Evening Star Newspaper, May 10, 1925, Page 37

“EDITORIAL’ SECTION - - " EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL FEATURES Society News LIE BENEATH ~ ANY EUROPEAN ADVANCE All Nations Prdgress Econemically, But Political Trends Continue to Menace. * ; BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. N the present article I shall try to summarize the impressions of my . three months’ trip abroad, which . carried me to England, Germany, -+ Poland, Czechoslovakia and France, and my talks with a very large number of statesmen and jour- nal in all these countries and sev- eral adjoining states. t year, returning from a similar trip, I wrote that the outstanding im- Dression of Europe at that hour was the remarkable development of the sentiment for peace and for economic .« 2nd even political appeasement which 1 discovered in all countries, a senti- ment which contrasted strikingly with. certain situations which I had found 11, Europe two years before— that is, In 1923—just before the Ruhr occupation. In the current year the same im- lon was not only-to. be felt, but Yound it to an impressive extent, even in Germany, which I had not Visitad before since the war. It is true that the election of Hindenburg has seemed to give the lie to this asser- tion and that it has constituted, as I ‘Wrote last week, the greatest disaster since the making of peace in 1919. Nevyertheless, for reasons which I shall met forth presently, it seems to me that this German vote does not actu- ally contradict the evidence which avery traveler in Germany in the past six, months has testified to. Out of War State of Mind. Europe, as I saw it last Winter and « this Spring, is in many ways inpres- mvely out of the war state of mind. Fécovery mentally in England has been most impressive. For the Brit- ish_people the war is no more now than an evil memory, something to be forgotten, something the evil conse- guences of which have to be removed, but the circumstances and emotions of ‘which are to be dismissed. Men- tally, morally, the British public, next to our own, which was infinitelyless affected, has most completely recov- eréd’ from_the great struggle. Eco- nomically, by contrast, Britain today muffers perhaps more than any bellig- erant nation, with the exception of Russia. One of the public men who was closest to events during the war and the making of peace expressed to me his view that up to the moment in ¢ which he spoke his country, Britain, ‘was the one unmistakably defeated na- tion of the struggle. He was speak- ing Mot of any battlefleld circum- stance, not of any decision of the peace conference; what he meant was that the economic structure of his the European nations which particl- pated in the World War, France has economically made the . quickest re- covery, which is a phenomenon trequently noted in past history. The war gave France Alsace-Lorraine, with its'vast iron deposits, its potash beds, its rich agricultural regions. To be sure the war created a vast dev- astated area in northern France and for the moment wiped out the richest industrial area of the republic. But the French have not only recon. structed this area, but have replaced an antiquated and patchwork in- dustrial plant by a magnificent modern establishment. This reconstruction was done at enormous cost, and the cost has tem- porarily strained the resources of the nation. But the solid fact is that France has regained her lost prov- inces with their vast potential wealth, replaced her ancient plant, doubled her productive capacity in many manufacturing lines, in fact, become to a certain degree an industrial nation, whose competition s felt heavily across the channel. The Lens coal area, for instance, is pro- ducing more coal than before the war, producing it more cheaply, and is equipped with machinery surpassing anything in any British coal mine. Completely at Work. You have a measure of the French economic situation if you note that although 2,000,000 working men have immigrated into France since the war, the maximum of unemployment in France in this time has been 60,000 as against more than 1,500,000 in Great Britain and that for months it has fallen as low as 1,500. France, then, is completely at work and, by contrast with Britain, Italy, Germany, she is exporting more than she im- ports, while the tourist trade brings in something litke §300,000,000 gross, annually. The problem for France, then, is not economic. Her_troubles are of two sorts. First, financial, due to the strain put upon her resources to raise $5,000,000,000 for reconstructing the devastated area and to raise revenue to carry this and the other gigantic burdens of the war, and secondly, her efforts to insure herself against a new German attack. And of these two problems the second is, in the last analysis, the more important. Nevertheless, it is plain that during the lasy five years there has been a slow but sure drift toward an adjust- ment with Germany. France has no desire to hold German territory for itself, would quit all German territory tomorrow, could there be any new coufitry was more terribly shaken by the conflict and its consequences than that of any other combatant nation, and’ that its recovery would be more difficult. 