Evening Star Newspaper, June 14, 1925, Page 45

EDITO T, pe e NATIO RIAL PAGE NAL PROBLEMS : SPECIAL FEATURES Part 2—16 Pages p PATIENCE OF U. S. WORN BY MEXICO’S FLOUTING American Interests Must Be Safeguarded by Calles Regime—Property Rights Are Being lgr_nored. BY FREDERIC WILI FFICIA AM WILE. rnings to Mexico 10 resp merican rights re the culmination of a eries of floutings of our in- terests which the United States Government ha at length de- termined can no longer be tolerated. For many months past American property owners in Mexico have been the victims of high-handed action under the so-called “Agrarian laws.” Protests have been in vain. The government at Mexico City has been either unwilling or u hle to protect American property rights. The stern Imonition just issued by Secretary Kellogg is a n t the patience of the United States is about exhausted, nd that, unless President Calles takes ompt and effective steps to remedy ct Saatters, more peremptory action by ithe Coolidge administration can hard- Iy be avoided Not only have the Mexicans plaved fast and loose with land righ American_citizens, but for the vear the Mexican zovernment ha faulted on the international financial agreement. in which American capital is heavily interested. Washington has bheen. making appropriate representa- tions at Mexico City, but negotiations les government and ortium have not pro: beyond the talk stage. In of the failure of Mexico to give the international financi: com- any _indication as to when to mittee service on the debt will be resumed, American holders of Mexican bonds naturally have become restive. Treaty Not Concluded. There is more at stake for Mexico than mere compliance with the de- mand for recognition of American property and financial rights. Al though we have fully re-established diplomatic relations with the Mexican government, the United States has not yet concluded with it the customary treaty of amity and commerce. Such treaties, embracing full and general relations between friendly nations, are ¢ to a complete understand- lly to normal trade inly there will be rt of the Coolidge ing, intercourse. no desire on the pa administration to enter into such treaty with Mexico while the ele- mentary of American citizens are in jeo) A treaty ally under consid- eration in Washington with the view to negotiation. It is now for Mexico to say and show whether a treaty ean profitably be effected. Other treaties or conventions that will be dependent on the course of events relate to the equitable distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers. There Is also under discussion a convention relating to the protection of migratory birds. The Uniyzd States has J concluded at Kl Paso preliminary negotiations with Mexico regarding suppression of smuggling of aliens, drugs and liquor across the Southern border in con- travention of the laws of either country. Rights of Americans. The rights of American property owners in_Mexico arises under the American-Mexican agreement of 1923, negotiated for the United States by Charles Beecher Warren and John Barton Payne. This agreement pro- vided that the maximum area that might be expropriated from any one American property could not exceed 1,755 hectares (approximately 4,000 acres). In all cases it was provided that due regard must be had for the extent of the property from which the land is taken, for the improve- ments thereon, etc. It was also agreed any area greater than could not be taken from any dcre: a| 4,000 | one American property without com- pensation on the basis of the just value at the time of expropriation. The excess land taken is to be pald for in cash, and the United States commissioners agree on behalf of American claimants to accept Mexi- can bonds for allotments of a maxi- mum area of 4,000 acres. American Lands Seized. Although the Mexican government has indicated a desife to apply the agrarian laws equitably, American- owned lands have been seized by so- called agrarians, and occupled with- out any legal proceedings whatsoever. Such disregard for the laws became nt that the Mexican Supreme urt recently presented a memorial ident Calles in protest. The 't called attention to the fact that its' decisfons interpreting agrarian laws are ruthlessly ignored practi- cally throughout the country by local authorities, as well as private indl- viduals. The United States has made nu- merous representations to Mexico about the trespassers who are squat- ting on American property. In cer- taln cases Washington has requested that the Mexican government should oust these land robbers with the aid of federal troops, and guard against further depredations by stationing | troops near the scene of disturbances. | It is the failure of the Calles regime to throw proper protection around American land that is giving the Coolidge administration serfous con- cern. The situation s aggravated by the fact that even authorized ap- propriations are being made without compensation in any known case. Service on Debt Suspended. It was in June, 1922, that the inter- national bankers' consortium at New York, representing American, Bel- gian, British, Dutch, French and Swiss capital, after long negotiations, executed an agreement looking to re- adjustment of Mexico’s external obli- kations and certain internal obliga- tions. This agreement provides that a fund with a guaranteed minimum, increasing annually, shall be set aside | in cash by Mexico for each of five years ending with 1927. At that date | full pavment in cash of the service on all securities covered by the agree- | ment is to be resumed. The quota for 1923 was duly