Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1925, Page 41

EDITO RIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunduy Staf Part 2—16 Pages WASHINGTON, D. C SPIRIT OF YOUTH SEEN AS PLEDGE TO GERMANY Mighty Outpouring in Berlin Honors Ebert at Death—People Seem Confident of Republic. BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. ERLIN.—For _every foreigner who was in Berlin on the day of the death of President Ebert, the first republican executive of the post-war Germany, the events of the next 24 hours were of intense and absorbing dnterest. The very atmosphere seemed to communicate something of a sense of the unusual and even of the sup- ressed excitement of the moment. While nothing that one might regard &s in the lest degree disorderly or disturbing ly ppened, the moment was one in which the Ger- man republic was manifestly passing through & crisis. In the present artjcl I am going to try to give account of events as they my observation, be ment on Saturday then, briefly, a narrative fell under inning at the mo- morning, less than 15 minutes after the President ac- tually died, when the foreign office gave me notice over the telephone. The time when this notice came was when the sun had just dissipated the early morning mists and there was beginning one more of the marvelous Spring days which have made Berlin & Riviera during the present Winter. Generally Flagless City. Going straight to window T looked out toward the great Tiergar- ten and down in to the garden of the President's own palace. Almost im- mediately from the westward of the palace the great and brilliant, red, black and gold flag of the republic appeared at half staff. Right away to the north, over Reichstag building, the sam happened within a few onds, and through the trees one could see here and there a similar displa But even in this circumstance it is worth while to recall that Berlin showed flags very charily. and the only other dis- play of flags 1 have seen was on the days of mourning for the victims of a Westphalian mine accident. Other- Wwise Berlin has been a flagless city Going down to the street and out upon the great Pariser Platz, at the west end of the city, the gathering place of many of the mass meetings and the scene of not a little of the disorder of the revolution, 1 noted that the French embassy had for the first time during my stay shown it flag, which was draped at half staff All along the Unter den Linden flags Were just cothing out, including t vred of Soviet Russia on the nearby emb: the thing Papers Given A For the ‘was just streets leathe brought out extras, which y. the news up and down the hed carrying little from which they handfuls of newspaper they distributed with- out price to the bystanders; these extras carried nothing but the name of the newspaper across the top and then in the midst of the white page the single line, “Reichspresident Ebert died at 10:15;"" no comment, no other circumstances, just the bald fact, Around these purveyors of news crowds gathered instantly, but mere- 1y to clutch the papers and then walk to the side and stand studyving the rinted page. In the next few min utes vou could almost feel the shock of the news communicating itself through the crowds, and people stood a little stupefied, trying to calculate the meaning, or. in the case of the friends of the republic, uttering some word of sorrow. By contrast, one could see and hear quite the opposite emotion among obvious foes of the re- public, for one characteristic of the German is that he does not sink his political animosity at the grave. Excitement in Afr. T had to go to the office of Parker Gilbert, who is agent general for the Dawes plan, and when I came back out of the side street into the Lin- den again it was past noon and the crowds had surged out of all the buildings, the offices had emptied for the Saturday half-holiday and half Berlin was suddenly emerging upon public highways. The crowds were dense. there was manifest excitement, a sense that every one was waiting with curiosity and perhaps a little ap- prehension to know what might hap- pen, what might be done, but quite as obviously nothing was to be done; no one was in the mood to do anything. By the end of the first two hours, it was plain_that there was to be no potitical disturbance Meantime, there was also a clear fecling that the police control of the situation had not only tightened but was in perfect readiness. Perhaps you saw relatively few more of the blue uniforms of the “schupo,” the police who preserve order, but there was that in their bearing and manner which suggested competent readiness to deal with all trouble. Moreover, 1 certaln congested areas, they now took &« hand In dealing with the trafiic which tended to congregate and crisply invited the crowds to keep moving. Crowd Grows Denser. From 3 o'clock onward the same phenomenon continued to manifest it- salf. The crowds increased, all theaters, movie houses, dancing places had been closed for three days and this eliminated one direction in which the crowds might