1n “England any visitor must be struck by two facts—the enormous courage and determination with which the nation has set itself to face a frightful situation, the industry and effort which it is applying to the re- construction of the shaken. edifice, and the relatively slow and difficult task itself. British recovery is slow, slower than that of any. other country, for the paradoxical reason that there is little that the British people can do in the situation, or, rather, when they have done all that is humanly possible ghemselves, a great deal more re- mains to be done which is outside of their power. Cause of Situation. Forty-odd millions of people living In the restricted area of the British Islands are dependent for existence upon their abllity to sell coal and man- ufactured articles abroad and buy food with the proceeds. They could not live, save as they could sell and buy. Their food came from abroad in prac- tically a complete sense. But the war did two- things—it destroyed the capacity of the foreign peoples to buy British products, thus automatically depriving .vast numbers of British workingmen of their employment, and in addition it stimulated production withiin-these foreign countries of the things formerly bought from Britain. For more than five years, then, Britafn has been struggling to re- cover forelgn markets, but, mean- while, ‘it has been unable to sell its coal abroad, its shipping has suffered alike from American competition and the absence of forelgn freights. There has been little cpal to carry abroad; there has been an appalling decline in the market for British-built ships. ‘Thu$, roughly speaking, Britain has suftered acutely from the decrease in yevenue coming from coal, manu- factured goods and shipping returns. It hus been stricken in _the main sources of its income. It has had to maintain a million and a half of workingmen in idleness; it has had to meet the most colossal burden in taxation ever known, and while the situation has materially improved, it remains still a frightful problem. gland, then, alone of the nations which made the war, is facing the problem of life or death. It must find- markets for its products; it must find . homes abroad. for its surplus population, or it must ultimately col- lap#e. under its burdens. The coal roingrs of Britain, for example, are today, with few exceptions, living and; working for 'a subnormal wage, Jese than is required for decent living coriditions; but, even on this basis, the ceal trade is rather losing than making money. Sure guarantee that as a consequence France would be assured against any new German attack. And for the past year the Herriot government has been working for such an adjustment, was, in fact, on the eve of reaching such an agreement, with British co-opera- tion, when the Hindenburg election transformed the whole situation. Security Chief Issue. Just as for Great Britain the pri- mary and the all-important considera- tion is trade, that for France is se- curif The odd circumstance is that neitBer people, speaking in bulk, is able to understand the situation of the other, and the British necessity is set down in France too frequently to greed, while the French necessity is told off in Britain as militarism and chauvinism. Thus in the end all British policy will be dominated by the vital necessity to trade abroad in order to live at home, while all French policy will concentrate on the neces- sity to be safe at home in order to exist as a people. But within these limits there is pre- cisely the same desire for peace in France and in Britain, the same im- patience and horror with the very idea of another war, the same utter absence of any national ambition to pursue any foreign policy which might lead to war. Moreover, I found In Paris—and in unsuspected quarters —an extraordinary desire to find some way to come to real peace with Ger- mnl'lty within the limits of French se- curity. Situation in Germany. Now when one comes to Gerpany, is the situation different? Econnmyl- cally Germany 1is better off than Brit- ain and worse off than France. Her vast industrial plant §s far superior to the British, viewed in the light of modern équipment. She can produce coal more cheaply, she can manufac- ture iron and steel more advantageous- ly, her labor can be had at a lower price. But Germany falls short of