Evening Star Newspaper, April 26, 1925, Page 39

PRI i EDITORIAL SECTION NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL FEATURES = i tPlrt 2—16 Pages WASHINGTON "VITAL PROBLEMS OF PEKING CONFERENCES Power—Punish Graft—Control Opium Evil—Baffle Plots of Soviet Russia. BY ELIZABETH HEMPSTONE. HANKOW, China, March 14 HINA's problems are those of a great, unwieldy nation, convalescing_from a devas- | tating civil wir, whose system %as heen poisoged through centuries of political dishonesties, lately ag gravated by military jealousies. Her chances of recovery are lessened by disagreement of the doctors concern- ing the proper course of treatment. Dr. Sun thought that an operation was necessary, and that she would naver gat well until the last foreigner was removed. Others assert that she whould be pounded into shape. But the manest counselors and, fortunately, those in power, advise rest with sim- ple food and plenty of fresh air. So the reconstruction conference is meet ing at Peking to plan her diet, and all marties throughout the country are nsked to cease fighting while the lead- ers are in conference. Disbandment of China's Armies. The biggest problem of all is the dis- banding of the armies. For while they @re mobilized there can be no peace. ldle. they are a menace; active, they ere destruction. Through the force of their arms, idle or active, each little zeneral is able to set himself up as a sovereign in the area which he con- trols. As long as he pays them they serve him, or until some one else of- fers them more. When he is defeated they either join the ranks of the vic- tor or take to the hills and become bandits. Therefore, the first big pro posals to be brought'up by the min istry of the interior will be posal of the troops—the number to be employed in river conservancy work or in repairing and maintaining na- tional roads. If China's armies could be put to work at once on wages that would make such work attractive she would solve three of her problems at one time—the disbandment of troops, the prevention of floods (through en- gineering and reforestation) and de- Velopment of the entire system of com- munications, through railroads and highwave. But it would require a mighty effort with all shoulders to the wheel to put such a reform into effect. The Reconstruction Conference. This conference is dominated by the military—though at the last moment members of chambers of commerce and some prominent invited. At first it appeared that no good could come from it since the war lords could arrange things to suit themselves. But, after all. it is they who are all-powerful at present, and all reform must come from them and through them. The reconstruction of China lies in the regeneration of the anilitary. Tuan Chi-jui, the provisional President, is a veteran of battles, an orgunizer of armies. Yet since he left his Tientsin garden, to which he had retired after years of active service, to take up the reins of government at Peking, he has been energetic and sin- cere in his efforts to bring peace, and through this conference to establish it. The reconstruction conference will he followed by the people’s conference, according to the present program, The latter conference will vote on all reforms decided upon at the recon- struction conference and draft an ef- fective constitution, with practical plans for its enforcement. Reduce Size of Provinces. An interesting step advocated by Gen. Ting, who is vice chairman of the financial readjustment commission | and political adviser to President Tuan, is & proposal to reduce the size of the provinces by subdividing them after the example of the Japanese pre- fectures or French departments. Thus, | instead of 22 provinces, he would have 0. This plan would minimize the powers and functions of the various military and clvil governors to such an axtent that there would not be the wild scramble for power and the con sequent bribing and “squeezing.” Nor would the provincial war lords be able to keep a large enough army to defy the central government. This plan is supposed to be favored by Tuan, but many feel that by multiplying the number of provinces and officials they will_merely be multiplying China troubles. However, the plan is cer- {1ainly worth trying—for even if it in- {qreases petty graft it will keep men {ffom going mad with power and run- ining amuck through the whole coun. fry. Graft in Likin (Local) Tax. { One of the main troubles now is the !sv¥atem of graft whereby a man send. ing his goods through different ports And provinces has to pay likin, or local duty, that In most cases prac i’lmlly amounts to bribery. A rallroad yunning through one province. three sections of which are controlled by dif- farent generals, finds its cars com- mandeered and its goods confiscated by three men with three different lideas and three fairly well equipped japmies. This is practically the condi- tfon of Honan now—and under Gen. Ting’s plan it would be divided into féur parts. Whether that would solve problem, or simply add one more {discordant clement, time alone and {the practical application of the plan iwill tell. It is vain to prophesy. ! To understand the enormity of the iproblem of unification you must re- {member—(1) the size of China, almost {ine and one-third the size of our coun- try; (2) the different languages spoken jeven in China proper, as exemplified by Canton (South China), Shanghai (Central Chine) and Peking (North Cthina) and various dialects: (3) the luck of communication, the railways Leing notoriously unsafe and inade- uaie, telegraph under official and ‘political mismanagement, radio unde- veloped and