have been absorbed. Fer the people there was nothing left to do but see the spectacle in the streets and they came in growing masses. But their very manner and attitude showed that these people were not out to make trouble, there was, as time passed, an inereasing certainty that one would not see another Kapp Putsch, another mon- archist demonstration or any counter demonstration from the Republicans Night came on without any partic- <ular change, and since all hotels, " theaters and movies remained closed for all forms of celebration, the best part of 4,000,000 of people were thus drawn and even driven Info the streets. All Berlin was out to see all Berlin. Never have I had such a sense of masses of people every- where; it was ltke election night in lower New York in the old days be- fore the newspapers went uptown. But still the people were utterly de- @rous, orderly, inquisitive. Looked for Anything. Nevertheless, the foreigner was hound to feel something essentially different, more eclectric in the air. No such crowds would have come out in American cities in such a case, for example. 1 doubt if they did any- where when President Harding died, t if they had come out there would ave been in their minds no dominat- ing sense of possible upheavel. I don’'t mean to suggest that the Ger- man masses expected a new disturb- ance, but what was patent was the fact that all of them felt that it was conceivable, & was possible; notbing crowds, arriving: men da cases however, could quite be excluded from the pos- sibility after the past six years Then at last the real development of the day came. Toward midnight, | having dined in a restaurant off the den, where the rigid hand of the | police had been revealed In a sudden inspection to make sure no music was playing, I walked back toward my hotel, which faces the Linden and the Pariser Platz. Half way to the Linden it was apparent to me that something had happened. Dense masses of people were seen lining the street, the automobiles were be- ing turned back, not police as by the crowds of people. Boys on March. out on the Linden, which only ,relatively obscurely lighted, a broad avenue, 200 feet wid and having In the center a pathwa under the famous lindens, the first impression was of moving masses Then down the central path came several hundred boys, marching like soldiers, wearing gray khaki coats, many of them with bands of red gold and black on their sleeves or their hats and carrying what seemed to be wooden staves You had a sense of some organized and even semi-military taking place, although practically ali of the participants were boys of 18 and Other squadrons arrived similarly, and presently it wus ap- parent that they were wheeling into line on either side of the Linden and through Pariser Platz right up to the Brandenburger gate, by which one enters the inner City of Berlin from ~the Tiergarten. All the way from the gate eastward along the Linden to the point where Wilhelm- strasse comes in, and then down Wil- melmstrasse to the President's Pal- ace, a quarter of a mile away, this double cordon formed itself, two three and even four deep, perfectly organ- \zed, manifestly disciplined, with their officers, even with their Cross aides ready to care for any one injured in an accident Coming is still Paying Final Honor. The significance of this mobilization was instantly apparent. The Republi- can president had died, he was at midnight to be brought through the streets from the hospital in which he died to his official residence and the republican youth of Berlin had turned out to pay him final honor—and perhaps to prevent any nonarchial demonstra- tion—should may be undertaken. Those bo; thousands of them, with girls of the same earnest sort behind them and a part of the demonstration, were themselves members of that organiza- tion of the republican youth of Ger- many which a week before had mobilized 150,000 young men in Magde- burg, drawn from the whole republic. Nothing was to me more impressive, more memorable, than the face those boys; you had a sense measuring the future of their country in their presence and in their patent determination. In a certain sense, the republic was in danger; for a long time to come one will not be sure, utterly sure, that the German republic can last; the battle between reaction and the republic has for the moment gone underground, been adjourned, but the forces are still in presence. Some day. this year, next year, 10 years from now, one cannot prophesy, these boys might be called upon to fight for the republic and they were there that night to In- dicate thelr complete readiness. You had a sense of stepping back into earlier history when republican ideas were far newer in the modern world. Background Is Historle. T wish I had only capacity to give the impressions of the moment. Through the nearby Brandenburg gate all the famous regiments of the empire and of old Prussia had come marching In trlumph from many vie- torious wars. The magnificent bronze chariot on the top of the gate had been carted off by Napoleon and