Britain in the field of capital. War and inflation have destroyed vast amounts of capital, while her iron districts have gone to France and Poland and a thérd of herhc::l fields to Poland. ermany little unemployment today because her home market can still absorb most of her production, she is able to raise a large but not ade- quate amount of her food supply, whereas Britain can raise: little or none. But Germany isiimperting vast- 1y more than she is exporting and this process cannot go on indefinitely. She ‘must have capital In large amounts from America and Britain. She, too, must find markets abroad, but she is half way between. Britain and France ecomomically, being far more self-contained and self-sufficing |- than Britain, but much less so than France. Factors in Politics. Now, German politics are dominated | Peace Abroad Desired. Now in this situation all British effort is obviously directed at insur- ing , peace abroad, at using every political method _to bring about ecoriomic peace. 'British statesman- ship is seeking reconciliation and ap- peasement in Europe that marke Jap¥ be restored, trade regained, that the -mllom;‘l lllhe. n;ay ta rntore«ii; e, very thought of another war T&omm to & mation whose exist- ence has been imperiled, not alone or -chiefly during and by hostilities, but/by the aftermath, by the conse- of the struggle. And every thoughtful Englishman realizes that & 04w war in Europe in any present time, whether Britain fought or not, wo! be well nigh fatal to Bri 'S existence, by reason of the inevitable reduction of the purchasing power ‘of the world. g ¥ “Phus, ever since the 'peace con- ferénce we have seen all the efforts by two factors. Germany has lost a large area east and west. Most Ger- mans regard the Western loss as per- manent, but will not accept the loss of Danzig, the Polish Corridor and| upper Silesia as more than transient. Germany, all Germans with whom 1 talked, regarded the Eastern settle- ment as a deliberate partition of their country. They beélieved the nation was |. fatally compromised, unless these ter- ritories were recovered, and all Ger- man policy as a result looks to the}: reconstruction of the Eastern. situa- tion of 1914, save perhaps in the mat- ter of Posen. i Then there is the question of Aus- tria. One must see that Germany be- fore the war was the greatest country in Europe, economically and politicai- ly. Now it counts for less in strength than Poland. Thus, while for the Briton: the question is one of markets and for the Frenchman -of. security. | for the German it is one of mational rehabilitation.. - Sixty-odd millions of British statesmanship directed toward | Ge: the’, restoration of pedce in Europe, byt wo far these efforts have enjoyed only - limited success because of the pécitliar continental conditions, be- cause; while for Great. Britain the siigle problem has been the recoa- struction of markets and the resto- -xtion - of the purchasing power of * the. the problems of other have been quite different. now to. France, one is con- | _paradox. Of. shall again be great—and greatness for all involyes the restoration of | German rule in the lost provinces of the east and in the union of Austria with the reich. I do not think I ex- ll(l&l:li when I say that 90 per cent of to go with |Only Time ‘WASHINGTON, BY EDOUARD HERRIOT, Former Premier of France. ARIS (by Cable)—Will the election of * Field Marshal von Hindenburg cause a modification of the 'security plans on which France has been working for more than two months? This question looms up as one of the most vital importance since the German election. 3 It must be understood that I reply 'with re- serve. The direction of foreign affairs! of France belongs now to M. Paul Painieve, in whose enlightened wisdow the .United: States may place all confidence, and to M. Aris Briand, who, ig too many glrcumstances, Nas proved his liberalism and his attachmeiit. to peace for any one to feel the slightest anxiety about what course he will take, 2 The world can have:faith that hoth these men will avoid all imprudent measures, and, for my part, I am fully réassured to seé con- fided in them to a great extent' the peace of Europe. A 1 find myself furthermore i o position; to pass an authoritative’ judgfueiit on the'true intentions of Marshal: von Hindenburg. At the time of the negotiations in Londen for the accords which have regulated the irri- tating problem of reparations—during the month in which I had the good fortume to work day by day with the eminent Mr. Kel- logg—I became acquainted with Chancellor Marx. He and I defended with severity the respective interests with which we we charged, but this discussion, even though at certain moments it became very lively, and even though at certain hours it provoked the fear of a