deposited, but on June 30, 1924, the Mexican government temporarily_suspended the service on the debt. . Financial conditions caused by the De la Huerta rebellion were as- signed as the reason. Chief Dissatisfaction. The chief dissatisfaction of Wash- ington with the course of events in Mexico is the government's failure or incapacity to come strongly to grips with the lawless activities of | the more radi elements of the Mexican population. In the rural reglons it is the agra rians who are defying international rights. In the towns and cities the | extreme labor elements are revealing a determination to take the law into their own hands. The Calles government appears to have no settled labor policy, and ex- tremists among the working classes are correspondingly arrogant. Not long ago the British manager of a British-owned street railway com- pany was threatened with expulsion for refusing to recognize a syndicate of striking workmen. The govern- ment seems to be encouraging the formation of a national union of workmen. Plain dangers to Ameri- can capital in Mexican industrial en- terprises would be threatened if the | sovernment and labor radicalism were to form a working alliance. (Copyright. 1925.) Claims of U. S. Citizens Against Mexico Total More Than 3,000 BY HENRY L. SWEINHART. REQUEST for six months’ additional time in which to file claims under the terms of the “general claims conven- tion” between the United States and Mexico has been filed by the American agent and is now under consideration by the commission which was appointed to settle and adjudicate all claims arising since 1868 of citizens of each country against the other, except those of United States citizens based on revo- lutionary acts_in Mexico during the period from November 20, 1910, to May 31, 1920, which are covered by a “special claims convention.” The time for filing claims under the general convention would expire on August 30 next, in accordance with the present arrangement, which allowed a vear after the first meet- ing of the General Claims Commi: sion for their submission. The treat however, provides that an extra six months may be allowed, and it is the belief of Col. Henry W. Ander- son. American agent charged with preparation of the and their proper prosecution hefore the com- mission, that ample time should be allowed for all claimants to be heard trom. s 3,000 American Claims. Up to date more than 3,000 claims have been pr nted to the American agency for filing with the commission under the terms of the two conven- tions with Mexico, the general and the special claims conventions, it was annour at the headquarters of the Amer agent here. Inquiries are being received constantly, it was added, as to the method of precedure in the presentation of a claim. The claimants are widely scattered and it is felt that as much time as possible should be allowed them, in order that all may have an opportunity of being heard. As to the special claims .covering the revolutionary period, the date for filing them will not expire until Au- gust 18, 1926; and it Is too far in advance to say whether a shmilar request for six months’ extension will be made, although it is per- mitted under the special claims con- yention. N The General Claims Commission Held several sessions here during the first of June, and recessed to meet again June It is understood that the acting Mexican agent is tak- ing up with his government the ques- tion as to its attitude toward the re- quest for an extension, and it is be- Jieved that this matter will be de- cided befors the commission adjourns its present meeting, which probably will be the latter part of this montl. Progress is being made in the prep- aration of evidence and memorlals which must be submitted by the agent | to the commission in the various | cases, but no decisions have yet been reached. The Special Claims Commis- sion will meet again in Mexico City in September, at which time, it is be- lieved, certain groups of cases will be | decided. The action of the Speclal | Claims Commission will have some | bearing on the work of the General Claims Commissfon, because there are some cases which are in the doubtful | class; in fact, a number have been filed ‘with both commissions because |of the uncertainty as to which body would have jurisdiction. Of the 201 cases filed with the secretariat of the General Claims Commission, 66 have also been filed because of doubt as to jurisdiction with the Special Claims Commission. If the latter at its meet- ing in the Mexican capital in Septem- ber decides that some of the cases presented {o it are outside of its au | thority, they will still have a chance | hefore the other commission, which probably will meet again about thte first of next year. No Claims by Mexican Agent. | No claims have yvet been presented to the commission by the Mexican | agent on behalf of citizens of the southern republic, and the character and amount of such claims have not vet been made known even approxi- mately. The number of claims pre- sented to the American agency by United States citizens to date is 3,053. Of this number, 640 are classified as probably coming under the jurisdic- tion of the General Claims Commis- sion. Many of these are the out- growth of construction of the new Mexican constitution, relating to questions affecting nationalization of petroleum and the agrarian law pol- icy. While there are many claims from other and general causes, it is understood that the largest are for alleged damages resulting from opera- tion of the oil and agrarian laws. The claims of United States citizens under the special claims