brought back in triumph when Na- poleon fell. The very name of the square, Pariser Platz, recalled the vic- torious taking of the French Capital in 1571. On the same platform with the bronze chariot the Revolution of 1518 had planted its machine guns. You had a sense of more than two centuries of European history audible and visible at this moment and in this place where the vouth of Germany, one part of it. were now choosing to disclose with an earnestness, a calm determination which was impressive, their falth in the new order which Ebert had so nobly represented. Time passed and the crowds con- tinued to grow denser, but still there was_complete order. Two or three truckloads of police, visibly armed and reads for business, siid through the crowds, halted in the Platz by the old Bluecher Palace which a grateful Prussia gave the victor of Waterloo, the men.got out, formed up and quietly slipped into the shadows be- hind the line of trucks and taxicabs. Lines Straightened Out. Then suddenly there was sense of an electric shock. No one has ever been able to measure or explain that telegraph system by which things communicate themselves _ through masses. You had a knowledse, al- though there was nothing to explain it, that the moment was at hand. The lines of boys on the streets straightened up. You realized what it means to be a military natlon by the very swiftness with which these thousands of boys voluntarily, auto- matically, came to attentlon. Almost immediately thereafter there was a new and supremely astounding development. The square suddenly began to light up with thousands of torches. The sticks the boys had been carrying turned out to be flares. The spectacle now became something be- yond description. Thousands and thousands of these flares, flaming and smoking, gave a well nigh barbaric sense to the entire scene. In the dim, smoky light the Brandenburger gate stood out like the anclent Greet gateway it reproduces. Noth- ing was quite visible and nothing quite hid. Faces, uniforms, every- thing, took on an unreal aspect. Body Passes Through. Then, finally, through the rigid liines of the boys there came clatter- ing two or three lines of mounted police—not more than one would use in New York to precede the Presi- dent's carriage—then the enormous black hearse containing the body of the republic's first President —a hearse surmounted with an enormous crown, the crown of Prussia. Thou- sands of hats came off, but there was not a whisper, not a sound; the si- lence was, in fact, almost more star- tling than any noise could have been. Then another squadron of cavalry clattered by. The procossion was closed by two or three carriages car- rying the family. The slender proces- sion turned the corner. Almost in- o much by the | movement | Red | Editor's Note—This is the first of a series of 14 imterviews with | America’s foremost business men, obtained by Mr. nclair especially for the North American Newspaper Alliance, of which The Star is a member. Succeeding articles will be published daily in The Ezvening Star and The Sunday Star. rd was a first- class mechanic, aged 40, working for wages, dreaming, tinkering, thinking, hoping Twenty-two years later we find the quiet, unaffected, apparently | easy-going dreamer, still tinkering still hoping. But he i the world's richest man, employing, d rectly and indirectly, more than 500 000 people; owning railroads, iron ore mines, glass factories, steamboats. sawmills, timber lands, coke ovens, foundries, power plants (the greatest on earth), glass furnaces, silica beds, wood distillation plants and garnet mines. And possessing more cash in the bank than any other individual or corporation in the history of the world. i Blood Pressure Not High. | Today his years press lightly | upon him, for his blood pressure is that of a boy under 20. Active, alert, quick in thought and speech, didactic in espression, his vast business en- | terprises now encircling the globe do | not seem give him a care. He keeps no office hours. He has no | regular office. He just drops in at | the different offices of his munagers, | chats with them, philosophizes and dreams—not of the past, but of the future. “Mr. Ford, when is America going to reach the saturation point in the { manufacture and sale of automobiles?” 1 asked him. His face was a study. sive smile vanished. aturation point—that's a phrase used by economists, I think,” he be- gan. “In America we have now more than seventeen million automobiles. People used to talk about one milliion cars as the limit for us, then five mil- lion, then ten, then fifteen. Now we { have seventeen million in use. Yet in 1924 we produced three million more. This year looks like another large automobile production year. Our fac- tories ure turning out about 7,500 | cars per day at the present time.” The man who has manufactured more cars than all the rest of the automobile manufacturers of the world combined talked quietly, un- affectedly Great Markets Waiting. “There will, of course, come a time when the annual automobile produc- tion in the