rupture, gave me the opportunity to appreciate the democratic character of Chan- cellor Marx and the moral value of his con- sclence. Attitude of Von Hindenburg. What does Marshal von Hindenburg think? His intimates declare publicly that he will seck an accord between France and Germany, an accord founded on the common interests of the two peoples, and particularly on a rap- prochement of the great industries of the two countries—a union of iron and coal. They add that in the opinion of the marshal such a Franco-German entente is the necessary con- dition to an effective resistance against the revolutionary forces. They declare finally that Von Hindenburg would be ready to follow the security negotiations already undertaken, and in particular to proclaim the definite renuncia- tion by Germany for all time of any right to Alsace and Lorraine. If these declarations are genuine, the new President of the Reich should follow the ex: cution of the program for security drawn up during the last few months. But only the future will tell if these state- ments are sincere and if these promises can be kept. Chancellor Luther, before the Congress of Commerce and Industry, showed himself, above all, as preoccupled with the reconstitution of the economic power of Germany. To this economic problem he seemed anxious to subor- dinate the political problem. He seemed to un- derstand that the most urgent requingment for the peace of Europe was stability.’ seemed to maintain for a system of guarantees which would reassure Germany, as well as France, and to permit the two peoples to work in peace at last. He pronounced moderate words. Gains of Reactionaries. But here again it is impossible to say what fate awalits the outspoken intentions of the chancellor. Beyond doubt, the reactionary forces of Germany have gained power during BY DAVID I. WALSH, Former Governor of Massachusetts and Recent U States Senator. ‘¢ HE two great natural and. historical enemies of all republics are open vio- lence and insidious corruption.” Every thoughtful person who has had' any political experience appreciates the force of that epigram. " Are there any insidicus forces tending to contaminate the purity of legislation in the United States Senate? There are forces that seek to influence members of the Senate. Senators are under constant pressure from various sources to sup- port this or that side of every controversy. The influences surrounding a Senator at Wash- ing, as he strives to perform his duty, may be conveniently classified into four groups: They are: 3, strong and sinister organized propaganda, actulited by purély self-interest; 2, the lobby; 3, the social life, and 4, Executive pressure. The average American citizen hias no con- ception of the tremendous amount of pressure at times exerted upon public servants in Wash- Ington through propaganda. The propaganda 1s not always one-sided, but those interests which have the largest pocketbooks and can pay the largest number of solicitors and the most expensive printing bills have a decided advantage. Hundreds—yes, thousands—of letters, many of them form letters, pour in upon Senators from their constituents. It is entirely proper, and indeed desirable, for constituents to keep their Senator informed of their honest, disinterested views om pending legislation. The right of as- sociations and bodies of men and women who feel that thelr personal interests are involved openly and squarely- to place themselves on record capnot be denied. But the letters sent to a Senator are often coercive in their intent. They frequently demand compliance with the. demands of the authors and carry v threats to make their influence seem more im- pressive. A 5 ra Chambers. of commerce, social and financial clubs of various'kinds send resolutions demand- ing action fayorable to the side which some paid . five. times gut of Bix repre- senting interests which have private axes to grind, has Muflfi; them. . This practice was Iittle known until recent- ly. It has reached such ‘st times that the malils pouring into the offices of vari- ous Senators have clogged all the legitimate business of & Senator’s office.’ The worst feature of this is that most of those who become innocent have never read the proposed I ‘and have almost invariably heard only one side of the question. 