convention fall into a number of categories. Among them are claims for border raids, deaths caused by bandits or revolutionists, destruction of prop- erty by revolutionists or government forces, damages to colonists or settlers driven out of Mexico, and so on. Claimants Urged to Act. The American agency is urging all citizens of the United States’ who desire to present claims to write at once to the Secretary of State of the United States, giving their names, addresses, amounts of their claims and brief statements of the facts on which they are based. This is all that is_necessary for the claimants to do, " (Continued yn Thirdk¥sge) | citizens, EDITORIA4L. SECTION he Sundy Stat WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 14, 1925 District Commissiones bas been urban populat years ago a man who h his life to city planning ican cities. He approached the prol cities. From this authoritative selected as the subject of a bri this sentence: the exact ratio in which they possible the tremendous expansio of the cities themselves.” My hope for the City of W that all of the persons who live in the World War. Thousands thousands of persons came to | After the war many returned to homes or moved elsewhere, but slderable number remained in And in the intervening years the Government have increased, axtent this of those in Government increase has included th Government service, have come increased Government activities. left their former homes and have Incidentally, of course, of the city. Every increase in actlvities ca responsibilities. in Washington to develop outly:! ‘Thousands of famili Their hous city itself. to be provided for. In large numbers in outlying dis alone a building problem. laying out of streets, the I mains, creased facilities for police and tion BY WILLIAM P. HELM, JR. UR national passion for law- making, Treasury fgures show, cost us not less than 25,000,000 @ year in salaries and incidental expenses of Congress and State Legislatures alone. A single Federal law, counting private measures along with the general statutes, costs about $30,000 to pass. The average cost of passing a State law runs to about $1,200. How much the innumerable county and city ordinances cost, in total or per ordinance, is wholly beyond human knowledge. Lumped with the cost of running the mayor's office, of the city courts, the elections, the city buildings and the chief administrative officers, the expense of maintaining city councils in communities of 30,000 or more inhabitants was about $114,- 000,000 in 1922, the Census Bureau states. It is higher now, but the various items composing the total have not been segregated by the statis- ticians, so law-making costs cannot be ascertained. There are 16,000 incorporated com- munities in the United States, includ- ing counties, and each one is governed by a board of elected officers who pass laws governing their little Jjurisdic- tions. in some large cities the cost of maintaining the governing body, including salaries, runs well above $1,000,000 a vear; in the small com- munities where no salaries are pald the cost is virtually nothing. Billions for Administration. All in all, our little laws—city and county ordinances—cost several thousand dollars down to 5 or 10 cents aplece. The figures apply only to the cost of passing such laws. The cost of administering the law mounts into the billions every year. An ultra-conservative estimate of the cost of enacting laws to govern our citles, towns, villages and coun- ties is $100,000,000 a year. The exact figures probably surpass this total. In Congress the cost of law-mak- ing mounts to majestic proportions. A single Congress, elected for two vears, is a luxury with a $20,000,000 price tag. Here are the chief items of its cost: Salaries and expenses of Senate, $4,917,681; salaries and ex- penses of House, $12,587,038; miscel- laneous expenses, $245,210; care of Capitol and buildings, $2,050,213. Total 19,800,142, The figures do not include any- thing for the three establishments of Government directly responsible to Congress, rather than to the Presi- dent. Of these, the Government Printing Office cost $5.874,396 for the two-year term ending last March; the Library of Congress, $2,300,648, and the Botanic Garden, $210,397. Part of the expenses of the first two estab- lishments are directly chargeable to Congress, but the bulk of the money is spent in meeting needs of the executive departments. What Do We Receive?. In return for this generous expedi- ture what do we receive? An aver- age of 350 Federal laws, public and private, annually. An average of less than 250 public laws, applying fo all every year. Every public law passed by Congress—excluding private measures of rellef—costs the taxpayers from $80,000 to $100,000 stmply in its passage. These figures cover past costs. Hereafter the cost per law will be materially greater as Congress has raised its salaries by one-third, or from $7,500 tg $10,000 a year. convened in 1789 to the present time, 136 years, 50,000 Federal laws, minus a few score, have been written on the statute books. The record gives the total up to December 1, 1923, as 49,064. Of this number 19,043 were public laws, and the remainder were private relifef measures. The First Congress passed 118 laws, of which 10 were pri- vate. The Second Congress estab- lished a low record, apparently for all time, by passing only 77 laws (12 of them private) during its two-year life. Thirty-three new Federal public laws a vear were good enough for the new- born Nation in 1791, but we need about 250 a year mow. Or, at least, Congress thinks so. Law-making at Washington reached