Evening Star Newspaper, July 12, 1925, Page 29

" EDITORIAL PAGE | NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL FEATURES Part 2—12 Pages BRITISH EMPIRE’S FATE - HANGS IN THE BALANCE America Likely to fected by Manner Problems Are BY SHELDON S. CLINE. ONDON . — Every American schoolboy is famillar with the declaration of the Revolu- tionary patriot that “We must hang together or we shall hang separately That, perhaps, does not quite ac- curately describe the situation of the British Empire, but it will serve as an introduction to what many thoughtful Englishmen regard as the most serious of British problems. Probably they would paraphrase the American Revolutionary ~sentiment into we shall fall entirel. He would be speaking, of course, of | is more modernly, as well as| accurately, termed the British Com. monwealth of Nations. For there is| a very widespread belief here, as well as in British dominlous overseas, that things cannot continue to go on as they have been going since the great war. and as they were trending even before the war. The dominions—par- ticularly Canada, Australia, New Zea- land and South Africa—are becoming less and less dependent upon the mother country, less and less inclined to pav heed to the programs and as- pirations of the government at West- minster, more and more inclined to Bo their separate ways and to work out thelr separate destinfes. apart.” Affecting Economic Forces. And in this problem of the greatest, next to our own, of English-speaking peoples the American people have a very vital interest. It promises to affect profoundly the future course of history, but, more immediately to the point, it already is beginning to affect the economic forces which govern the world and under which we must live our daily lives, whether we will or no. It long has been the proud boast of Englishmen that the sun never sets on the British Empire. But many of them are wondering today if that will remain true. They are wonder- ing, indeed, if the sun of British greatness has not already passel its zenith and {s sinking toward the hori- zon, bevond which lie the shadows of other empires relatively as great and which now are only memories. I do not want to convey the im- pression that the Englishman is pan- cky or faint-hearted as he takes this long look into the future—and back at the past. He is merely sobered. He knows that if he is to maintain his place in the world a long, hard struggie lies ahead of him. He doesn’t flinch from the struggle. He believes he will come through, but he knows the road he has to travel 1s not an easy one. And he thinks fortunate America ought to and will give him sympathy, and now and then a helping hand. It is almost pathetic, the anxlety one finds in all circles here, that America should know Britain better and under- stand her problems. Of course, this does not mean that all dislike of Americans has disappeared, or that there is not a great deal of envy mingled with the admiration they ex- press for us. But the British sin- cerely do want to be our friends, even if they don't care to be our intimates. Anglo-American Friendship. Before passing on to a more de- tailed study of the British problem, this envy, or jealousy, one finds exist. ing here ‘and directed toward things | American is of more than casual in- | terest. When Anglo-American friend. | ship is under discussion, one finds Englishmen speaking glowingly and with great enthusiasm of the 3,000 miles of undefended border between the United States and Canada. They cite it as evidence of a natural and unbreakable friendship between two great branches of the same famil But when one gets away from sent! ment and begins to talk business, he finds that self-same undefended border is a mighty sore spot with the aver- age Englishmen. He rejoices that there are no guns along its splendid length, but it hurts him that there is so free a flow of goods across it. It makes one wonder sometimes if the Englishmen would not be willing to endure a few guns if they were ac- companied by commercial barrlers. | | We must get closer together, or | Be Profoundly Af- in Which Pressing Worked Out. | Great Britain is in a hard plight right now, although, as I said in a previous |letter, things' are distinctly better than they were a year ago, and there is no reason to think they will not continue to improve siowl But any nation of 45,000,000 persons which has 1.250,000 workers unemployed and drawing unemployment doles is cer- tainly far from a state of high pros- perity. This word “dole” needs a little ex- planation. It is objected to strongly by British workers, but is used com- monly when speaking of unemploy- ment insurance. As a matter of fact, the fund from which unemployment benefits are pald is derived from as- sessments against workers and em- ployers and by government contribu- tlons, in the “proportion of approxi- mately one-third each. It is an elab. orate and expensive scheme of pa ternalism, but British statesmen gen- orally, regardless of party affliation, think it is the only thing that could have saved thelr country from chaos