1 The number of insulting letters that come tolwmemlnl::rhnhm propaganda waves is surprisingly large. The late Senator Lodge informed ma that one vote which he cast dur- D. C, EDOUARD HEZRRIOT. the last years. Will these elements be satis- fled with the compliment to their vanity in- volved in the election of Marshal von Hinden- burg? WIIl they not desire to go further? It is impossible to say now, just as it was im- possible a few weeks ago to anticipate the re- sult of this election. It is necessary in politics carefully to guard against prophecies. We cannot say whether the indications furnished by the German lead- ers at the present hour conform with their pro- found convictions, or whether. they represent merely a precaution taken to disarm the world of its suspicions. Is Germany saying to herself she has de- cidedly had enough of war and she sincerely wishes to contribute to the work of bullding ‘world-wide paths to peace? Or is she thinking she must at first work on her economic reconstruction and attract the foreign capital, of which she has need, in or- der to impose her will the day when she has regained her material force? Must Wait and Watch. Such is the tragic dilemma with which the entire world is faced. We must wait and watch. It is particularly necessary to follow with great care the attitude of the Populist party. It is necessary to see what results come from ‘the elections for the Prussian Diet, scheduled for the middle of June. The Luther ministry appears anxious to maintain a position of status quo. We must AS WALSH SEES SENATE. “There are forces that seek to in- fluence members®of the Senate. They are: First—Strong and sinister or- ganized propaganda actuated -purely by self-interest. Second—The lobby. Third—The social life. Fourth—Ex- ecutive pressure.” . “Propaganda has reached such pro- portions thut the mails pouring into the offices of various Senators have clogged alt legitimate business.” “As to the lobby, it is an old story. Washington is lobby ridden. But I am happy to say that Congress is not, in my opinion, ‘lobby controlled.’” “Strong men, and the Senate is full of them, are not interested or influ- enced by-‘tea gossip’ or the prejudices of society matrons on public ques- “I ‘have seen the most petty means employed :to humiliate Senators who diflpef with the White House.” “Scarcely a strong independent char- acter has served in the Senate for any length of time who has not had Ex- ecutive punishment meted out to him.” |~ country, resulted in his receiving more insuit- ing and offensive letters, many of them from - lifelong political friends, than he had received prior to that time in his whole public career of more than 30 years. 7 1 am sorry to say that one of the most dis- heartening daily experiences of a Senator is that inteligent business men frequently hear one side of an argument and.-give that side their indorsement without stopping to inquire ‘whether there js anything to be said on the other'side. = < ‘the Jobby, it is an old story. Wash- “lobby ridden. But I am happy to Can Prove Hindenburg Sincer In Desire:for Amity, Declares Herriot SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 10, 1925 ‘wait and see if in the conflict between the parties it can continue to hold power. Of one thing we can be sure: That in the face of so many uncertainties France will keep her sang froid and remain prudent. It is high. 1y important, as was so well emphasized by M. Briand, that France remain in full accord ‘with ‘her allies. The intimate entente of Great Britain and France seems to me more than ever the essential condition of peace. ‘We are now celebrating in France the cen- tenary of the death of Comte de Saint Bimon, ‘who so greatly influenced the movement of the social idens of the nineteenth century. In 1814, at the time of the celebrated Congress of Vienna, this illustrious thinker wrote in col- laboration: with Augustin Thierry a remark- able book on the “‘Reorganization of European Soclety,” In which he laid the first foundation for the institution that has become the League of Nations. ' In this work the Comte de Saint Simon proclaimed with energy that the union of France and Englani was the necessary con- dition of all peace in Europe. Just As Sound Now. These trutfis are just as sound in 1925 as they were in 1814. I wish there existed in Great Britain a profound conviction of this, as there does in France, and I hope the United States will help us maintain our hands clasped in the interest of the establishment of peace. It was to this end that I worked during my stay in the foreign office. I had the good for- tune to ‘'be able to safeguard the accord with Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, and M. Aristide Briand will, I trust, do better still. I ardently hope he will be able to terminate successfully the negotiations I began for a security pact. Becurity! France begs for nothing more. Let nobody imagine she wants always to re- main on the Rhine. She asks only solid guar- antees to prevent the return of terrible events like those which in 1914 brought her to the very point of death. We cannot count upon another miracle of the Marne. It France had only obtained the treaties of guarantee for which she had been led to hope during the negotiations for the treaty of Ver- saflles—ah!