear, but if they show their good faith every- thing will work to the éventual sal- vation of Germany and the continent, was a process held necessary. This sort of action by the allies will do much to disarm the rampant elements of Germany and so weaken their cause that they will have little chance of achieving aims striven for—ultimate dictatorship and estab- lishment of a limited monarchy in Germany. German People Changing. And from all indications the allies already have convinced ,the German people that they have nothing to fear, notwithstanding the walling and lamentation of former Premier Poin- care against any weakening of the policies he enunicated and practiced in the treatment of Germany, Pre- mier Herriot already has given in- structions that the more than 200,- 000 Germans driven out of the Rhine- land and the Ruhr on onme pretext or another by the French and Bel- Problems. &ians be permitted to return. There has been granted amnesty for strictly political offenses. This itselt shows that the French government, under Herriot at least, has no desire to strike unfair bargains or permecute Germany during a period when it is more or less defenseless—a favorite charge of the nationalists. Herriot has refused the German request that 2,000,000 marks interest from the railroad fund to be created under the Dawes report be diverted to repay- ing industrialists of Germany under the Micum agreements which again expire in two weeks, by virtue of the fact that this money is destined to the account of :the allies under the Dawes plan. The nationalists have seiZed upon this as a sign of French relentlessness, but this ie without foundation whatever. Her- riot is merely acting in accord with the purpose and intent of the Dawes plan. Nationalists Are Weakened. As a result of the modification of the pressure brought to bear against the Germans in the Rhineland and the Ruhr, and as a result of the gecisions of Premiers MacDonald and -Herriot that Germany shall be admitted to the league of nations, and that-Ger- many shall be given greater voice in those settlements which are so vital to her future ecomomic and political future, a wave of reaction has set in against the Nationalists in, Germany. It advices are to be believed, the Na- tionalists will not dare lift finger against the proposed legislation de- signed to create machinery to carry out the full Dawes scheme of reha- bilitation, as they have threatened to do. The reason is simple. Advices indicate that if the Marx-Streserfann regime should, in view of Nationalist antipathies, decide to dissolve the Reichstag and the government should carry the Dawes plan to a vote of the Dpeople, the government would score a treméndous victory and the Na- tionallsts would lose a greater part of the delegates they now have in the Reichstag. If advices are to be believed, many of the industrialists of | Germany who have backed ' the -Na- tionalist theory of things now are convinced that only in the Dawes re- port can Germany find her salvation, inasmuch as they see plainly that only in its adoption and by religiously clinging to it can Germany find favor with the allies and other nations of the world. They admit that Germany must prove her good faith. And from present indications this faith is'to be proven through a widespread na- tional understanding: that the -thing must be done. As days go by there is_less talk of resistance to allled (Continued on Third Page) “Yes, I am a firm believer in the possibilities of such a tribunal. Iam not advocating any particular plan, nor am 1 concerned with whether such an international court should be connected with the league of nations or not. As long as it is a real court permanently established and fune- tioning as such, so constituted and conducted as to deserve and com- mand the confidence of the world, to which all nations can bring their di: putes for settlement, it will go far toward ending the war." “How about the case of a nation which deliberately plans to preeipi- tate 3 war?”’ “ Judge Parker paused a moment and then replied slowly. and thoughtfully. T do not believe there would be OLD LATIN AMERICAN DISPUTES Peaceful Methods Rather Than Resort to War Found Best—Peru- Ecuador BY BEN McKELWAY. ECOND in popularity only te the political revolution, the bound- ary dispute has been a fa- vorite form of out-of-door rec- reation for the average Latin Amer- ican republic during the last 100 years. The Latin temperament, their abominable cigarettes and the hap- hagzard determination of original di- viding lines between the republics in the early days of their independence conspired to bring this about. It isa sign of the times and a good omen for the future of mankind in general that the last of these disputes are being rapidly brought to a successful conclusion and that peaceful negotia- tion is displacing the more romantic and interesting method of warfare and its accompanying bloodshed. Recent news dispatches from Latin America were confirmed last week by the arrival in Washington of official advices to the effect that Peru and Ecuador, who have been squabbling more or less intermittently for the last century over their boundary, have buried the hatchet and are plan- ning to ask the President of the United States to arbitrate their dis- pute. Theirs is the last of the dis- agreements which -have stood for long in the way of permanent peace in.South America, and it speaks well for the prestige of the United States that the final act of settlement will be taken in Washington. Protocol Is Signed. Advices to Washington state that a protocol has been signed in