and a possible revolution, which would have brought in its wake far more radical things. I have heard men of ultra-conservative minds contend that without some such scheme of os- tensibly taxing the rich for the benefit of the poor the very existence of the government itself would have been endangered. They referred, of course, to Communist propaganda, which at one time threatened to make such serolus headway in England and Which now has been checkmated, even if it hasn't been wiped out. The British papers publish a great many storfes of abuses of the “dole,” there have been many prosecutions in the courts, and now it is being urged that Parliament undertake a search- ing Investigation of the whole prob- len. But to an American it is diffi- | cult to see where there Is much temp- | tatlon to perpetrate unemployment in- | surance frauds, except in case of the | chronically lazy and worthless. In | the class of workers who ordinarily | would earn $18 to $20 a week the | maximum dole for a single man is about $4.50 a week, and for a man With a wife and three children it is | $6.50 a week. Of course, there are | men who would rather draw one- fourth or one-third pay than to buckle down to a regular job, but they can- not be numerous among a people who are as naturally industrious as the British. Problem of Overpopulation. Bound up with this whole question of unemployment is the question of | overpopulation and relief through emi. | gration. Everybody recognizes that | there are too many people-in the Brit- | ish Isles, and all sorts of schemes have been proposed and undertaken to et several millions of them to migrate | to the colonies. So far these efforts | have met with only indifferent suc- cess, to say the least. The latest of these schemes is a| very elaborate one entered into be- tween the British and Australlan gov- ernments, and under which it is pro- posed to assist 450,000 Britons to mi- grate to Australia. It involves an ex- penditure of $300,000,000 over a period | of 10 vears and has been so worked out that the emigrant need have no capital of his own. Whether it will | | tor winkin®, isn’t it? - EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunfay Star WASHINGTON, D. C, BY DREW PEARSON. MERICA will continue to lead the world in crime until we | take the policeman from the comic page and until the policeman takes his hand out of the grafter's pocket. That is the opinion of Sir Robert Peacock, chlef constable of Man- chester, who says that American police lack the respect and confidence of the public and that they will not merit that confidence until they eliminate ““takin’* and winkin'.” I had been commissioned to ask four of the leading police officials of | the world why the United States led the world in crime- and how their methods of crime detection differed from ours. Sir Robert Peacock is one of them. As chief constable of | Manchester, England’s greatest in- dustrial center, he has written two weighty volumes on crime prevention | which are used as police bibles throughout Britain. Worked for the Title. . Sir Robert is a big and burly Brit- isher who evidently received his title as a reward for hard work rather than through family fortune or royal favor. He spoke with the broad Lan- cashire dialect of North England and | bit off his words in a blunt but| courteous manner. | When I asked for his opinion on America’s startling crime record, he was, at first, reticent. “I know little about your country and its police methods,” he explained, “and it's not for the likes o' me to be_talkin’ about it." Wher. I pressed him for the exacs | figures on crime committed in Eng- land and America, he dug out of the records these amazing figures: In All England and _In In Wales N.Y.C. Chicago 1923 1922 1928 . 68 270 207 .93 4 218 68 5 255 Crimes Murder ..... Manslaughter Rape . Robbery . . 61 1648 | “Why shpuld New York and Chi.| cago each have four times as many murders and twenty-four times as| many robberies as all of England and | Wales?” 1 asked Sir Robert, after he had pointed out these figures with | @ stubby forefinger. Unworried Over Crime. “Well,” he replied after some hesi- tation, “it's not for the likes o' me to be talkin’, but if ye ask me, I'd say ‘twas your police and your pub. Iic did not pull together. “It's my opinion that your people are not mightily concerned o'er their crime problem. Little as I know about your country, it would seem to me that if the real law-abldin’ citizens would get together with the police, | they could put a stop to crime quick. | It's wonderful what ye can do when vou're resolute! “But your people don't have o'er- much confidepce in your police. And | why? It's for this thing called | ‘graftin’,’ {sn't it? They tell me there is a good bit of it among your wmen. It would seem concefted o' me to be sayin' it, but still I do say it, for 1 know that such a thing doesn’t exist among our British bobbies. Oh, I don’t say they don't take a sixpence here and there as a tip—but no real bribery. “What's bribery for, any y? It's And when your police are winkin' do the people re- spect ‘em? They