postal service slow and uncertain; (4) the financial condition wmounting nearly to bankruptcy, for tie revenue which should have gone i the government has been diverted by provineial graft and by the military ¢ guns and ammunition, besides the large sums collected directly by the foreign powers in payment of national dehis and Boxer indemnities. Menace of Kuomintang, Radical Party. In addition to geographical and financial difficulties China has her nolitical troubles—and the greatest of ihese s the Kuomintang—that is, cughly speaking (very roughly speak- ng), the radical party—with a strong- hold (or strangle hold) in Canton. The ronspicuous leader of this party w: ‘un_Yat.8en.: There i= said “to he 4ight and. Jefl. Wing. to Lbis. party,. but the dis- | educators. were | while he was alive one heard very lit- tle of any one but Sun, who had e gome a real bolshevist. The Kuomin- tang has its armies, and is to fight to prove its argument. If unchecked, it would undoubtedly {turn China into a soviet, and treat |the whole country as it treated |the merchants of Canton—to fire and bloodshed. But the conserva- | tive party is now in power. This party |is the northern political division, and | has been subdivided into the Chihli faction (just displaced) and the Anfu Club (which was considered extinct upon the retirement of Tuan Chi-jui, {but is now represented in power by Tuan and Gen. Feng). The Fengtien party (Chang Tso-lin) is representative of Manchuria, and is supplying money and troops to the central government | (Tuan Chi-jui), although in 1920 Chang | | had joined with Tsao Kun (of the Chihli faction), who was then Presi-¢ |dent. to disband the Anfu Club, of | which Tuan was leader. China is |about as confusing to the Western mind as Wonderland was to Alice. China has some international as | well as domestic problems. The inter- | national questions most discussed by | statesmen and press are (1) extrater- | ritoriality, (2) the Sino-Russian affairs, (3) the French gold franc case. return of the Boxer indemity, (5) the suppression of opium traffic. The Extraterritoriality Issue. Extraterritoriality — usually short- ened to extrality—is the right of a tion of his own country—for example, Americans in_China are tried before an American judge according to Amer- ican law. This principle has been in effect in China since 1689, according to a treaty between Russia and China. Russia has now given up her right, and it was taken away from Germany and Austria-Hungary at the time of the war. It is not likely that China will grant it in any new treaty to any country, but those countries that have it feel that it would be a serious mat ter to relinquish it while Chinese laws and Chinese justice are so _different from those of other nations. There 17 countries which retain their priv lege of extrality, but it has been bit terly deplored and condemned by the bolshevists of China. Karahan. the Soviet envoy at Peking, advised China to tear up and throw aside “all un equal treaties,” and his words were echoed and broadcast through Sun Yat-Sen, who concentrated virulent hatred against the foreigner. _The proposition of eventual aboli- tion of extrality has been consid- ered many times in the past few vears. Great Britain in 1902 stated { that “China having expr desire to reform her and_to bring it into a of Western mations, Great -Britain {agrees to give every assistance to| such reform, and she will also be pre- | pared to relinquish her extraterritorial | rights when she is satisfied that the | state of the Chinese laws the ar- |rangements for their administration | and other considerations warrant her in so doing.” The Chinese began re. forms in their judicial system In 1907 and tried to get some action at the Paris peace conference in 1919. How- ever, the question was put to one side and not brought up until the Washing- ton conference, at which it was decided to appoint a commission to make an exhaustive study and to submit recom- mendations to be accepted or rejected by the powers and China. This com- mission was supposed to meet in 1924, but at the request of the Chinese, be- | cause of the civil war and unsettled { conditions, it has been postponed until {a more auspicious moment. Mean- | while, our Minister at Peking, Dr. Schurman, in a recent speech, dwelt { upon the ‘question in detail vised a most logical plan of drawing up a code of laws which would be ac- ceptable to all nations, with a for- | eigner as one of the judges. Tuan Chi- jui is not apt to allow extrality to come up before the conference. al- | though Sun Yat-Sen, if he had lived, | intended to do everything in his power to make an issue of it. Bolshevist Russia Capturing China. Sino (Chinese)-Russian affairs have | been a matter of much concern to all those in China who do not feel that the Soviet constitutes the ideal form |of government. We watched with {anxiety while the consulate in Shang. hai, crimson against the sky with the red flags of the bolshevists, was turned over to the Soviet; we read with in- dignation the arrogant taunts of that very objectionable person at Peking— Karahan, envoy extraordinary; we note with alarm the spread of bolshe- vism in the student organizations and labor unions; we shudder at the thought of the Kuomintang armies drawn up around us—ready to murder and rob the people for “‘the sake of the people.” The Russian legation at | Peking has been made an embassy, and China will send an Ambassador to Russia. Agreements have been signed judicial system | cord with that | has also managed to effect an agree- ment with Japan while in Peking), and the Soviet seems to be scoring heavily. But