Quito between the chancellor of Ecuador, Senor Don N. Clemente Ponce, and the new Peruvian minister to Ecuador, Senor Don Enrique Castro Oyanguron, which sets forth the formula agreed on for definite settlement of the boundary question. It provides for direct negotiation between the two republies and -for arbitration by the President of the United States only of the zone on which they are unable to agree. When the negotiation will begin is left in some doubt, for the official dispatches vary somewhat in phraseology. The, President is ex- pected to give. his decision on the Tacna-Arica case, .between Peru and Chine, some time this summer, and it is belleved that immediately there- after Peru and Ecuadof will begin the negotlations which will lead them finally to the White House. It is a bad plan to cross bridges before you come to them, and just as bad to count the chickens before they are hatched. But the Presi- dent's forthcoming decision on the Tacna-Arica case leaves the Peru- vian-Ecuador settlement hanging, to some extent, In the alr. The Presi- dent, in the former case, must decide 29, 1924. . any such cases. I cannot recall a case In the history of the last Y00 years where any important nation deliberately set out to provoke and | wage a war of aggression. Wars are | provoked by distrust, hatred, envy and misunderstanding, but the effi- clent cause is never a deliberate d sIgn on the part of a responsible gov- ernment to create war.” No Deliberate War. “You appreciate, of course. the full significance of that statement, Jjudge,” I remarked. “Fully. When the history of our| times is dispassionately written, the | record will not reflect the popular and | partisan idcas entertained by any side | today. | “One of the popular misconceptions | in regard to a world court,” contin- ued Judge Parker, “is that it is gen- | erally looked upon as a protection of | weak nations against strong ones. but | in a broad sense the greatest benefit | of such an Institution would be to the most powerful nations, who have | most to lose and on whom the cost! of war and of preparation for war | press most heavily. With the enor-! mous war debts under which the na- | tions are staggering, we cannot in-| definitely continue the present system of huge armies and navies. [ “A strong international oourt func- tioning as such will promptly settle | many annoying controversies which, | it left unsettled, would breed antago- | nisms resulting in war. The evolu- tionary processes of mediation, con- ! ciliation and arbitration, coupled with | the unprecedented and distressing ex- periences of the world war. have | brought the nations to the point | where they are prepared to accept and | the masses of the people to the point where they are clamoring for a world court. Sooner or later the peo- | ple achieve what they really desire. When the world earnestly wills the | settlement of international contro- | versies through judicial processes rather than by force they will be so settled. And when so settled by a tribunal deserving and hence com- manding the confidence of the world, | no other sanctions will be necessary | to enforce its decress save the| world opinion which will sustain and | support it."” “Are there any disputes which no nation would be willing to submit to such a tribunal?” “Theoretically, ves: practically, no. | The nations of the world are not| prepared to agree in advance to sub- mit to any tribunal questions in- volving their independence or their honor. 1In the abstract such submis- sion would involve the surrender of (Continued on Third Page.) ARE FADING Squabble. ! whether Peru and Chile will conduot a pleblacite to determine the na- tionality of the area in dispute. Ir he should decide for a plebiscite it will take some time to conduct it, and if he decides against a plebiscite Peru and Chile must get together again and, with the good offices of the United States, decide their quar- rel some other way. So there may be a delay of a year or so before Peru and Ecuador are ready to turn over their issue to the President. Way Clear for Adjustment. But the delay is not the point. The fact that the way has been oleared for the final adjustment of this last of the serious boundary disputes in Latin America is the important thing. Peru and Ecuador came near fight- ing each other some years ago, and there is no sufficient reason to be- lleve they would not reach swords’ points again if the issue were left standing. South American boundary disputes are difficult knots to untie. There are few who understand them. Those who profess to an ability to see the conflicting issues write books, great, heavy volumes which trace the history of the boundaries back through the ages. Libraries could be filled with the books which have been written on both sides of the Tacna-Arica dispute between Chile and Peru. And there is no mean assortment of literature Ssetting forth the views of distinguished Statesmen and boundary experts on the dispute between Peru and Ecua- dor. One author will violently pro- claim that in the year 1802 a French explorer by the name of Jean d'Blurb stood at the base of a rub- ber tree and declared in a tone both loud and piercing that the spot where he stood marked the boundary. An- other author will just as violently and heatedly declare that in the year 1799 a Dutch explorer by the name of Hanz Blah climbed a rubber tree fully six miles away and shouted at the top of his lungs that his tree marked the boundary line. Long and impassioned addresses are print- ed as extensions of remarks in the con- Bressional records of the Congresses