do not. “And when the people are offering be more successful than other schemes of assisted emigration remains to be seen | Intelligent Englishmen believe that ' a_steady flow=of emigration, from the United Kingdom to the British do. minfons would be the best and surest solution of their problem, if only it | could be made to work. And on its| face it would seem that the hard- pressed British would be glad to mi- grate. Take the case of Australia,| which is and will be kept a white man’s country. There are only a few | thousanda of black natives there, and the bars are up against all the races of color, black, yellow or brown. Aus- tralia_has a population of only about 6.000,000 and is easily capable of sup- porting a population 10 to 20 times that great. With a sufficient number of migrants from the United Kingdom settled In Australia that country could supply most of Britain's food require- ments and would, in turn, assure a And when Mr. Houghton, early in May, made his initial speech as Amer- | ican’ Ambassador here it was received | with a dignified attitude of somewhat wounded sensibilities. Mr. Houghton | didn’t waste much’ time on the senti ments that have come to be asso ciated with Pilgrims’ dinners in Lon- | don. He said that Anglo-American friendship could be taken for granted, and then went on to discuss the pra tical affairs of every-day life, particu- larly with respect to present condl- tions in Europe and America's attl tude there toward. It was a plain, robust talk, just the sort of talk that was needed to help clear up the European atmosphere, and this was generally recognized by the British present and by the British press, but in the mostly favorable comments, both public and private, there ran an unmistakable note of disappointment at the absence of the “hands across the sea” business which has in the past generally been the theme of Pil- grims’ dinner speeches. 3 However, the British are not them- | selves a very sentimental people, at least not superficially, and I think it is anxiety more than anything else that just now for kind words from Amer would like awfully well to with us in numerous ways, at least | wherever such teaming would be to | British advantage. 1 don’t find any i anxiety to do team work rect beneflt of America; but, then, the British don't think America has any need of such assistance. Of course, they hold that the future wel- fare and happiness of the world is bound up ip the friendship of the two countries, but that is the political | rather than the commercial view. It is rather hard to get at just what ical British view as to the | relations which ought to | Britain and America, | makes them so eager | ca They | team up | commerc exist_between for the average Briton is not much more reckless as*a talker than Presi- | dent Coolidge is, but if I were called | upon to give a definition it would be something like this: The average | Britisher thinks Americans ought to | Dbe willing to give the British a little | the best of it now and then, not, pos sibl. through any feeling of gener- osity, but in order to keep the British a going concern until they can get, back on their feet, all for the sake of | the whole scheme of world peace and elfare assured by Anglo-American friendship, reinforced by the strength and stability of the two countries. If | that is, too involved, another way of putting it would be to say that the Britisher feels that America cannot afford to see Britain in too hard a plight, because America needs Britain to heip keep the world on an even keel. There I8 no concealing the fact that | distant land and living on a farm sim- certain market for the products of British industry. Obstacles in the Way. Such an arrangement undoubtedly | would be immensely to the advantage | of both countries. Both countries are in favor of it, at least in theo; na it seems strange that they can't get the movement under way. But ap. parently they can't. The short view | overcomes the long view. Immediate | interests outweigh future prospects. | Preferential tariffs would be neces- sary to the scheme, and though they are advocated they are not adopted on | any wholesale scale. Englishmen, in | theory, want to eat Australian wheat and beef and mutton, but in practice they will eat it only when it is as cheap as, or cheaper than, wheat and beef and mutton from elsewhere. Aus- tralians, in theory, prefer to use Brit- ish manufactured goods, but in prac- tice they buy American or German or Japanese goods whenever the Amer- icans or Germans or Japanese can undersell the British. I have used Australia as an fllus- | tration, but the main facts, with varia- tions as to detail, are true with re- | spect to Canada, to New Zealand and | to South Africa. India, equatorial Africa and the various secondary British colonies are in a somewhat | different case. So far as assisted emigration has succeeded at all, it has not succeeded in a_way to relleve the situation in the British Isles. Up to the present altogether too large a proportion of emigrants have been skilled work- ers—workers Great Britain will badly