Chang Tso-lin, in Man- churia, is near enough to Russia to know the true danger of holshevism, and Tuan is wise enough to know how to steer the ship of state past the jagged rocks. Tuan is prepared to execute his program of sweeping, broad-minded reform, with or without the support of the Kuomintang, which organization has been 1in doubt whether or not it would be represented at the reconstruction conference. Karahan has not appeared in the newspapers for at least a week. Can he have left Peking, or is he working on some new scheme in this sinister silence? It will be worth while for the world to pause a moment and watch the way of Russia in China. | France Demands Indemnity in Gold, The gold-franc case is slated to come before the reconstruction con- ference, and there is something about it every day in some paper. To one not familiar with the intricacies and fluctuations of foreign currencies this question is difficult of comprehension. The controversy, in effect, is whether the remainder of French Boxer in- demnity shall be paid at the value of the franc in 1901, when it was con- tracted, or at the present value, which is considerably lower. The Chinese claim that though the debt is in “gold.” this does not mean the gold metal, but simply gold currency—or | the currency of the signatory. power |issued on the basis of its gold stand rd. However, the eight po united in supporting Kranc | ment, so her point of view must be the correct one, unless; as George Bernard Shaw states. “the minority is always | right.” France has planned to use the money “for the rehabilitation of the Banque Industrielle de Chine and ready | (4) the | foreigner to be subject to the jurisdic- | ed a strong | France Can Pay Her De Says Borah, Answering Foreign Attacks Masses Are Disturbed by Plight Occa- sioned by Internal Conditions and BY SENATOR WILLIAM E. BORAH. RANCE is in better condition economi- cally than any European nation which was engaged in the World War or any nation which came into existence by reason of the war. She has no unemployment of any moment and the people of France are universally prosperous. Her industrial de- velopment since the war has been striking and exceptional, and the increase of her economic strength has excited the special comment of all who have undertaken to measure its solidity and its extent. Notwithstanding the notorious experience through which she is passing, due not to economic conditions but to politics, she can, if she chooses, meet her obligations upon fair and reasonable terms. I shall first review the creation of the ench debt. the amount of the same and how and under what circumstances it was incurred; secondly, the attitude of France toward the debt and her ability, if she chooses to do 80, to meet it. There has been a vast amount of propaganda, direct and indirect, put out since the war in the way of arguments for the can- cellation of this debt. All sorts of reasons have been advanced as to why it should be forgiven. There is no justification either in morals or in the economic necessities of France for can- cellation or for any reduction below the stand- ard fixed in the settlement with Great Brittain, Just and reasonable terms will be conceded, but acquittance of the debt would be signally unjust to the people of this country, who, through their Government, made the loan. Owes Debt of Four Billion. France at this time owes the United States, or rather the taxpayers of the United States— for it was their money we loaned—in round numbers, four billlon dollars. According to the terms of the loan when made, the debt bears interest at the rate of 5 per cent. Some six vears have passed since the war. No part of the principal, no interest, has been paid. No acknowledgment of the debt has been made, save the original obligation. No plan, no pro posal upon the part of France for its settle ment or adjustment, has been submitted. No one would contend that France should have, or should now, pay this debt at once and out of hand. It has always been known that the terms of settlement upon the part of the United States would be fair and most liberal. But while it was not expected that France would pay according to the strict terms of the contract, it has been a matter of surprise; great suprise, that France has at no time sub- mitted any terms of settlement or made anyv proposal looking to adjustment. It is difficult to reach but one conclusion from this fact. It should be borne in mind in considering the conditions under which this debt was in- curred that $1,027,000,000 of the debt is for money loaned after the close of the war. It has been urged by leading Frenchmen and high officials of that government that this debt was incurred during the war and used in a common cause. This proposition is put forth as a justification of cancellation. But a large portion of the debt was not incurred during the war, it was incurred after the war was The money went direct from the tax- pockets in the United States to the * pockets in France, for, if the money had not been loaned by our taxpayers, they, the taxpayers of France, would have had to raise it. This money was used not in the pros- and de- | with the ever-victorious Karahan (who | B¢ g ReEIL B EWING SENATOR WILLIAM E. BORAH. ecution of the war but in meeting the ordi- nary expenses and obligations of the govern- ment in time of peace. It is a great test of tol- erance to listen with courtesy to arguments against paving a debt incurred as this portion of the debt was incurred. We were extremely generous in loaning this money after the war closed, and it seems rather strange that France in her discussions