OR several years more than one-half of the population of the United States book in which he outlined the needs of Amer- standpoint of the cities themselves no less than from the standpoint of the people who live in the “The masses in the cities have a right to grow and expand mentally, morally, psychologically, physically and financially in operate in meeting the problems of expansion. These problems became urgent about the time that the activities of Government creased in connection with our participation the population of Washington has increased not only to the women who, although not connected with the ton because of personal and private business activities connected more or less with and women have frequently been persons of family, and so it is that whole families have lot as citizens of the District of Columbia. this increase in pop- ulation has meant an increase in the wealth New Responsibilities Arise. a corresponding increase in problems and It has been found necessary and to build large apartment houses in the first requirement; but the building of houses It involves ving of water proper sewerage arrangements, and certain of these requirements also By Steady G, r. fon. = A few ad dedicated published a blem from the work I have ef discussion have made n and wealth ashington is here will co- in- and tens of Washington. their former a very con- Washington. activities of service, but e men and to Washing- COMMISSIONER_FENNING. I am looking for the support of people who might be determined ‘disappointed citizens.” I want the people of Washington to see and to believe that the District Commissioners in their official acts are guided by what their best judgment indicates to be the best in- terests of the municipality and its citizens, and I am persuaded that our people are fair, that they will realize that the Commissioners are striving to the best of their ability to do that which When the people take this view it will be found that they are upholding the hands of those who are directing municipal affairs. The people have confidence in the District Commissioners, and I believe that they are going to take this view, and so it is that I not only crave but confidently expect to be upheld by those who might be called “dis- appointed citizens.” these problems as they are met from time to time will be solved and we in the City of Washington will expansion problems as they arise and building for the days to come. Sees Higher Standards. Reverting to my text as set out in the be- zinning of this discussion, we will then find 1 development of the citizens in their per- sonal capacities. tended and will their mental development. which has foundations of the Republic, will be extended system, so that its dren; find the These men apply to the erection of houses. Again, the erection in any considerable number cast in their pansion promptly and ganizations. The municipal government must be alert be raised and that the financial prosperity | and active not only in furnishing all the of the people will be established. i facilities at its command, but in exercising 1 look for all the: benefits to accrue to [‘ its supervision and rries with it law on ing districts not along the lines of lines of permanency. les have had ing was the tricts is not the It often happens that in- new situations and to fire protec- Law-making in Roosevelt. vear. Additional burdens placed on 10 years ago. its greatest volume with the Fifty- ninth Congress, 20 years ago, in the time of Roosevelt. The record shows that Congress passed 775 public laws and 7,024 private measures, mostly pension relief bills. Shortly thereafter pension bills were included in an omnibus relief bill, and the number of private laws dropped to 646 for the Sixtleth Congress. Since that date Congress has averaged about 350 pub- lic and private laws annually. Cost of State Legislatures. State Legislatures, too, show no tendency to abate their pace. Nor has the cost of a State law been marked down. The Census Bureau's figures show that the cost of running our State Legislatures in 1923 had almost doubled within four years. These fig- ures, including all States, are as fol- low: st of Legislature, 1919, $6.196, of Legislature, 1923, $11,396,- 730. Thus the cost of passing a State law has risen from about $600 in 1919 to approximately $1,100 in 1923 and a minimum of $1,200 in 1925. Scores of cities and many counties have followed the State trend during the past few vears. Salaries of from $1,000 to $2,500 for city councilmen, who meet once or twice a month for a few hours to add a few more laws to statute books already too numerous, are commonplace in our chief cities. These councilmen are paid from $10 to $75 an hour for the actual time they are engaged in law-making. In smaller communities the cost is lower. A member of Congress receives on the average from $50 to $100 an hour for the time actually spent on the floor of House or Senate. That is, his compensation would lie between those figures if his salary were paid only for the time thus spent. Actuall members of Congress spend a great deal of time on committee and other bwork which absents them from ses- lshmu. Even so, for every day Congress is in session, the member's pay averages nearly $100. In addition, he is trans- ported to Washington and back home again at Government expense. Office space, clerks, stationery, free postage —every thing he needs to do a good Jjob—is given him extra. And at the present time there isn’t a man in the country who can even state the number of Federal laws in effect, nor any dozen men combined who know and can tell what the law is without laborious research. Increase in Tax Burdens. Five thousand or more proposals to increase the burden of taxpayers were introduced in State Legislatures this year. Figures are not complete, but an examination of the bills pro- posed in some of the most populous States indicates the above total to be conservative. Probably 10 per cent of these bills became law. Men and ‘women paying State taxes will be called on to foot the bills. One bill out of every seven or so, an examina- tion discloses, would have placed an additional drain on the State treasury. More than 38,000 bills were intro- duced. . ‘Under these circumstances, it is safe to conclude that the 1925 sessions of our 38 State Legislatures will have re- sulted, upon adjournment, in placing an additional tax burden of from $25.