need when industry is fully revived, especially in view of the deficit in trained workers which resulted from the war. Doesn’t Want to Migrate. To the unskilled industrial worker, the kind of which there s too great a urplus, the idea of migrating to a { | | ply doesn’t get over at all. And under the new agreement with Australia he would have to enter into a contract, covering a considerable period of vears, to live on the particular piece of land to which he was assigned. The average British worker, apparently, would rather be a free man in the poverty of his surroundings than live in comparative luxury under condi- tions which he regards as bondage. And Australia, of course, cannot af- ford to receive the emigrant and leave him a free agent, for as an industrial worker he would only be a burden there. Also, the labor element, which controls in Australia, would never consent to an influx of industrial ‘workers. ‘The British problem, therefore, re- turns to the original proposition that (Continued on Third Page.) bribes, is there a real respect for law enforcement? There is not. “No policeman can afford to treat COAL STRIKE FINDS U. S. POWERLESS Fuel Commission Recommended Law to Protect Public, But Congress Let Matter Die. BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. HY shingle the roof dry weather?"” The attitude of Cong- ress toward the problem of the coal industry dur- ing the last two years Is epitomized in this question. And now it is about to rain. There is excellent prospect of a suspension of operations in the anthracite field September 1, and in the offing looms the possibility of a sympathetic strike in the bituminous field. Two years ago the anthracite miners and operators were engaged in a similar controversy over wages and working conditions. The United States coal commission, created by act of Congress to tackle the coal problem after the disastrous strike of 1922, had already submitted recom- mendations to the President and Cong- ress proposing to give the Govern- ment greater power to meet such emergencies. The commission at- tempted to act as arbitrator, calling in the workers and the operators, but unsuccessfully. Finally Gov. Pinchot of Pennsylvania, where the anthra- cite fields are located, succeeded in bringing - about an agreement. The anthracite strike—"'suspension” is what they prefer to call it—began September 1, and the mines opened again September 19. Miners Won Points. Under the Pinchot agreement, the miners obtained, generally speaking, a 10 per cent increase in wages, the recognition of the eight-hour day and recognition of the union and the right of collective bargaining. Now the mine workers are demand- ing another 10 per cent increase for the miners, $1 ‘a day additional for the laborers, the adoption of the “check off" system whereby the dues to the union are pald direct by the employers acting for their employes, and a number of other important con- cessions. ‘The mine operators estimate that if the demands are granted the re- sult will be to add $150,000,000 a year to the cost of mining coal, and that the price of anthracite will have to increase some $3 a ton. At Atlantic City the representatives of the miners and the operators are seeking to adjust their differences and to arrange a new contract for another two-year period. Here in Washington, Government officials, who are famillar with the situation are pessimistic re- garding the results of the conference. Frankly they look for a strike, be- ginning September 1, when the pres- ent contract has expired. President Coolidge in Massachusetts is giving close attention to the coal situation. He was faced with a simi- lar problem soon after he entered the White House in the Summer ofi in (14 | found. SUNDAY PUTS BLAME ON POLICE GRAFT Sir Robert Peacock, chief constable of Manchester, says: “Americans don’t have much confidence in their po- lice. And why? It’s be- cause of this thing called grafting! “What's graft and bribery for? It’s for winkin’, isn’t it? And when your police are winkin’ do the people re- spect 'em? ( They do not. “And when the people are offering bribes, is there a real respect for law enforce- ment? There is not. “In my opinion, Ameri- cans are not mightily con- cerned over their crime problems. 1f the law-abid- ing citizens of the country would co-operate with the police, they could stop crime quick.” 2 THE INDICTMENT It is charged: That there are more unconfined KILLERS in this country than we have clergymen of all denominations ; That 11,000 lives are-taken by murder every year That no other country has one-tenth that record. That there are 2,000,000 criminals at large in the United States; That crime is increasing; That “Crime is our Outstanding Industry” That “We Stand Humiliated before THE COST the Nations of the Earth.” Our total crime bill equals the cost of our National Government. $2.650,000,000 taken in hold-ups last year. £6,000,000,000 squandered in stock swindling schemes. 