United States will be larger than the total sales within the United States. But the United States has only one-fifteenth of the popula- tion of the world, and $0 per cent of the automobiles of the world. We will enter actively into world trade. We will sell our surplus cars outside of the United States and Canada.” He was asked to elaborate on this point. “We in America can live within our- he declared. “We can even We can place a tariff high enough to 1903 Henry | same now in The impul- selves,” raise rubber. wall about ourselvi stantaneously the ranks broke. the smoking flares were cast into a. single huge bonfire, while the wvarfous organ- izations marched past and flung their flares upon it; and in 10 minutes, at most, the vast square was practically emptied. Tt was well nigh impossible to believe that there ever had been a demonstration; that the whole epi- sode was not some fantastic dream. Yet surviving all was the enduring sense of the orderliness, efficiency, organization and determination of these thousands of boys who came out to give a silent testimony to the fact that there was at least a meas- ure of reality and vitality to the Ger- man Republic, to the idea of the re- public. Memorial Service Held. The next day was in many respects but a repetition of the previous Sun- day. Crowds filled all the streets, and as the day was also the annual occasion where Germany honors her dead of the war, the memorial day of the German Republic, ceremonies were held in all the churches, and there were pilgrimages to all the cemeteries. Yet outwardly I saw but one real demonstration, and that was in the Lustgarten on the Spree Island, facing the old royal palace and fronting the great and hideous Baroque Church, which was one of the landmarks of the last reign. Here, facing the great church and in the depression before the long steps, some thousands of people, man- ifestly those who were unable to get inside for the exercises, gathered, and as I came across the bridge I could get the sound of their singing, that impressive, amazing outpouring of the German soul in music. Stand- ing bare-headed, paying honor to the 2,000,000 German soldiers dead in a lost war, these people gave a feeling of & collective emotion, totally differ- ent from that of the previous night, yet perhaps-equally significant of na- tional psychology. Monuments Not Touched. Then, the song finished, the crowd broke up silently. Orderly the peo- ple streamed In various directions; helther their faces nor anything in their manner suggested what they thought, nor suggested passion or bitterness. Moreover, a strange cir- cumstance to me, although the square was filled with monuments of heroes of other and victorious wars, not one of those monuments had been decorated. There was no central | point, like the Strasbourg statue on the Place de la Concorde in Parls, which had for half a century been the place of pllgrimage of French patri- otism; there was nothing to suggest the lost war, the lost provinces. Not even Frederick the Great, surveying all from a nearby square, was hon- ored by a single wreath. As the crowd was dispersing there came abruptly the only incident of the 24 hours which I witnessed. Sweeping suddenly across the Spree o il LA b Bl e (Continued on Third Page.) SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 29, By John F. Sinclair HENRY FORD. keep out the goods of other countries if we o desire. But I, for one, do not favor that narrow, provincial pol- icy. Iam for free trade, unrestricted and unhampered, among the nations of the world. The free, natural, un- hampered and unrestricted trade be- tween the 48 States of the United States is & perfect demonstration of the line that world trade should fol- low. And such a course will be fol- lowed when we come to know that all tinkering and monkeying with nat- ural free trade hurts and restricts all legitimate business and industry. “Such world trade, based on labor and fair exchange of goods and no favors, does not need armies and navies for its protection. It needs only the good will and confidence of friendly neighbors, who have been helped and not hurt by its develop- REDS SCHEME ment. No, the so-called saturation point in the automobile Industry is a myth, So far as we are concerned, production of cars has only started.” Mr. Ford was asked if the basic automobile construction principles used at present are likely to continue. “Perhaps. But who can tell? Change is the order of both life and industry. I see no revolutionary basic changes in sight. But if the wireless trans- mission of power becomes a reality, for example, the whole industry might experience a complete change. Only future developments and dis- coverles can answer this question. “I am primarily interested in butld- ing llves and homes,” he went on, when asked as to his reason for buy- ing out all the stockholders of the Ford Motor Company. “We really have no place for the non-working TO EMBROIL GREAT POWERS IN STRIFE Failure to Stir Trouble Between U. S. and Japan Over Sinclair Qil Deal Reveals Sinister