takes no cognizance of that fact. Taxpayers Assume Load. It is also urged that the money, or the most of it, borrowed by France was expended in this country. It is not exactly plain how this changes the terms of the contract of borrow- ing. It is true that much of it was expended in this country. We know, for instance, $650, 000,000 of governmental loans were used to pay off obligations of allied nations to private bankers fncurred in this country before March, 1917, all of which was secured by marketable investments deposited here by foreign govern- ments. The American taxpavers stepped in and asaumed the load. One can hardly imagine the bankers walting six years for their principal much less their interest. And one could hard concelve of the bankers exhibiting the compla- cency under postponed payment which it Is urged the taxpaver should now manifest with- out limit. It should be borne in mind also in connection with this peculiar line of argument that we expended in France for war supplies, and so forth, $1.207,000,000. According to Gen. Harbord's report, France charged us $319.- §95.279.97 for ordnance furnished. The allies purchased in the United States on credit ex- tended by our Government. We paid cash for things we bought abroad. We paid for camp sites for our Army in France—that is, for bil- leting, rentals, real estate, demages to real es- tate, leased damages, leased rentals, requisi- restoration of French public tioned property SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 26, bt to America, The Sunthy Star 1925. buildings, $60,014,895. For airplanes and other aviation material we paid France $72.- 543,024.97. We are also informed that we pald port taxes for the entrance of our ships into French harbors. I do not here discuss the question of the prices we paid. Suffice it to say that the profiteer was not alone indigenous to the American soil. America Bitterly . Arraigned. Observing upon the title page of one of the oldest and most noted of English magazines the subject. “Interallied Debts,” I purchased and read. I found it a fierce arraignment of the United States. It was a late publication, and 1 was a little surprised. I could not understand how the extremely liberal settlement which we made with England could leave so much re- sentment. Ordinarily, every one feels better after paying an honest debt. I quote a single paragraph: “We fought the German in Fu- rope, while the Americans lent us money, which was spent in thelr own country, with the result that while the United States are saved, the rest of the world is overhead and ears in debt to them. For the next 60 years we have agreed to pay an annual tribute to them, our sad re- ward of victory. And behind all the deilbera- tions in Paris there lurked, in the mind of France. at least, the fear lest she should be called straightly to account by the United States, her late ally. * * * Are, then, the Americans allies, or are they usurers? Did they go Into a war in 1917, or were they after an Investment? It seems to be thought that if the denun- ciation is sufficiently false and sufficiently se- vere and sufficiently persistent, it will bring about an acquittance of the debts. The fact is that the record of the United States for disin- terestedness and liberality in all dealings, both with allies and enemies, in the last war is with- out precedent or parallel. We claimed no ter ritory. England received as a result of the war 1,607,053 square miles of territory, occu piad by 35,000,000 people, and enriched by some of the most valuable natural resources in the world. One recalls the speech of Lioyd George upon his return from Versailles to make his re- port to the House of Commons, in which he re lated in glowing terms, but, in truth, of the vast gain to England. “The outstanding fea- ture of the peace treaty,” declared another member of the House of Commons, “is that it puts the British Empire at the highest point that it has ever reached in regard to territorial and world influence.” What France Acquired. nce acquired, as a result of the war, 402,392 mquare miles, inhabited by 4.000,000 people. She acquired the vast coal beds of the Saar Valley, estimated to be worth $500,000.000. She acquired Alsace-Lorraine, one of the richest regions of the earth in natural resources. The United States claimed no reparations. Accord- ing to the American Institute of Economi Germany, prior to the acceptance‘of the Dawes plan, had paid in cash and kind to the allies $6,500.000,000. The United States did not claim terriotry or reparations. She did not even claim the fulfillment of the plain contract under which the money was loaned, At a time when she held the contract of England obligating the payment upon a 62-year settlement of $14, 214,900,000 she made a settlement for $11 105,965,000. She has voluntarily proposed to all other debtors, including France, a like settle- ment. If there was any “investment” made in the war it was not by the United States (Continued on Fifteenth Page.) - DISGUST, Character of BY FRANK H. RIMONDA. ARIS.