160,000,000 lost in forgeries by trusted employes. What is the remedy? Star, has asked four of the greate. is wrong with our police methods crime?” These men are: and Abdullah Bahrami of Persia. Justice McAdoo of New York will defend the Sir Robert Peacock of Mar Tand; Ex-Chancellor Schober of Austria, Drew Pearson, a special writer for THe st policemen in the world, “What that we should lead the world in hester, Eng- Maj. Sze of Canton, China, Following their testimony, Chief merican police. These interviews will appear weekly in the Editorial Section of The Sunday Star, the first, with Sir Robert Peacock, beginning today. John Smith one way and John Thomas | another. Because pretty soon John | Thomas will discover that he can af- | ford to pay as much as John Smith. | “One thing that puzzles me about | the New York police force, is the number of millionaires that hang around headquarters, seeming to get pleasure from the company of police- men. I'm not saying’ there's any- thing wrong with It. but I can't imagine any millionaire in England getting any pleasure out of my com- pany. The only reason I can concelve of, that he would want to associate with me, would be to get some special privilege.” “Can you give any other reasons why Americans lack respect for their police?” T asked Sir Robert. ““Besides the matter o' graftin’, you | poke fun at ‘em and consider it a MENACE 1923, following the death dent Harding. The President and the Federal Gov- ernment have no more power to deal with coal strikes than they had two years ago—and no less. Thanks to the failure of Congress to undertake any legislation dealing with the prob lem. The consuming public, which must have fuel or suffer, however, has be- | come more and more intolerant of coal strikes, or even the suggestion of a strike. Undoubtedly the Presi- dent would be backed by public opin- lon in any step he might decide to take to prevent a shut-down of the coal mines, no matter how drastic. According to the Geological Survey, the retail dealers in anthracite on June 1 had an increase of 11 per cent over the supply on March 1, and slightly more than that on June 1, 1924. ‘The supply of bituminous coal in storage on the same date, how- ever, was estimated at 38,000,000 net tons against 44,000,000 on March 1, and 51,000,000 June 1, 1924. Not a very encouraging situation in view of the threatened strike. The con- sumers of bituminous coal apparently have been waiting for prices of that commodity to drop still lower, and for that reason have not been stock- ing up in the last couple of months. If the minin; of anthracite halts, substitutes for hard coal must be Bituminous coal is the first that offers. But with small supplies on hand, and the possibility of a sus- pension in the union soft coal mines that prospect does not look good. Up in New England, it is reported here, the conditions are somewhat brighter than elsewhere, owing to an early movement of coal to many of the cities. Proposals By Commission. On July 3, 1923, the United States Coal Commission, in a report on an- thracite, made a number of important recommendations, which if enacted into law would have an important bearing on the situation today. The report said: “The President of the United States | should be authorized by act of Con- gress to declare that a national emer- gency exists whenever through fail- ure of operators and miners in the anthracite industry to agree upon the terms of employment or for any other reason there is a suspension of min- ing operations, seriously interrupting the normal supply ‘of anthracite fuel in interstate commerce; and to take over the operation -of the mines and the transportation and distribution of and marketing of the product, with full power to determine the wages to be paid to mine workers, the prices at which the coal shall be sold, and, subject to court review, the com- (Continued on Tenth .) of Presi- < good joke if you get around ‘em. Tuke these” comic papers of yours. They always are havin' a bit o’ fun at the expense of the police. “In Britain, I can honestly say that the bobbie is loved and respected. He | represents the empire—the people. He is the force that preserves freedom and the government and all the things that Britaln has fought to build up and which she cherishes as you do your Constitution. “We have an attitude toward the police far different from the likes o' yours. The bobbie is the friend of the people. They know they can come to him for protection. Some- times, after school, you'll see half a dozen kiddies clingin’ to a bobble's knee while he takes them across the streef “What do you consider the greatest MORNING, JULY 12, 1925 fault of the American police in pre- venting crime?” I asked. “Offhand and as an outsider,” drawled Sir Robert, “I should say that your biggest fault was in tryin’ to detect crime after it was committed instead o' tryin' to prevent it in the first place. “I understand that your police get a bit of a reward or fee when they arrest a man, who is later punished. In England that's the very last thing we should do. Our bobbies are proud of crime they present, not what they detect. Each one o' them has his own beat, and it's his bounden duty to keep it clean of crime, not detect it after the job's done. British Have No Guns. “And your second big fault,” con- tinued Sir Robert, “is the scandalous way in which you let any man that wants one, buy a gun and carry it. Not even our police in England carry revolvers. We issue them only when ralding some house where there are known to be desperate characters in hiding. Most of our murders are the result of planned lust, where the victim is_deliberately killed with a knife. We have very few crimes of violence because there are no re-| volvers among our people. 