Policy of Soviet. BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. ED Russia's attempt to embroil the United States and Japan over the Sinclair-Sakhalin oil concession is part and parcel of the Soviet government's new international policy. That pol- icy. it has long been known in Wash- ington, is to keep “capitalistic na- tions,” especially first-class powers, at loggerheads, and, if possible, to goad them into war. The Communist ideal of a “world revolution,” Moscow cynically calculates, would flourish like a green bay-tree while “imperial- istic peoples” were flying at one another's throats. On the ruins of thelr economic life and domestic tranquillity, the ‘“Soviet world repub- lic" would rise triumphant and in- vincible. Natlons like the United States and Japan, could they be in- cited to fight over oil, would, accord- Ing to the Moscow program, be so ab- sorbed in war that they would have no time to observe or counteract Communist schemings. Short of war, Moscow’s schemes call for tension and constant threats of war. Feature of Policy. There is no_doubt in well informed quarters at Washington and other “capitalistic” world capitals that sys- tematic incitement of international strife has now become a fixed feature of Soviet policy. It springs from a spirit of self-preservation. The Com- munist system will complete. in No- vember, 1925, the eighth successive vear of its existence. Insiders know that it is a continually precarious existence, although so bulwarked by ruthless terrorism that no elements have vet arisen fn Russia capable of violently overthrowing it. What the Bolshevist czars fear more than an internal counter-revolution that would smash Communism is the natural dis- integration of the Soviet system through Inherent rottenness—what Secretary Hughes once called “the progressive impoverishment of the Russian people.” “NEP” Mere Fiction. How to ward off creeping paralysis is, therefore, the Moscow govern- ment's paramount problem. Lenin made a pretense of introducing the system of limited capltalism, the so- called “NEP" program (or mew eco- momic policy,) but its purported pur- pose to give business, commerce and finance some of the rights common in clvilized countries turned out to be 2 mere fiction. The Soviet state con- tinues autocratically to control every- thing in Russia. No one can do busi- ness there without doing it with or through the Soviet government. Such American wares or produce as are exported to Russia are bought, pald for and owned by the Com- munist overlords, to have and to hold as they please. Every now and then more cautious voices are ralsed within the Red gov- ernment, favoring some genuine con- cessions to “capitallam,” and the con- version of the "NEP" program from 2 pretense into a reality. These voices argue that only in maintaining hon- orable economic relations with for- eign countries can Russia be estab- lished on a foundation that will pre- vent bad from golng to worse in its econemic life. Effort to Stir Fight. The thinly disguised maneuver to incite the United States and Japan to fight over the Sakhalin ofl - conces- sion shows that Soviet leaders have not renounced the “foreign policy” of setting other nations by the ears. The main purpose of that policy is to distract attention from Communist propaganda and thus hasten the dawn ot the Moscow-governed “Soviet world republic. The Sinclair-Sakhalin affair has, if anything, strengthened the United States’ determination to hold aloof from Russia. It is fresh proof of the contemptuous regard of Moscow for pledges either of commercial or po- litical character. It can be stated without qualifications of any kind that Secretary Kellogg, with Presl- dent Coolidge's support, stands ex- actly where Secretary Hughes stood, and where Secretary Colby stood. Senator Borah's position, too, remains unchanged. With respect to the plan for a commission to examine the question of Russian recognition, Sen- ator Borah belleves recognition ought to precede such a study. Borah sees no advantage in treating with the Soviet unless it is treated as “an equal conferring with equals.” Presi- dent Coolidge would only favor recog- nitlon after, through a commission or by some other means, it was de- termined that Russia has definitely 1925. WHAT’S AHEAD FOR BUSINESS? No. 1—The Automobile Industry, as Seen by Henry Ford Author of “Can Europe Hold Together?” and “Can Your Taxes Be Cut?” stockholder. He Is usually more in- terested in dividends than in men. If at any time it became a question be- tween lowering wages or abolishing dividends, T would abolish dividends It is bad financial, policy to reduce wages, because It also reduces buy- ing power. You see, there no charity in wages.” Here we see Henry Ford, the dream- er of practical dreams,in action. “There fis something sacred about wages,” he continued. “They repre- sent homes and families and domestic destinies. People ought to tread very carefully when approaching wages. While on the cost sheet wages are mere figures, out in the world wages are bread boxes and coal