—The fall of the Herriot ministry, long forecast, long de- layed and at last coming as ex- pected, marks the end of one more experiment in radicalism, which failed because of the inabili of the chief figure to play the great role assigned to him. Herriot has gone down, like Ramsey MacDonald hefore him, because in the end he lost the confidence of the country, which saw, with unconcealed alarm, the gradual march toward uncontrolled radicalism. What the Russian episode was for MacDonald the proposal of a capital levy proved for Herriot Like MacDonald, Herriot's brief tenure of office was not without a measure of success in the foreign fleld, Germany were improved; France escap from a certain measure of interna- tional suspicion, but at home condi- tions were plunged into a complete and rather sordid muddle. Herriot himself, a well intentioned man, but weak, proved unequal to the task of controlling and restraining the various more or less incongruous elements which made up the Cartel des | Gauches, the combination which sup- | plied the necessary votes in the Chamber. Forced President to Quit. Called to power by a France which was anxious for peace, eager to avoid |the semblance of chauvinistic or | militaristic purposes, Herriot knew no other way to promote peace than to substitute domestic strife for foreign disagreements. The first step of his supporters once the election of last May had given them power, was zo force the President of the repujlic, M. Millerand, to resign, becaus he had transcended the precededt and issued an election address hostile to Herriot's group. This action was unconstitutional, but struggle which, so far as Herri concerned, has only just termi with his fall. A willing Chamber ws ready to back Herriot in his attack |upon the President, an attack which was in reality not Herriot’s, but that of some of his supporters. but the country stood aghast at this act of violence, and the Senate robbed the victory of any profit by its own candidate. M. Doumergue, and not Herriot's, M. Painleve, in the { Elysee Palace | Herriot's next act of violence was | hardly less appalling than the first. In | deed. its consequences were more serious, because, at the behest Socialist wing of his combination he reopened the fight between church ! and state. He did this by setting aside the truce which had heen arranged in | Alsace and Lorraine, the newly re | gained provinces of France, where the Roman Catholic Church retained its | nold upon the affection of the people and upon the schools. This battle at once extended all over France, but it {is hard to think of any more unfortu nate scene of struggle than these only clearly it prec nat | newly won provinces in which there | lations with Britain and even with | installing | of the | FRANCE FEELS ANXIETY, DEPRESSION Government. own finance minister, M. Clementel, | who promptly resigned, not only leav- |ing Herriot in a position which had now become hopeless, but plunging |the whole country into a highly nervous state. The adverse vote in the Senate and the resignation of Herriot which followed were inevita- able consequences. Thus, in something less than a year i Radical-Socialist, a progressive government, as we should say in America, had destroyed the unity of France at home, the political unity which had endured all the shocks of |the war; it had gravely weakened | the actual position of French foreign | relations: it had struck a_blow at | French prestige and popularity in Alsace-Lorraine; it had forced poli- |ties into the colleges, precipitating a revolt of the students, and, finally, |1t had brought France, from the fiscal | point of view, to the verge of a crisis {the gravity of which could not be exaggerated | Surrender to Socialist | For all of this no one in France | held Herriot responsible. The French | verdict was that the prime minister | was -no more than a good-natured, weak, but sincerely and idealistically honest man, who, to take power—for he was, lie MacDonald, inordinately ambitious—had surrendered his real |liberty to the Socialists, without whose votes he could not retain his position {To these Soclalists, to the direct | domination of Leon Blum, the leader of the Socialists and, in the minds |of many, the true master of France {for the past 10 months, were to {be ascribed most, if not of the various incidents, biunders and worse than blunders which have brough France to the least attractive position she has held since the war It is interesting to note that with Herriot, as with MacDonald, pe: sonal vanity, the rather extraordinary ation that ¢ s with power, no little part in the ultimate downfall. Before he came e power he was one of the simplest and most ap: | proachable of men His associates, like himself, denounced the old order | denounced diplomacy and old fashioned methods from the house- tops: but no sooner did they coms to office than they adopted a secrecy which put that of all predecessors in the shade. Poincare used to see re | porters, he even had a day each week {on which he received the American | correspondents. but the new radical | prime minister and his associates be. icame invisible, the spirit in which they | ruled was that of Moscow, the manne reminiscent of the Soviet in its utter lack of openness or regard for public information . secret Senate Stands Guard. then, France has heen undergoing this affiition of a Radical- Socialist zovernment which repre sented. to put it mildly, a trial mar riage between Moscow and Utopia, be- | tween the Soviet and the idealist, be |tween the Blum Socialist and the Herriot Radical. It has terminated now because all France is roused, be cause the Senate has at last inter | was every reason that France should | Reform to End Senate’s Time-Waste Urged, | BY DAVID 1. WALSH, Formerly Gevernsr of Massachusetts cently United States Senater. the 4th of March a political leader came Presidency and surprised and shocked the United States Senate by reading it a lecturs on cedure, which, he said, permitted a | minority to defeat the will of the ma- | jority. It has been many, many years since | a Vice President has aroused such | resentment in the body over which it is his duty to preside. The manner and delivery of his {naugural were, |tn my opinion, most for the position and the occasion. | That was the day for the most solemn | of national ceremonies, the inaugura- {tion of a President of the United States. It was not the day for a Vice President to assert himself. The office expects of its incumbent per- functory remarks to the Senate on three occasions—when he comes into the office, when he receives foreign statesmen or diplomats (Marshall had several such occasions during and fol- lowing the recent war), and when his | term of office expires. | Vice President Dawes belabored the Senate. 