'The law | against carrying or selling re- volvers is most rigidly enforced. If you recall those figures, you'll remem- | ber that most American crimes, on the other hand, are crimes of violence. “If 1 may venture another bit o' criticism, your police are entirely too | free with the use o' their guns. I | read the other day where a New York | policeman ordered a taxicab driver to stop. When he didn’t stop, he fired and shot the passenger instead of the driver. The passenger was killed. Now, why should he kill an innocent and fare-paying passenger simply be- cause the driver was speeding? Such @ thing would not be tolerated in Eng- land.” | Movies Not Crime Cause. “Do you agree with Commissioner | | Enright that the movies are a cause | of crime” 1 asked. “What are the movies: | “The American name for the ci-| | nema. | “No, I do not agree. I've written | quite a bit about that subject, and while there are isolated cases where the cinema has incited crime, in_the | most o the cases, they do good. They keep the people off the streets, and | out o' the pool halls. Also they're!| educational, and I see no harm if they | show an occasional robbery, just so| | | they are careful not to give the wrong | impression to the kiddies.” When 1 asked Sir Robert if he! | thought the American newspapers played up crime too prominently, he | replied that some of them were en. | | tirely too sensational, but that on the | | whole, he belteved in giving the facts to the newspapers. Newspapsr pub |licity helped to get every one working on the case. and many crimes had been solved through outside help tarted by the newspapars. “I dont want to sound too con-| unappreciative of | position,” said Sir | Robert, in conclusfon. I remember | all too well places in England where | 40 years ago ‘twas not safe for any | policeman to walk alone. But those | | places are all cleaned up today. T! | don’t say as how some of them aren't | P€OPle, as they are eager to work for |2 bad even to now, mind you. But a| policeman can go into them alone. | England is an old country. Yours is | much younger. In 40 years you can | | make seme changes yourselves. And mind you, "tis wonderful what you can { do when you're resoluter ! (Copyricht. 1925.) { U. S. MAY CUT NUMBER OF DISBURSING AGENTS In Place of 3,000 Federal Funds Provide BY WILL P. KENNEDY. NE more step to put the United States on a strictly business basis—the best of any nation in the world— . will be seriously considered by the incoming Congress. Legislation is now being drafted, which has the support of the same forward-looking leaders in Congress and governmental affairs who put through the Federal budget system, designed to replace the 3,000 disburs- ing agents now scattered all over the world with not more than 40 care- fully trained men, strategically placed, who will be removed from the evils of administrative pressure. This would mean not only a direct saving of many milllons of dollars annually, but would mean that every dollar of Federal funds would be spent for exactly that specific pur- pose Congress designated in making the appropriation. It would mean in- creased efficiency and a_tremendous saving through a pre-audit of all ac- counts, such as is now being made for the first time in the payment of the adjusted compensation to vet- erans of the World War. Budget Five Years Old. Some flve years ago Congress adopted the Federal budget system. under which the director of the budget—first Gen. Dawes and then Gen. Lord—makes a careful study to keep governmental expenditures within the Government revenues, with funds " allocated on relative merit for all Federal activities. As a corfellary of the budget sys- tem the General Accounting Office Wwas set up, to see: First, that the moneys appropriated by Congress were spent only in the way that Con- gress intended: and, second, that the Government gets every dollar that Congress intended it should get under the tariff and revenue laws. Then by executive order, as an agency of the budget, the office of chief co-ordinator was set up to bring about more economic and efficlent team-play between the sqveral depart- ments and countless establishments, especially as to reduction of expenses by treating the whole Government workshop as one plant, instead of a number of small plants, each with its own separate accounts. Next must come a businessiike dis- tribution of disbursing agents, ac- countable directly to the General Ac- counting Office, instead of being ac- countable to the departmental admin- istrative officers. There are now some 3,000 disburs- ing officers, who pay out annually about five billions of dollars, for they not only pay out all of the approxi- mately $3,750,000,000 appropriated un- der the Federal budget, but also make certzin collections, which constitute Men Paying Congress May ‘\ for 40. | | |appropriations as revolving funds. | They are located in all the principal | cities in the United States, and some- | times quite a number of them in one city, representing varlous Government | departments or agencies. In Wash- ington alone every department has one or more disblirsing clerks. Still others are located in the capitals and | principal cities of most of the foreign | nations. All of our consular officers | act as disbursing agents. 