bins, baby carriages, children’s education, fam- ly comfort and contentment. Keep the home happy by keeping the shop busy. Profits—what are they if they are not used to make doubly secure the home, dependent on the shop, and to create more jobs for other men?” In a Reflective Mood. Mr. Ford became reflective. Money is a tool. It is just a part of the machinery. One might as well borrow a hundred thousand pumps as a hundved thousand dollars, if the troubls is inside the business. More pumps will not cure it, neither will more money. Borrowing to cover waste or mismanagement, or both, is just like a drunkard taking another drink to cure the effect of the last one. It makes the condition only worse, - “Take the case of the railroads. There is scarcely a railroad in the United States that has not been through one or more receiverships, due to the fact that the financial interests piled on load after load of securitles until the structure grew top-heavy and fell over. Then they got in on the recelvership, made money at the expense of the gullible security holders, and started the same old pyramiding game all over agal; Efficlency vs. Money. “The natural ally of the banker is the lawyer. Such games as have been played on the rallroads have needed expert legal advice. Lawyers, like bankers, know absolutely nothing about business. They live on rules. The bankers took finance out of the hands of the managers. Instead of operating under the ruls of common sense and according to circumstances, every railroad had to operate on the advice of counsel. Rules spread through every part of the organiza- tion. Then came the avalanche of State and Federal regulation, until today we find the rallroads hog-tied in a mass of rules. With the lawyers and financlers on the inside, and the various State commissions on the out- side, the railway manager has little chance. That's the trouble with rail- ways. Business cannot be conducted by law. Bankers too often think solely in terms of money. They think of a factory as making money, not goods. , They want to watch the money, not the efficlency of produc- tion. Tomorrow: Finance.” (Copyright, 1825, in the Tnited States, Can- ada and Great Britaln by the North Ameri- can Newspaper Alliance. ~All rights reserved.) “Ford's Forevision of turned its back on “communism and confiscation.” Until that is done, American recognition of the Soviet is as far oft as it has ever been since the Reds first seized power at Mos- cow in November, 1917. (Copyright, 1925.) Veterans Protest Action by Fascisti Italian buddies who form the War Veterans' Association are wondering about the meaning of the phrase “to mix in politics.” For “mixing in poli- tics” is the reason given by the Fas- cist government for dissolving their elected central committee and ap- pointing three government commis- sloners (all members of the Fascist party) to take its place. For a long time the Veterans’ Asso- clation was openly loyal to the Fas- cist party. But after the Matteotti murder the veterans met in Assisi and passed a resolution, naming no names, but in a general way condemning murder, expressing loyalty to the it‘.lhnhconll!::ullon, and uttering the ope that Italy might enjoy a rei of normality and lam. Y & relsn In the Fall the veteran squadron marched not on the anniversary of the Fascist march on Rome—October 28—but on the national anniversary of Vittorio Veneto. They were attack- ed and beaten by Fascist rowdles. The Fascist! then initlated an intensive “boring from within” campaign to elect a Fasclst central committee, The veterans, however, voted confidence in the old committee and in the prin- ciples of the Assisi resolution. The lo- cal delegates were about to gather in Rome for the annual convention to re-elect the old central committee when the government forbade the meeting. Then came the decree dissolving the committee and removing the officials. The grounds given were that an or- ganization receiving State support (the association has & war pension department with ¢he support of State funds) must not engage in politics. The majority of the veterans profess to be puszled. “When we were openly for the Fascist party,” they say, “we Were out of politics. When we declare for mo party, but only for king and constitution and normal legal gov- ernment, such as Mussolini promised, we are ‘mixing in politics, 0Qil Deal Denied. With regard to the reports from Moscow of the conclusion of a con- tract between the Soviet government and the French ministry of marine for the dellvery of 75,000 tons of mazout (crude oil), Reuter’s correspondent at Paris is officlally informed that nego- tiations for the ocontract are being continied between the ministry of marine and the Soviet embassy in ws but that kitherto no agree- t has Been reached. BY N. 0. MESSENGER. ORK of the Government de- partmengs in Washington is being increasingly drawn to the attention of | the country in degree which is calculated to be sustained throughout the approaching Summer and Fall. Year by year the volume | of work done by the departments in- creases