- 000,000 to noo.oy 000 upon American rious services furnished by public utility or- regulation public utilities. must undertake to satis! must strive particularly Are Bailding for Tomorrow. . We are not building for are building for today termined upon by the city authorities to meet ities do not meet the approval of all the peo- HIGHLIGHTS ON THE “RAIN OF LAW” Cost of city councils and offices, about $160.600,060 Congress reached greatest Five thousand proposals to increase tax burdens introduced this Cost of State government two and one-half times greater than I ments, taxing measures comes as a fresn . |laws in effect, large apartment people. of new homes calls for an ex- effectively of the va- citizenship. imposed by The municipality v the people and it to adopt measures expediency, but along today, but we and for tomorrow. such plans as are de- extend required facil- action that but it a fac the ci volume in time of people, $25,000,000 to $100,000,000. citizens. They will have increased the cost of maintaining our State govern. already past the $1,300,- 000,000 mark annually, by from 2 to 6 nt. polyglot acecumulation of new posit on the top of a sheaf of State and city tax laws. Just how many State laws there are in force to tax citizens is, in one respect, like the number of all State statutes—nobods can do more than estimate them. Fifty thousand State and city taxing statutes seems conservative: 50,000 ways of extracting toll for the Gov- ernment probably understates the situation. What Census Figures Show. The Census Bureau has furnished, perhaps, the best basis for a compu- tation as to the number of taxing It has recently pul. lished a digest of tax laws, mainly State measures, although incidental reference is made to county and city ordinances imposing tax levies and Mcense fees. The volume runs to 544 pages of fine type—more than 500,000 words. And it is only a brief digest of the chief measures. Thousands of little tax laws, imposed by diminutive baili- wicks, are missing. "As it is, however, the volume digests more than 10,000 tax laws. It has seemed that every tngenious device possible of human conception had been passed ihto a tax law, but the 1925 session brought some new proposals to increase taxes. These proposals, it should be borne in mind, were seldom direct; they sought to disburse State funds for purposes which a generation ago would have been as far from the function of gov- ernment as the East is from the West. The effect, however, of these pro- posals, so far as the taxpayers are concerned, in almost every case would L\a\'e been the same—a greater bur- en. Some of the Proposals. Examining the record we find, as typical of thousands of proposals, the following: Arizona passed a law requiring rail- roads to equip locomotives with auto- matic bell ringers. California was asked to increase old-age pensions. Colorado was asked to appropriate $500,000 for a State publicity fund and to slap State tax stamps on cigarettes. Connecticut was asked to exempt cer- tain citizens from personal tax, there- by adding to the burdens of the re- maining taxpayers. Illinois was asked to_provide a State bonus for plumbers. In the Jowa Legislature a State in- come tax meausure was defeated. Kansas considered the advisability of taxing minerals. The Governor of Maine vetoed a bill taxing railroads on a new and more burdensome basis. Massachusetts is seeking to tax na- tional banks on income received from tax-exempt securities. Missourl de- cided to tax bath houses in third-class cities. Nebraska enacted a flat rate intangible tax law. New Jersey added to her expenses by appointing a commission to investi- gate working conditions among wom- en. Ohio enacted a new corporation tax law, the old one having been in- validated by the courts. It also taxed gasoline. Oklahoma was asked to tax tobacco and chewing gum, and enacted & high automobile license f¢g gchedule. Co-Operation by D. C. Officials and Citizens Held Vital to Capital’s Future Welfare BY FREDERICK A. FENN private educational that degree which not only will make for their success, but for the substantial improvement of the Opportunities for recreation will be free and many, and thus there will develop sound bodies, and stronger in body, it will naturally follow that the moral the citizens of the they will come in that the people unite in solving the problems of the expansion of the Capital. there must be to the fullest possible extent co-operation. This does not mean that individual views must not be expressed. The best plan can be devised only after hearing the views of many; but it does mean that after the leaders to whom has been assigned the task of directing mu- nicipal affairs have heard the views of the people and have determined upon plans of come by all the people standing together for Staggering Cost Dumped