1 Plan 12 Districts. The thought of those.who are sup- porting the new legislation is to have the United States divided up fnto 12 collecting and disbursing districts, using the Federal Reserve banks in those districts as headquarters and | paying agents. The headquarters of | these 12 districts are Boston, New | York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Rich- mond, Atlanta, Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louls, Minneapolis, Dallas and | San Francisco. By establishing these district offices and using the Federal Reserve banks the Federal Government would avoid the necessity of sending in all collec- tions made in the field to the United States Treasury and withdrawing funds in small amounts from the Treasury. The proposed change would allow collections and disbursements to be balanced in each district instead of direct dealings with the United States Treasury. In each of these districts would be | one disbursing officer, with an assist- ant. There would also be one disburs- ing officer and assistant in Washing- ton instead of the scores now em. ployed. One disbursing officer would be stationed in each of the principal foreign capitals. It is contemplated that these would be disbursing agents of the United States Treasury, representing the Treasury and under its control for ad- ministrative purposes only—the idea being to give a check on the General | Accounting Office. It is not generally | understood that the General Account- | ing Office now pays out nothing. | It merely certifies claims as ‘'0. K.” to| the various departments for payment. | Want Trained Men. | The, ~lan is to have speclally trained | accountants, men who are most ex-| perienced in handling Government ac- | counts. They would be required to| knowthe law and regulatjons, and to | act as a check on administrative de- mands for payment of accounts, If at any time they should be in any doubt regarding an account they would submit it for a decision to the General Accounting Office. “This procedure would avold delays in submitting doubtful matters in that the personnel to make the pre.audit woulfl be stationed in the district of- fice fo immediately meet any question (Continued on Third Page.) l !fair and reasonable {and completely dissatisfied the peoples | and against Germany as the one really LEAGUE OF NATIONS PLAN FACING MARKED CHANGE Amendments Offered by British, French and Germans Would Leave Little Vestige of BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. O aspect of the present discus- sions over a security pact in western Europe is more interesting or more important than that which affects the League of Nations. In reality the German pro- posal, as it is now amended by the| French note, framed in conference hl'-; tween representatives of Great Britain and France, totally changes the char- acter of the league itself—the charac ter imparted by President Wilson in | the Parls conference, reasserted in the | protocol which was adopted at,Geneva | last Summer, but rejected by fhe Brit- ish government in March of the cur- rent year. | Mr. Wilson’s conception of the| League of Nations, which remains in | a large measure the American concep- | tion. was of an association of all the! peoples of the world for the preser tion of peace, and it was founded upon the two assumptions that there was a | basis for such association and that all nations, all peoples, once they had shared in this new adjustment, would not alone hold to peace, but overthrow any political party, leaders or rulers who under- took to lead them to war. And Mr. ‘Wilson firmly believed that his four-| teen points supplied the fundamental chapter which would satisfy peoples and insure peace. Peace By Force Alone. This conception broke down at Paris, where it was clearly disclosed there was no basis of adjustment which could satisfy nations with conflicting interests. The peace which was actu- ally made did measureably satisfy the victorious nations. but it so thoroughly of the defeated nations that it was plain at once that the maintenance of peace had become the duty necessity of the victors, and that force alone would avail to keep the con quered nations permanently quiet Thus hardly had it taken form when the league became an association of the victorious nations to preserve status quo created by war—in fact, an alliance against the defeated