of each country, giving the views of learned jurisgs on where the bound- ary lines are located. And so it goes, back and forth, until the boundary dispute becomes a vital issue and its mere mention is the signal for a fight. Past Efforts to Settle. So, not going Into the details of the dispute between Peru and Ecua- dor, all previous attempts to settle it have cnded in fallure. In 1390 a 8 (Continued on Third Page.) | of salaries for postal employes | that | service were working | with men outside of the service en- POSTAL PAY INCREASE PROGRAM FOR CONGRESS Rate Readjustment to Continue Service on Self-Supporting Basis Also Due Next Session. BY WILL P. EGISLATION aries KENNEDY. increasing sal- throughout the postal service and readjusting the postal rates so as to continue the service on a self-supporting basis Will receive prompt consideration as | soon as Congress gets back from its campaign and election recess. Be- hind that lies a thrilling history of pioneering, of upbuilding service and devotion to duty 2 On the day that Congress adjourned President Coolidge vetoed the com- promise bill providing a new schedule This was the only one of the three im- portant measures vetoed by President Coolidge during the first session on Which the veto was not overridden. No action was taken in Congress on the veto message. In the closing hours of the last ession it was announced that in the December gession a bill would be reported covering a revision of the postal rates as a result of a com- prehensive survey being made by the Post Office Department. It was then stated that whils the government is not a success as a business organi- zation, the Post Ofice Department is an exception to the it has been the policy of the government for a long time to operate | will this department in a that be self-supporting Severe Merit Tests Planned. Five days after Congress went into way with lethal gas into railway mail cars near Rondout. 11, and made off with nearly $2,000,000 in money and secur- ities. While it was directly stated by the acting head of the Post Office Department that men in the postal in collusion gaged in robbery, this crime empha- sized anew the strenuous and dan- gerous work of many employes of the Post Office Department. The mail service of the country is, and always has been, considered a secred trust which the government cannot guard too scrupulously. It has Ibeen so maintained by the government |and by the consciencious services of the workers, exposed to many | hazards, to long and exacting hours, principaliy night work, and as a rule underpaid. As a result of the neces- sity of purging the service from those employes denounced by General Bartlett, acting Postmaster General, as “traitors,” more severe merit tests for those entering the service are to be enforced. Throughout the entire service the morale is to be tuned up to the highest standard. At the same time the government is preparing to protect its employes in every way possible, and equipment of railway mail clerks with gas masks is the answer to this particular mode of attack. Acting Postmaster General John H. Bartlett is arranging with Secretary of War Weeks for a trans- fer to the Post Office Department of a sufficient number of gas masks to equip all of the 5.096 railway postal cars. Held-Ups Decrease. Postal clerks in direct charge of the mail trains are armed and have to “shoot to kill” in case circumstances warrant such drastic action. During the administration of Will H. Hays as Postmaster General he arranged to have U. S. Marines placed aboard mail trains to discourage a growing prac- tice of holding them up. The Post Office Department just has issued an official statement showing that the mail bandit has scant chance of getting away with his loot. There were sixteen big hold-ups in 1921, eighteen in 1922 and six in 1923, and the record proves that the bandit has only about a 10 per cent chance of escape. It is only a few years ago since a President of the United States de- feated a great rallroad strike with the declaration that “the mails must move"—and this typifies how the gov- ernment has considered one of its greatest duties to the American people to be keeping the mails mov- ing and inviolate. The postal service always has been considered a partnership of the em- ployes with Uncle Sam—and there are 339,000 such partners. Besides the 35,000 letter carriers there are 56,000 clerks, 44,000 rural carriers, 52,000 postmasters and 19,000 railway postal clerks. The postal service has with true; 5 % B0 American spirit pioneered through three centuries, and is still ploneer- ing today. It seryes directly, as no other agency of the government, every one of the 110,000,000 citizens. On the frieze decorating the Wash- ington City post office the creed of the postal service, as worded by Dr. Charles W. Elliot, president emeritus of Harvard College, is heralded : Messenger of sympathy and love; Servant of parted friends; Consoler of the lonely; Bond of the scattered family; Enlarger of the common life: Carrier of news and knowledge : Instrument of trade and industry; Promoter of mutual acquaintance, Of peace and of good will, Among men and nations. Franklin Advanced Service. From the earliest days civilization has meant communication. Roman messengers speeding to the ends of the empire changed tired horses for tresh at relay stations of the roads to Gaul, Britain, Germania and Spain. These stations were called “post: and from this significant term mark- ing the relay we get today the nucleus of our conception of world- wide postal service, the post office, and