on U.S. Taxpayers Grinding of Legislative Grist | ing the Serb and the Bulgarian and | finds a refreshing contr: | case of New York, where, after a fight, in their judgment is proper. And thus it will be that go forward meeting the More facilities will be ex- | be used by the people for The public school long been one of the acilities may reach all the chil- institutions will of support and patronage which will make for sounder With a people more intellectual tone of the community will apital City, and 1 believe proportion to the extent Above all, the greatest success can then cent tax on certain self-interest boards, including the barbers’ board, the chi- ropractors, beauty doctors and toe| doctors. And so it goes. Oregon was requested to levy a 10 per | | { Iere and there one s in the | te income tax was rebated per cent. But generaily the trend was overwhelmingly in the direction of greater and heavier State expendi-| tures. In Illinois alone proposals call- | ing for the appropriation of more than | $1,000,000,000 of State funds were in—; troduced. ) | State Government Costs. The cost of State government fis now two and one-half times the cost of 10 years ago. It seems destined for stifl higher altitudes. A few more sessions like those of 1925 and they | will be reached. Can the trend be checked? Tt can.| Maine did it this year. Gov. Brew-| ster determined that he would keep | the cost of running State affairs down, come what wood. The Leg islature met and overwhelmed him with additional outlays. His budget mounted till it reached and| passed that of the previous vear. In desperation, he sent a SOS signal_to his friend at Washington, Gen. Lord, director of the Federal budget. Gen. Lord has an enviable record 2s a tax cutter. He went to Maine and addressed the Legislature. He told the law-makers what had been done at Washington and how it had been done. He sald economy was the only way. s And then he drove the lesson home, amid silence that was almost painful, | to those elected solons of his native | State. He called on Maine to back | up the Federal Government’s econom; | program. | What happened? The Legislature sent a copy of his speech to every member and to every mayor and | county board in the State. Then the finance committee recalled swollen ap- propriation bills already reported, re- scinded_its previous action, cut ex- penses by many thousands of dollars and reported lower totals. They were adopted, and Malne's expenses fell. But in the fall there was something else. Three salary increases had been recommended for officials of Knox | County. They were eliminated. Knox | County is Gen. Lord's home and the three officials his personal friends. Record of Large Cities. A new law every day, on the aver- age, during 1 Such is the apparent | record, as disclosed by an investiga- | tion by this correspondent, of the | larger cities of the United States. Throughout the United States there are 275 citles of 30,000 or more in- habitants. This average means 275 new local laws every business day, Sundays and holidays being excluded. From January to June, inclusive, it means 37,500 new local laws. There are also,within the domain of our national boundarfes 13,000 smaller citfes, towns, townships and villages, all incorporated places and each sup. plied with a governing body of local lawmakers. These little fellows in the family of municipalities likewise are grinding out laws. Some of them, indeed, are busier making laws than anything else. Main street has as many legal shackles as Broadway. At least such is the situation on many a Main street, al- though perhaps a larger number run more to dust than dictates. How many new laws our baby municipalities enact annually is far beyond human knowledge. A force of census takers could find steady em- ployment counting them. The aver- age, however, probably is materially below the average of the larger com- munities. . Certainly it is not less than one new local law every month for every one of the 13,000. Take the 1925 cal- endar from January through June, and with the passing sands of time there will be passed also in these places some 80,000 new local laws. Eighty thousand plus 37,500 equals 117,500—a _conservative estimate of the Si our 1925 law crop for the first six i creasingly and Czechs, the restoration of old ! freedom and greatness. Moreover, from without Russia | more and more tended to adopt a policy of pan-Slavism and thus to en courage the hopes f the subject | Slavs. In addition, the march of combin on, which, while ostensibly | dedicated to the preservation of ex isting conditions, looked toward | changes which would be tageous—France on the Rhin | FRANCE NOW IN POSITION _ GERMANY HELD IN 1870 Must Protect Poles and C(zechs Keep Allies to to Help in Case of Attack. BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. | WEEK ago in my article I dis- cussed at some length the British view of the European situation and the British atti- tude with respect to the pend ing German proposals for guarantee pacts covering the Western frontiers of Germany and her neighbors. In the present article I shall deal with the French situation and the bases of French policy and opinion. Moreover, | to meet suc: the “scrap of paper” which did protect Belgium. They see safe for themselves in the preservation not that state of Europe which was lll"l(\ ed in 1919 and in combination with those states, which, maintained in their present condition, would be able sfully any German at tack Small States Satisfled. You must see, too, that the French policy is not merely it is the misunderstanding of the fun: French: it is just