1 have never seen an au- dience so chagrined as was the Sen- {ate of the United States on the 4th |day of March. The administration and its friends were humiliated; the Senators without _ exception were dumfounded. Mr. Dawes in his in- augural started a nation-wide discus- sion of the Senate, and is now con- tinuing his attack upen the Senate I rutes. | Fh o i Controversy Over Rules. | In the first article of this series T | expressed the opinion that one rule | of the Senate should be changed. It | should be made impossible for the | Senate to go into executive session and deliberate in secret except on very extraordinary occasions. But | the rules tg which Vice President { Dawes referred were the rules gov- | erning debate. What . about these? | Let me present the views of both | sides in the controversy A very substantial majerity of the | Senate, regardless of party, are op- posed {o changing the rules that gov- ern debate. They-ask several rather pertinent questions. The present rules, with slight modi- fications, have been in existence for more than a century. In what in- stance, they ask, have these rules resulted in irreparable injury to the republic? What specific important legislative proposal has ever failed because of ihe exercise, by Senators, of every | method permitted under the rules to {delay, postpone or defeat action? With all its faults, the Senate of | the United States is today the great- est forum in the world. In fact, it is undoubtedly the only open legisla- tive forum left. What made it such? | "1 have no hesitancy in answering. The rules—the present rules of the | Senate—have given it this distinction. ‘Che deliberations of the ‘Senate | were never followed with such inter- | est by the public as thev are today. a | for education _and other benevolent | pnce the House made a decidediy e - Jormarly. « b into the Vice its unbusinesslike pro-| inappropriate, | AS WALSH SEES SENATE “It has heen_many years since a Vice President has aroused such resentment in the body over which it is his duty to preside.” (Referring to Vice President Dawes’ address after being sworn into office.) A very substantial majority is opposed to changing the rules that govern debate.” “With all its faults, the Senate of the United States is the greatest forum in the world. * * have no hesitancy in answering. The rules—the present rules of the Senate—have given it this distinction.” “In my opinion, not an inferior personnel. but changed rules of the House are responsible for its lessened appeal to public interest.” reform “Filibusters are not more frequent now than formerly.” “My own attitude is that under the present rules time is wasted, and that there ought to be a reform. Though of legislation has ever been blocked by a filibuster, the delay in reaching a vote upon a pending measure frequently results in crowd- ing other important measures off At the same time, T do not by any means believe that the present system has had seriously detrimental results, and I do be- lieve that the open forum should House was the popular body. Its members and debaters were vastly more conspicuous in the press than were those of the Senate. Blaine, Reed, Cannon, Clark, Crisp, Mills— where in the present personnel of thé | House do you find names that so in- trigue the public imagination? .In my opinion, not an inferior per- sonnel, but the changed rules of the House, are responsible for its lessened appeal to public_interest. * oK K K Cloture in the House. The House has a cloture—almost a complete cloture. The trouble with the House is that its members can- not talk when they ought and want to talk. Its rules are air-tight on speechmaking. Of course, I am not now thinking of that expensive and absurd practice of “leave to print,” which permits a Congressman the luxury of having his stillborn thoughts, that never found expression in debate, printed in the Congrei sional Record. ‘When the late Bourke Cockran, a veteran Congressman and a gifted orator, after having served three dif- ferent periods of several terms dur- ing the last 34 years of his life, re- turned once again to the House, six years ago, he remarked on the change that had come over that body, sa) ing that a session of the lower house of Congress now “received no more attention in the American press than a Saturday night dance.” + Cockran restore the House to its old prestige by changing the rules so as to per- mit greater freedom of debate. After several years of membership in the upper body most Senators take pride in its freedom of debate. New Senators sometimes resent this 6. 0f sepatorial life, Legisla-. Licipation ig debate. Secondly, they- .. “It is a newcomer likes Dawes who protests and presses for fought without avail' to| of the Senate, regardless of party, * What makes it such? * * * [ erhaps no vital piece the calendar.” be preserved.” tion moves forward slowly; the new- comer wants to expedite business. But the long-termed Senator would not feel at home in the Senate with- out freedom of debate. The expan- sive rules are considered unique and useful, and give the deliberations much of their fascination. Because of them the whole atmosphere of the Senate sometimes changes in a flash. This is why the Senate gal- leries are crowded, while the House galleries are empty. * ¥ ok % Place Faith in Rules. It is difficult to find a Senator who | has served more than twe terms who does not place implicit faith in the value of the present rules. It is the newcomer, like Dawes, who protests, and presses for a reform. 