—she would feel at ease. But un- happily she is still awaiting these treaties. ‘Wants Treaty Applied. France wants only security by the loyal ap- plication of the treaty of Versailles. To allow this treaty to be questioned in one or anothur part would be madness. It would open up a formidable debate from which war would in- evitably come. p ‘We cannot establish the international mo- rale for which we are working if this morale is not founded on the integral respect of treaties. ‘With her wisdom, with her moral authority, America can greatly help us promote and achieve the work of justice which we have un- dertaken. As for Germany, what is the gesture, or, ‘we might say, the criterion by which we will recognize she sincerely wants peace with us, if she wants to help us construct for the world a program of life? The answer is simple, I be- lleve. If Germany wants to prove she has a will to collaborate in the international entente she must enter the League of Nations under the very lce'glfla comditions that have been offered her. ‘pon ber-entry into the league depends the solution of the problem of security as well as the solution of the difficulties pend- ing between the allies and ourselves. I believe that only on the day when Ger- many commits herself on the question of her admission to the League of Nations will we be able to judge the importance of the election of Marshal von Hindenburg. (Copyright, 1925.) Four Strong Influences Ready to Sway Senators From Firm Courses, Says Walsh | President American Institute of In particularly successful with individual Sena- ,* tors. A change has taken place which. the American people do not vet fully appreciate. . The lobby works today through political or- #anizations rather than through the slow, un- certain method of merely dealing with an “or- dinary™” Senator. Get the “leaders” interested in the legislation desired. That is the prudent ‘way.to proceed today. Incidentally, of eourse, the individual Senator must be impressed with the argument for and against “the righteous- ness of the cause.” ; Activities of Social Lobby. ‘What of the social lobby? Does the social “life of Washington affect a Senator’s official attitude? To what extent do women in the homes of men in high official position seek to influence Senators? Are dinner parties given to promote special causes and particular can- didates upon which Senators must make de- cisions?. To a limited degree, yes; but not effectively, for the socially inclined Senator usually, be- cause of his very environment, votes the way his social friends would vote were they in the Senate. Strong men, and the Senate is full of them, ‘are not influenced by ‘“tea gossip” or the prejudices -of society matrons on public questions. That attempts are made through social activities to influence some Séenators is unquestionably true. However, it is only at certain periods that one hears of great activity .in the “social lobby.” The idea that the social lobby is effective presupposes/fhat most Senators are active so- Clally. " The fact is that most Senators never enter the social life of Washington. I mean the “gilded” social life.. This is chiefly a pre- rogative of the wealthy Senators. To be in ‘Washington society, as anywhere else, you must entertain as well as be entertained. This 18 ‘expensive. The salary and income of many Senators forbid it. The public question -that in recent years stirred the social life of Washington more than any other that I have observed was the sol- diers’ bonus. During the discussion:of that subject in the Senate you could not go to a dinner table with- ' ‘out hearing pretty severe den ‘of those - Senators who supported the bonus. . branded as ‘‘unpai iotie,” " “raders of the public MM A e/COUNTRY WILL BE ASKED FOR VIEWS ON MAIL RATES Joint Congressional Commiittee to Visit Many Cities Investigating Effects of New Charges—Public Invited to Hearings. BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. A great and solemn refsrendum on the effect of the new powtal rates will be d during the Summer. Impor- tant users of the malls in the leading postal centers of the country will be given an opportunity to testify as to their experience with the higher cost of postage and air such grievances as have resulted therefrom. The refer- endum, which is the first of its kind on record, will take the form of a series of hearings before the joint postal commisaion of Congress, which func- tioned during the late session while the fight over the postal pay increase bill progressed. The commission con- sists of Senators Moses, chairman; Phipps and McKellar and Representa- tives Griest, Ramseyer and ‘Bell. All are Republicans except McKellar of Tennessee, ranking Democratic mem- ber of the Senate committee on post