damental bases of French opinion and |85 definitely Czech, Polish, Rumanian purpose which have tended and tend |#nd Serb. ~ The protocol which was to obscure the whole present Euro-|adopted at Geneva last summer and pean problem in American minds. rejected by the British last March ‘rance at the close of the World |Was the final expression of this will War found herself in much the same |10 live as they of half a dozen situation as Germany after the series |0f the smaller states, and this will is of wars culminating in 1870, which |quite as clearly discoverable in the gave Germany her unity, her mastery | Sentiments of the Swiss, the Dutch in the old German state and launched | the Scandinavian peoples, who. fortu her on her period of European great- ness, which lasted right down to the collapse of her military power in the late Summer of 1918. | After 1870 the Bismarckian policy was clear. Germany had realized her | aspirations, and her chiefest interest | Wi the maintenance of a status quo | created by her victory. Inevitably | she marched toward an alllance with | such other powers as had the same | desires. For herself greatest concern was the preservation of her possession | | of Alsace-Lorraine against a recovered France, which promptly disclosed her purpose never to accept as final the treaty of Frankfort, which tore from her Strasbourg and Metz. Ally in South. To the southward Germany found a | Hapsburg monarchy which was also | facing a problem of stability. The rising nationalities of the Balkans, the Serbs and the Rumanians looked with unconcealed hope over the fron- tlers of the Austrian and Hungarlan states to the millions of their fellow avs and Latins, subjects of Francis Joseph against their will, while the Czechs, Slovaks and Poles still and in- nourished hopes of racial | liberty and, in the case of the Poles Russian ambitions upon Constantino ple carried with it menace to Turkey and ultimate menace to the Haps-| burg monarchy, for once seated at | the Golden Horn, Russia was bound | to seek to move northward, liberat- thus menacing Austrian unity. To preserve the status quo exist ing after the treaty of Frankfort,| then, was the first German purpose; | history, race, everything tended to | draw Germany together with Austria and thus insensibly German policy expanded to defend not merely the | status quo_on the Rhine, but on the Danube. Nor did the proc end here, because presently Germany be came the ally of Turkey also, and thus the defender of the status quo xisting in the southeast corner of Europe. =l Champion of Stability. Germany thus became the champion of things as they were in Europe, be- cause that situation was the most satisfactory conceivable for herself and because any possible change would mean a weakening of her posi- tion. The rise of strong Balkan states { carried a fatal menace to Austria, | and with the passing of years Aus- tria became the single sure al of Germany against the Franco-Ru an ia on the Danube and the Golden | , at the present moment and as a consequence of the World War, | what is the situation? The treaty of peace liberated many races and at the same time set France back on the Rhine. It created a state of facts as satisfactory to France as the treaty of Frankfort created for Ger- /, and quite as naturally France | S to defend that state of facts. | ate of facts means, | jion for the main- | existing fron- | zechoslovakia, des Defense of that s in practice, assoc tenance of peace and tiers with Poland, ( Jugoslavia and Rumania, all of whom are qually resolved to preserve | what exists. | France is mnot immediately con cerned with the frontiers drawn along the lower Vistula or the middle Dan- | ube. But France is concerned if Ger- | many caw, by crushing Poland, Czecho- | slovakia, breaking up the little entente and annexing Austria, assemble an overwhelming force with which to at- tack France on the Rhine. If, in assoclation with Poland, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Jugoslavia and Bel- gium, including 85,000,000 of people, which joined to her own 40,000,000 make a combination representing 125.- 000.000 of people, France can prevent | all modifications and revisions of trea- | | ties, her own security and that of her | mounting guard on friends is assured. France Now Champion. France, then, stands forth as the champion of the status quo in Europe, just as Germany did In the vears fol- lowing 1870, because it alane promises adequate security for herself. She| makes a common cause with the suc- cession states, because they have. the same view and the same necessities as she has; they, too, are committed to the defense of the state of Europe cre- ated by the peace conference of Paris, because it is the charter of their po- litical liberty and geographical unity. If one by one the smaller succes- sion states are forced to give way be- fore German demands; if Poland has to resign the corridor and Upper Si- lesia, Czechslovakia the German- speaking regions within her frontiers; if Germany is able to obtain for Hun- gary, her old ally and still available partner, changes in Magyar frontiers, then by piecemeal the whole map of Europe is made over, and if Germany should ultimately resolve to reopen the question of Alsace, France would find herself again, as in 1870, facing a superior foe with only a British sup- port assured. Such a war might end victoriously, but even victory might be won-on French territory at the cost of new invasions and fresh devas- tations. How_different the situation if at each effort on the.part of Germany to change her own frontiers she were confronted by & solid