'To the senfor Senators this type of new- comer is like the youthful and in- experienced curate who finds all the methods of the old pastor oppressive, and zealously sets about to reform the aged precedence and the long- obtalned practices of the parish. What are the privileges that the rules of the Senate permit, now the target for such spirited criticism Briefly stated, the rules of the United States Senate have for years permitted any Senator, when a mo- tion is before the Senate relating to pending legislation, to address the body on any subject he desires, and lat any Jength, regardless of its rele- vaney to the question. under consid- eration. This_privilege is and always bas | been at times abused, and has led reformers to advocate two proposed changes in the rules. ke First, they would set a limitation on .the time of sach Senator's par- | this rule. But Walsh Defends General Rules of Body would enforce a rule of relevancy. They would restrict a Senator to dis cussion of the matter under consid- eration in the Senate, *ix Would Benefit Majority. Adoption of these rules would hen- efit the majority party. The pres- ent rules of the Senate give the minority dts weapons. The absence of effectiVe rules for closing debates assists the minority in getting com promises from the majority. Where it is deemed politically advantageous, the minority may successfully ot struct the legislative program of the majority. Both Republican and Democratic majorities in recent yvears have had their legislative programs brazenly obstructed and their favorite meas- ures ruthlessly defeated. The mi- nority has taken advantage of its prerogative under the rules, and in- dulged in what is known as filibus- tering. It has talked bills to death. Filibusters are not_more numerous now than formerly. The Harding and Coolidge administrations have had fewer measures thus obstructed than were ‘“sent to death” by filibusters during President Wilson's two terms. Strange to say, in all the efforts made in the past to abolish the fi buster as a weapon of Senate minor ties to block legislation there has been no party division. On every occasion in our ‘history the principle of un- limited debate has been stronglv up- held by the minority, whether Repub- lican or Democratic. If the issues were merely#he formu- lation of a rule which would provide an effective limitation upon an ob- structive débate, the Senate would readily reach an agreement. But this is not so easy. It is difficult to limit obstructive debate without limiting constructive debate. After all is said and done, one of the creditable things about the Sen- ate is that every important subject is thoroughly and comprehensively de- bated. A free-for-all debate has and does result in better legisiation. The records will show, I believe, that most legislation that Is finally enacted by the Senate has had thorough and penetrating discussion of the most minute and detailed features, invari- ably to the public advantage. On the other hand, it is true some measures are actually killed by ob- structive tactics made possible by the laxity of the present Senate rules. A ship “subsidy bill and the Dyer anti- lynching bill were both killed in the last Congress by fillbustering. -3 * K ok % The Famous Rule 22, Filibustering became so prevalent prior to and during 1917, reaching the climax with the obstructive tactics employed against President Wilson's shipping program, that the now fa- mous Rule 22 was adopted. Rule 22 was an attempt to establish in the Senate a modified cloture pro- vision. Vice President Dawes in his inaugural was especially critical ol effective in ending the alleged - evil of unlimited debate. The rule pro- vides for the application of cloture, with debate thereafter limited to one e o0 L0 one To his thinking, it is in- | | give heed to the wishes of the popu- ; lation. | University Outbreak. | But Herrlot, having provoked this | struggle, marched merrily on his way. | To provide a place for a candidate fa- | vored by the politicians the professor |indicated by the competent educa tional authorities was passed over, and without warning there broke out something almost approaching a re- bellion among the students of the {great French University, & rebellion | which extended to the provinces and to all branches of the university, cul- minating in the suspension of the dean of the college in Paris and the intru- sion of the police. Having quarreled with the President |and done violence to the constitution | to unseat the President, having quar Ireled with the church and done vio- lence to the feelings of the people of Alsace-Lorraine, having roused all the professors and the students to rebel- lion and strike, Herriot continued on his way by naming as a teacher a man who had served as a German agent and editor of the notorious Gazette | des Ardennes, the journal printed by the Germans in the occupied area dur {ing the war to undermine the loyalty | of the French populations. i One might go on and enumerate a hundred more only less grave blunders and worse of Herriot and his asso- ciates; the men who had made the war and the victory were pushed aside to make place for the men who