office affairs, and Representative Bell ber of the House post office committee. of Georgia, ranking Democratic mem- ber of the House post office committee. The joint commission will assemble in Washington on July 20. Its first prospective trip will be to Philadel- phia. Then New York will be visited, and afterward Augusta, Me., where there are publishing houses that print millions of coples of the cheaper grade of weekly and monthly periodicals. At- lanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louls and St. Paul are now on the commission’s itinerary. What points farther South or West than any ef these cities will be visited has not yet been determined. Rates May Be Changed. ‘While Congress placed no time limit upon the new rates, which have been in effect since April 15, the general understanding in both House and Sen- ate was that they would be revised if and when they proved unsatisfac- tory. It is to determine that point that the forthcoming hearings were planned. Any and every person, firm or corporation that uses the United States mails will be at liberty to come before the commission aad say whether the higher rates are working an injury. Publishers of periodicals, mail-order houses, farm organizations, newspaper owners and all other ele- ments of the business community which have a substantial interest in postal rates will be invited to testify. Many of these interests, especlally publishers of widely circulated period- ical like farm journals, bitterly op- posed the enactment of the new rates. They were assured by members of Congress that they were entitled to look upon the rates as purely tempo- rary, if after a few months of actual experience with them it could be es- tablished that the rates involved the hardships foreshadowed when the postal pay increase bill was in the There were both Congress- men and postal officials who contended Thopper. that some of .the publishers were creating nightiares for themselves, and entertained fears destined never to be realized. By the time the joint { commission is holding hearings, the new rates will be more than three months old. The hearings will be | prolonged into October, when they will be resumed at Washington. By ing of the rates. Between then and the assembling of the Sixty-ninth Congress the commission will formu- late z report, which presumably will become the basis of recommendations to Congress either to revise the rates downward or leave them as they are. Pay Raise to Stand. Under no circumstances is there any intention on the part of either the congressional commission of the Post Office Department to tamper with the increase in pay granted to the postal employes. This amounts to $68,000,000 a year. It does not begin to be covered by the increased rates, according to Postmaster General New, who estimates that these will produce Dot more than $30,000,000 or $40.- 000,000 a year. The resultant deficit simply has to be added to the annual deficlency at which the Postal Service operates. But Uncle Sam is certain to continue to bear any deficit neces- sitated by keeping up wages of the postal servants to the point to which they are now raised. There is no precedent that anybody in Washing- ton can remember for reducing Gov- ernment pay that once has been ‘boosted. Mr. New would like to see the postal emploves who do night work get more money than day workers receive. There is understood to be some differences of opinion among the employes themselves as to whether higher pay or a 6%-hour “day” for night work is preferable. The Post- master General's belief is that there ought to be a differential in the form of more pay. Several Months Needed. Postmaster General New is already comnuting in detail the effect of the new rates on postal receipts, but he does not think anything really au- thoritative or significant will be avail- able until receipts for June, July and August are in hand and tabulated. He expects to be able to submit a statement based upon them to ths Joint commission’s final sessions in the autumn. ‘Throughout the country large users of the mails, especially of postal cards, discounted the enactment of higher rates and stocked up on lower grades of postage for matter that they could send out before April 15. The postmaster of New York City reported that one day, just prior to April 15, a firm mailed 8,000,000 postal cards, costing 1 cent each, in order to avoid sending them out with a 115- cent stamp after April 15. The Post Office, Department will not be in position for several months to tell to just what extent the country at large took time by the forelock as the wholesale user of postal cards in New York did. Uncle Sam’'s postal service, the biggest business in the world, now costs $700,000,000: a year. It em- ploys 360,000 people. It is increas- ing