and its fmportance becomes more appreciated by the public. A review of what lies before the great executive departments and the bu- reaus and commissions created under them shows busy months ahes In the order of their creation, the State Department lies at the head of them all. Maintenance of happy in- ternational relations at all times is the chief function of the State De- partment, but at this time the State Department is carrying out a cher FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS FACE INCREASED LABORS Many Problems to Be Handled This Summer as Lines Are Laid for New Legislation Desired. ished policy of the Coolidge adminis- tration, which wdeed, & carrying on of one of tion, in undertaking the assembling of another international conference for the limitation of naval armaments. This project is likely to attract world- wide discussion, the official announce- ments showing that the work of pre liminary negotiations has begun Treasury Studies Taxes. The Treasury Department has also cut out a program of activity which will fall under the constant notice of the public, as it will have a bearing upon agriculture, finance and busi- ness. The Treasury is to work hand in glove with the ways and means committee of the House and the finance committee of the Senate on the preliminaries of a new tax reduc- tion ‘bill, which is looked forward to with eagerness by evernw one who pays a tax. Secretary Mellon’s friend- liness for legitimate business is very learnest, and his department will sist in every way In its power to con- serve financial and Industrial sta- bility. The Department of Justice and the Treasury Department have overlap- ping jurisdiction of the prohibition question as a whole, although their activities and detail are separated and do not clash. The Treasury Depart- ment will more rigorously enforce the laws against smuggling of for- bidden liquor acorss the borders and into the ports of the United States. The Department of Justice will su tain the prohibition unit aggressive! in the Treasury Department. ‘Watches “Big Business.” It is the duty of the Department ‘of Justice to keep an eye on big busi ness and see to it that it does not be- come oppressive through combina tions. It is the declared policy of the administration not to harass legitimate business, and the indus- trial world need have no fear of any “trust-busting” drive. The Dhkpart- ment of Justice will be hampered in the enforcement of the prohibition law by the action of the New York Legislature last w the pending bills before that body designed to give State and local aid to enforcement of the national pro- hibition law. Politics was mixed up in the action of the Legislature, the well known Democratic policy being to place the whole burden of enforcement on the Federal Government. It is the sup- posed belief of the Democratic polit- ical organization of the State to be that the predominant sentiment of CRISIS IN CO clared Operating U BY HARDEN COLFAX. HE long-awaited crisis appears finally to be on the point of overtaking the entire bitumi- nous coal industry the United States, according to advices reaching Washington this week. The industry is reported to be in a condition bordering on chaos, with an immediate readjustment of its affalrs imperative—but not in sight. Developments of a spectacular nature may come at any time. These, it is thought, will have but relatively little effact on other in- dustries and the general financial situation, as the coal industry's plight has been slow in its formation, is generally recognized in financial cir- cles, and has been almost thoroughly discounted by them. According to authentic reports, "scores of coal companies at the pres- ent time are passing or have passed through bankruptey, and hundreds more face the prospect of doing so. Hundreds of union mines contemplate closing down permanently April 1 Operators everywhere are fighting desperately for what business they can get, slashing prices indiscrimi- nately and taking orders at a loss in the hope that something unforeseen may develop soon to help them. One big operator took a mammoth order this week for run-of-mine coal at $1.10 a ton; he will lose thousands of dollars, and admits it. Many Mines Cloned. Some of the trouble lies with the present wage scale, according to the operators of union mines. Union officials deny this, but are reported to be trying every expedient to bring about a joint conference with opera- tors to work out a solution. In a final burst of _ desperation the Government has been asked infor- mally to take the lead in bringing about such a conference, but has de- clined. Neither miners nor operators are willing to take the initiative, al- though both realize that present con- ditions cannot continue. Some operators have asked their employes to accept wage cuts, and in several cases they have accepted. dis- regarding the present contract, which runs to March 31, 1927. Other op- erators are adopting the expedient of leasing their mines to lessees, who, of course, are not bound by the con- tract with the