every one's friend, the postman. It was a mail courier who blazed the first trail between New York and Boston, It was the mail coach which general rule and | {an average. | every man, | about | concerned these days, is not neglected brought Into existence the old Bos- ton-New York-Philadelphia-Baltimore turnpike—the first great American highway. Benjamin Franklin, as deputy postmaster general, made this post road serving the scattered co- lonial settlements show a greater in- come than the principal post road between England and Scotland. Rich- ard Fairbanks, who oconducted an office in a Boston tavern in 1639 tn receive letters from ships, was the first colonial postmaster. It was in 1775, a year before the Deciaration of Independence, that the postal system of the American colonies was established by the Continental Con- gress and placed in charge of Benjamin Franklin. Later, when the Constitution was adopted, the system was taken over bodily and made the Post Office Depart- | ment of the United States Has Followed Ploneers. Benjamin Franklin, as the first Post- master General, received the munificent salary of $1,000 a year. The first annual report made by Postmaster General Samuel Osgood to President George Washington showed tne gross receipte for the United States as $25,000. The service has kept pace with the growth of the country. With a population of 110.- 000,600 the postal receipts for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1923, were $532,- 827,925, Railroads were patronized by the postal service from the time the firet few miles of track were laid. Subsidies through the postal service made possible | i ¢ ” recess mail bandits forced their way | the maintenance of many of the early railoads. The railway post office was | adopted in the United States in 1864 Postmaster General Montgomery Blair initiated the movement in 1561 which has resulted in the formation of the Universal Postal Union. A conerete example of this international co-opera- tion is found in the fact that the letter sent for 5 cents to Australia today coet $2.04 in 1857 It was the demands of the postal service which first brought night trains on the railroads, and the first “fast mail trains” were followed by fast passenger traina Postmen today bring mail to the doors of millions of homes. Free delivery of mall service in cities began in 1863. The money order system wae adopted in 1864 In 1922 the amount of money sent by money *orders was $1,205,000,000. There were more than 150,000,000 orders is- sued. These figures do not include the funds sent abroad by international money orders, which totaled §20,650,000 At the same time $14.961,000 in money orders issued abroad were paid in the United States. The postal savings bank, the great- est savings bank in the world, was started in 1911. The total depomts in 1922 were $140,430,167.93. The United States government stands back of this bank. Rural free delivery service brings the city to the country. This rural service was started in 1896. Parcel post was adopted in 1913 Air mall service was started May 1% 1918. For three years it has been operating on a transcontinental route 3,000 miles long, from New York to San Francisco, and earned in 1922 the honor of making the greatest contribution to the progress of Amer- ican aviation. Almost every oonceivable type transportation is used to move th mails—railroads, steamboats, auto mobiles, airplanes, motor boats wagons, horses, pneumatic tubes, bel conveyors, moter cycles, bicycles, the sled of the Arctic and even the “dog car.” In 1922 the air mail planes, fly 2,000,000 miles without a fatal ac: dent, carried more than 1.000.000 pounds of mail. Although interstellas service has not yeen established by the Post Office Department, it is a fact the routes covered by the rail- way mail cars in 1922 reached the planetary proportions of 212,013, miles. This transportation cost $82,- 330,000. The postal service now uses 5,000 postal cars. Automobiles are running a race for numerical supremacy with the rail way postal cars. There are now 4,812 in operation carrying the mails. Every year the United States postal service handles 18,000,000,000 articles Every year the increase in number of articles in the mails is more than a billion. Of the total mail submitted 12,000,000,000 pieces are letters. Every year the postal service, on delivers 112 letters to woman and child in the United States. Atlas would have had indeed, lifting the an- nual load of letters alone that the postal service moves. It Is estimated to total 133,350 tons. Every second of the twenty-four hours of every day there are 389 letters dropped into letter boxes, every minute 23,334, and every hour 1,400,000. In fact every business and every home in American cities is served by the 3500 postmen. The farmer, too, whom Congress is so much by the postal service. Today 44,180 rural routes supply mail to 642577 families, or 29,700,000 individuals Out west the postal service has estab- lished a veritable automobile rail- road 125 miles long to the fruitful Ulntah Valley, Utah, to which no private rail line has penetrated. The receipts of the postal service for the fiscal vear ended June 30, 1923, were $532.827,925, an increase of 9.89 per cent over 1922, Ism't that an amazing and most gratifying panorama of big business development and cfficient service dur- ing the last 150 years? It was tireless devotion to duty, superior abllity and constant dependa- ability day and night under the most trying circumstances by the Army of faithful postal employes that has made such service to the American people possible.