group of powers numbering 125,000,000 and provided with powerful armies. Underlying all else, it is essentlal to perceive that the French do not see the peace of months of the wear. Add to that total 12,000 new State laws thus far enact- (Eo?flnued on Third Page. ‘Europe or their own security founded | necessity | asked | likeminded nations ately for themselves, do not feel under any menace and therefore under any to combine for defense. The single guarantee of Europe, say the French Germany shall agree to final all her frontiers, to give gu tees on all sides. It is not enou that Germany guarantee French Belgian frontiers under British im pulsion if she thus reserves the right to modify Polish, for eastern changes cannot be brought about without ace in that and war in the east of Europe canno be prevented from spreading we: ward rope cannot be half at peace and half at war, as the Serajevo episode demonstrated. T Poland, Germany would hz semble strength far in excess of treaty regulations . that military trength once assembled, French se curity would disappear automatically As for the German pledge not to seek change by force, that strikes the French as idle, because they well know, what any one who has been to Warsaw can testify to, that every man, woman and child in Poland would fight rather than consent to a new partition. Thus by one of the supreme ironfes of history France today asks of Ger many what Germany for forty of Fran unsuccessfi the acceptance of an unfavor > of 1. ted by a lost ich in reality meant th formal renunciation of upon Alsace-Lorraine. Moreov said recisely as Germ moved to alliance with another n interested vitally in the preserva of existing conditions, nce has assumed the same relation with several states in a similar posture tion on British Proposal. Now in all this situation the Briton steps forward with his proposal. which is naturally a compromise poses in reality that Fru ccept for herself and for German guarantee of inte security, a guarantee b by Germany and underwrite Britain, and. having accepted that she disinterest herself in Poland le pce shall lzium a and pros shall the securl nd_integrity of of Czechoslovakia: that she shall cease to be the chief guarantor of things as they are and the ally of all which feel them selves in danger. The Englishman reasons this way He is bound to defend France against Germany in case of a new war, be- cause he cannot under any circum- stances permit German armies to stablish themselves on the channel oast. His security and that of Frnace aré thus united, but he feels certain first that his guarantee to France would insure France security as well as his own, while French guarantee of Polish and Czech integrity would ultimately insure a new Franco German war, since he is satisfied ny will never permanently her present condition eparate France and Germany. the British objective, because »ns come to grips again. Britian will surely be involved once more. But to separate the _two nations it is just essential to abolish French guard on the lower Vistula and the Upper Elbe as on the Middle Rhine. All of which is a perfectly human conception, but it encounters the French objection. “How do vou know Germany will always accept the western frontiers as they exist, and just how mu support can you give me in en geney If the stroug Polish and Czech armies disappear and these state: obliterated or brought German heel?” Gern cept To that i if the two nat France Needs Poland. The Frenchman's eves are fix upon the half million Polish and ¢ troops ready to move the moment France is menaced by half million troops in addition to the British, for he knows perfectly well him, knows that the many defeat by now that Britian cannot let Ger- Briton knows that a Germany vic torious over France would be a more deadly menace than in all the period of the last wa i 1t is perfectly true that the French man sees the dangers incident to the Vistula and the Elbe. It is equally true that if 3ritian should offer tomorrow to keep a standing army equal in size to the Polish and Czech, ready to move (o French defense, France would be ready to drop her eastern connections But the absolute fact is that France does not now regard any German pledge for her own security, backed by such exigeous forces as Britain is willing to keep under arms, a sufficlent substitute for the aid which is available from Poland and Czecho- slovakia on the day of necessit The Frenchman, says: “There is only one road to peace, and that is the equal pledge of all nations to keep ! the peace, to keep it in the east as well as the west. Once German, offers in good faith to accept her pre: ent frontlers, lay aside all designs and policies which are subversive of the existing situation, then we shall | have a real promise of peace for an \ indefinite perfod of time.” i To all of which the Briton replie “What you ask is impossible. Ge many will not accept all of her fron: { tiers, but she will accept yours, which is what you and I are interested in. and I will agree to help you defend yours if, at any time Germany should change her mind and attack again. You will never get the complete Ger- man acceptance all around the circle, but you can get all that vou ought to care abont for the asking now.” No Ideals Involved. T wigh I could make it clear th are no morals or ideals or miilfari or imperialism involved in all of There Is nothing but a simple tran action. Britain feels that her own security will be adequately assuved it upon mere written promises which ' might in the end prove as futile as G v _promises to accept forever "4 (Continued on Fifteenth Page. |