union, and can go ahead with the making of a new contract. Still others, notable among them being the Pittsburgh Coal Co.. are closing down their higher-cost mines and concentrating on working those mines where it costs less to bring ooal to the surface. That com- pany closed down 18. Back of it all is approaching, with a certainty regarded as finevitable in " the trade, a readjustment of the pres- the Harding administra- | k in defeating all | throughout | hibitic he people nent should State effort. licans fn carry ut unaided by It is a fact that five Repul the State Senate voted with the Dem ocrats to kill the cnforcement bill xplained on the ground that if Gov ith were given the opportunity to v orcement he would have chance probably to increase the wet vote in h Looks to Defense. The War Depart hands full in 7 the iilitary estab) e F fortre dey centrat the larg vill be how now der the ceping up d look tment e« of Army in An impor work ice a han the un- which to give dard Another © Office be air ser obtain: anch of Po Department d the air m ice F limitations priations ngress Caref rates for reco in view for 1 made during Department with the Nav maneuvers in the The Nay carry a strength of the be read gress expec regard to the the navies of expected in fere The planes and b by the experts ing into more tensiy activities of the The Department two subje before lamation and ¢ css will be The War Summer join extensive military alian Island will have to of the United States Navy to questions of with ext Cc ent con- of alr- studied is com- 2x the public iinence feature £ the Interior has ts always—rec- sions will continue on thes subjects Problems of Agriculture. The new Secret Agriculture, who has just take has made a statement on what is ahead of the De- partment of Agriculture for the future. Frankly admitting that he has no magic wand to wave over American agricul- ture, that he ha anacea for agri- cultural relief, and dues not believe that anybody has, his aim will be to “plek of practical and construc- ich farmen: into pragtice to get their business on a more satisfactory basis.” 1t would require co what the Department have to do. T work are so far-reaching would be difficult to realized that the ¢ tion commerctal and tu; tries and export t of 1l are deeply interwoven with perity of the whole peopie work of the Department has an The duties department are being transfer of other bureaus t There will be no idle days this Sum- mer and Fall in the ( t depart- ments at Washingt the ever faithful, industrious and conscientious workers in them Wwill find their hands AL INDUSTRY to outline of Comr between indus- country the pros- nd that the hem. the the LIKELY TO COME THIS WEEK Hundreds of Mines Expected to Be Closed After April 1—Bituminous Industry De- nder Heavy Losses. ent wage scala Miners are idle bt the tens of thousands throughout union territory. In non-union terri- tory miners are enjoying a temporar period of great prosperity, but s0 their emplovers. Non-union erators have cut their prices, in hot competition, to the point where most orders nowadays mean losses. They are taking business simp hold their forces until a new deal car worked out. Hard Coal Strike Behind the whole situation looms the possibility of an anthraci coal strike this Fall. Bituminous snd anthracite prices are linked togeth in markets where they are compet tive for industrial purposes, and with a cut in bituminous n ers in the meantime, the anthracite workers will be faced with a prospective cut in the Autumn. Nobody knowing the prosperous condition of the anthracite workers, who have been free from the ills of the bituminous men, believes that the hard-coal workers will take a cut without & strike. And if they don't take it, can anthracite operators sell their coal in competition with bitumi- nous for industrial use? Soft coal operators thus far have firmly refused to take the initiative to bring about a new wage scale in the union fields. Obviously the leaders of the miners can’t take the initiative without tremendous loss of prestige among their constituents. And so the situation has rocked along to the point where non-union coal has run away with the best of the competis tive unfon market But to seize union markets, non- union operators have had such com- petition among themselves that they have shorn prices of almost every point of profit. As a result the en- tire industry, union and non-unlon is hastening to a situation where no- body in the trade. or out, can foreses what will happen. The present cone dition is regarded as intolerable. eared. there Masaryk Enjoys Reading. President Masaryk of C: is an industrious reader. room is piled with boo and periodicals, zechslovakia His reading newspapers of which he reads regularly nearl 300. These include the Prague newspapers, many Czecho- slovakian newspapers, several news- papers from neighboring countries, including Russia, also English and American dailies. Thus the Czech president keeps informed of world events. Despite his 756 years, he rides two hours nearly every day