had been defaitists. Pardons and restora- tions of civil rights were granted to those who had been associated in the public mind with the evil days and deeds which preceded the coming of Clemenceau. Fearful of Shadows More than all this France felt un comfortably the sympathy and more { which existed between the extreme Left—that is, the more radical wing of the Socialist supporters of Herriot and Moscow. A sense of apprehen: sion and of lack of security crept into the situation. *“We do not fear vou.” one opponent of Herrlot's explained, “but we do fear the shadows lurking behind you: yes, the red shadows.” Meantime, blunderingly, optimistic ally, Herriot was faring on his way. Confident of the permanency of Mac. Donald, he went to Geneva and staked French security on the certainty of the adoption by Britain of the proto- col, only to find too late that Britain would have none of it and that the British Labor government had given way to a new Tory regime. The fall of the protocol was In reality the | proof of the complete fallure of Her- | riot’s foreign policy. Meantime he had opened conversa tion with Germany, and France heard with growing anxiety that under Brit listening to German proposals which involved the sacrifice of French allies, of Poland and Czechoslovakia, with- out any real or substantial guarantee of ultimate French security, aside from the word of Germany, which was still held with a degree of light- ness in France and in Belgium. Financial Crisis Intervenes. Muddle at home, danger abroad, this was the situation which was gradually leading toward an explosion when the financial crisis intervened. A year ago the financlal crisis had een terminated by prompt and dras | tic measures of Poincare, taken. to be sure, tardfly: but now France felt it- | self ‘on the verge of a far more se | rious crisis, and the best that the fout was a form of capital levy | gether with a temporary resort to in- | flation. At the critical moment when the whole country was alarmed, Herriot, with characteristic stupidity, quarrel- *4-Filtscath Paged ~. #d-on the fook of the Senate With his | 1sh impulsion the French premier was | | Radical-Socialist ministry could hold | to- | vened to put a barrier between the | radical and Socialists of the Cham {ber and the further realization of {a program which it is now realized would leave France defenseless on her | frontiers, without credit in the money | markets " abroad and divided into | fiercely fighting factions at home. | I have been going to France pretty regularly for the last 15 years, and never in this time, never even in the worst days of the war, have I found anvthing like the anxiety, dis gust, depression which are to be {felt on all sides at the present momeni. You do not have to read the papers of the opposition do not_have to g0 beyond your concierge in the hotel vour neighbor in the cafe to realize how profoundly shaken and disturbed | the mass of the French people are at the plight in which they find them selves and at the character of the gov ernment which the election saddled upon them France in the days of the war was at least self-respecting. brave, de- | termined. but France, after a year of Herriot, is something quite different | Yet the road to deliverance is not | easy, for there still remains in the |Chamber of Deputies % majority, |made up of radicals, Socialists, with convenient Communist votes availa- | ble, which may block any attempt form a real minl: of national de- fense. And it is nothing less than a ministry of national defense which could now réstore French confidence In the end it may be necessary for the president and the Senate to dis solve the Chamber and force a new election, unless there is a break in the ranks of the radicals, which might make the formation of a new bloc possible. Depends on German Election. Much, if not everythin; now de- pends upon the progress of the Ge; man election. The fact of the Hin- denburg candidacy has already made a profound impre: n upon the French mind. If there should be re- vealed any possibility that this can- didacy might succeed, then there would be a rush to the right within the present French Parliament which would make any new election un- necessary. On the other hand, if the defeat of Hindenburg takes place, then it may be that there will be ex periments with one or two more weak and more or less radical min- istries before the real test comes At the monient we are plain :proaching a constitutional ap- crisis, a | struggle between the Senate and the | Chamber of Deputies, but in the last |analysis the position of the Senate is |strengthened by the fact that it is likely to have the support of the | President of the republic, who was | chosen in opposition to the wish and efforts of the radical-Socialist com bination in the Chamber Make-Up of Cabinet. As I write this article announce ment is made of a combination cab inet of Painleve, Caillaux and Briand The first iwo names are fairly sig nificant of the present situation. Painleve is the man who as war minister is held responsible in many quarters for the failure of the French offergive at the Aisne in 1917, which led 10 the temporary demoralization |of the Krench army.” As prime min- |ister, a little later, he brought France to the edge of defeat by his hopeless incompetency. the defeat which was only . averted b, the coming of Clemenceau. Caillaux is the man who pelled from France during for alleged communication |enemy, and only narrowly |facing a firing squad. He is held the ablest financier in France, but his name and. his_fame are_such as Ao neme AN S AT At neh ae was ex- the war with the escaped »