at the rate of about $50,000,000 a year. By 1929 the Post Office De- partment will be close to a $1,000,- 000,000-a-year concern. The postal authorities, who also will be heard by the congressional commission, are naturally anxious that rates shall be maintained at a point that will re- that time the commission will be able to review six full months’ work- duce deficits to the minimum. (Copyright, 1925.) Sees U. S., Out of World Politics, Solving Economic Problems BY JAMES BROWN SCOTT, ternational Law. There is no permanent guarantee of . | sure; the only | justice expressed in terms of law. material security expressed in terms of armies, navies and economic pres- permanent guarantee is But the justice the world needs is not the justice of a group of individ- uals or indeed of a group of states. It is the justice of the civilized world expressed in rules of law by repre- sentatives of the nations meeting in conference for this purpose, not in a single meeting, this year or next year, but in a series of meetings from time to time in order to extend the empire of law, as The Hague conferences say, and, “to record in an interna- tional agreement the principles of equity and right on which are based the security of states and the welfare of peoples.” This is the proposal of former Sec- retary of State Hughes, in his recent speech before the American Soclety of International Law. In Mr. Hughes' opinion, the agreement of the nations upon the principles of equity and right should be embodied in a series of proj- ects which, taken together, will fosn a code of international law, and he therefore advocates the codification of international law in a’ serles of in- ternational conferences in which all nations accepting- and applying inter- national law are to be represented and through their representatives take part in framing this universal law. Believing that it was the duty of the United States to take part with the other natfons in codifying the rules of Jjustice which should control their ac- tions, he was anxious that the United States should begin to do so at the easliest possible moment. ‘These International law conferences ces, the development of law through courts stice, through the Per- here: o 3¢ the United States, to o mnu:-m,bymmm- ing and President Coolidge, and, had ., Fatior gl ionl 3 , as y Hughes. nations » a’word, Mr. Hughes advocated in ;Iil“ a law of " based | the subjects included in the program agreed upon in advance by the par- | ticipating nations. “When the treat- | ies and conventions agreed upon by | these conferences have been ratified by the treaty-making power of the dif- | ferent countries—then will the world, indeed, possess the inestimable bless ing of peace through justice. (Copyright, 1825.) Finances of Germany Still a Puzzle to Many That the startling transformations in German finance are still unclear to -certain Americans is the impression derived from a letter which the Amer- ican commercial attache in Berlin has received from an irate citizen of the mjddle West, who is under the im- pression that money he deposited some years ago in a German bank ought to be refunded to him at ita face vaiue. his letinr ruus. “Dear sir: Your several letters In answer to my letter relative to my check for 5,000,000,000 paper marks and a 100,000,000,000-mark note is re- celved; also the currency sent me con- sisting of 26,511,161,260 marks. * * * In your letter you trust I will be sat- isfled with this settlement or return the marks and get five German paper marks and 10 pfennigs as the value of the checks and note. I bought the check and mark note in good faith. with the understandiing that the cur- rency for the check was on Jeposit in the Daermstadter thek, sub- Ject to the chegl = eatitled to the marks, not their vaiue at the ex- change rate, and desire that they be sent. T.e settlement tendered is an e~y way of payling debts and seems ins German way. The balance due me is 5,073,488,835,740 marks. 1 want either the paper marks or settlement at the rate of 10 cents United States money per 1,000,000,000 paper marks. Trusting that this matter will be at- tended to without delay, I am, etc.” Thers are 20,000,000 or more Ger- mans in the same situation. What they want is not clear—or, rather, only too clear. What they will get is even plainer. . Near East Is Interested In $500,000 School Gift Much Interest has been aroused in the-Near East by the gift by of $500,000 to the As colleges in Turkey and both Athens and Sofia the establish- y Greeks and Bulgarians wish to give their children a more ad- vanced .education than that obtain- able in local schools. In Athens a strong committee of leading citizens has been formed to assist in putting through the scheme. In Sofia the favorable sup d a fine site t of Mount Vitosha,