nations considerable state capable in some fu- ture time of challenging the decisions registered in the Treaty of Versailles In effect, the various nations, the | of | there shan and the | af Original. league, but of the character of that league, was demolished. Now today, through the German proposals, which have a British back ing, a new experiment is taking form We Americans rejected the c because we refused to be ith the defense of any Europe frontiers. The British refused the pro. tocol because they declined to be re. sponsible for the defense of pean frontiers. But the essenti: ference lies in the faGt that while we can be unconcerned about all Euro pean frontiers, there are certain fron tiers which are of vital importance to the British. New Form of Contract. They have, then, through the n a German statesman, proposes new form of contract—the limitec bility contract, but also the contr which lies mainly outside of league. The British proposal i be a direct cont tween France, Germany with Belgium a signator: all three great powers to accept western settlement the treat Versallles and to go to the aid of nation attacked wantonly on_these frontiers. In reality, jt binds and Germany to the | boundary as laid down at Pari Britain to defend it against the lenge of either. This propo the league as the peace of Eufope, Rhine is concerned, the sibility of France, Germany and Brit- ain. It recognizes the principle tha nations will not undertake unlimited | responsibilities with respect to foreign | frontiers. and that, therefore, the |league will never e the resources to preserve peace by for | tutes the guarantee immediately concerned It“follows quite Jogically can be an association | guarantee one state of fact [ e other associatic { other states of fac | Entente is an association whick antees a state of fact in the mi Europe, and the Franco-Polish a ance another, which assumes respon sibility for another system of frontiers But the distinction is that, while all interested par accept the Rhine situation, Hungary and Bulgaria fused to resign their hopes for a revi sion on the Danube, and Germany de acoept 1, then, substity the police power behind 0 the joint respon- the 1 | hat if th 1ations there allies of the war and the gainers by the peace, the su on states, unite within the League of Nations to guar- antee to cach other the permanent possession of what they had won the war and to pledge united action against any challenger. This evolution of the league insured American withdrawal. The people of this country were and are eager to assoclate themselves with any form of league dedicated to the preserva- tion of peace, but they are just as unanimous in avoiding any commit- | ment which binds them to impose a | tablished system of frontiers upon a recaleitrant peace itself. Instinctively with legitimate selfishness, they, perceived that a peace which has to be guaranteed—a peace which, what- ever fits disguises, is an imposed peace—can exist only by virtue of force and is not in reality peace at all Not the Wilson Conception. Europe having transformed _the original conception of the league from its American form to that form which in accordance with European facts, America withdrew from the field. I do not mean to suggest that there was anything evil in the Euro- pean translation of Mr. Wilson's con- ception. In my judgment, the con- ception itself has nothing whatever to do with European facts. It was con- ceived 3,000 miles from Europe and without the smallest regard for the realities of the European situation. Faced with the facts, Mr. Wilson had to choose between abandoning all and going home and accepting a league which was based upon European con- ditions. But with the American withdrawal the evolution continued. France, Bel- glum, Poland, Czechoslovdkia, Jugo- slavia, Rumania, all with the same fundamental problems, all with the same anxieti due to the proximity of nations which did not accept the if perhaps too, “settlement as one of justice and only awaited a return of strength to chal lenge it, made their own separate co tracts of alliance, which, while doin lip-service to the League of Nations were in reality no more than alliances of exactly the same sort which had existed before the war and had been denounced on all sides as causes of that conflagration. England, however, with the same in- stinct as America, promptly shrank from the contracts which had appalled the Americans. Poland and the very existence of this| country was at stake, Britain, so far from sending ships and troops, advised Poland to surrender. Moreover, when rash British support of the Greeks had |led to disaster in Asia Minor, France and Italy, with far other interests than Britain, refused to support Brit- ish policy and left Britain to consent to the humiliating truce of Mudania and the not less humiliating peace of Lausanne. In practice, then, the second concep- | | tion of a league broke down like the first. America and Britain disclosed the same total unwillingness to sur- render themselves to blank-check commitments to protect the distant frontlers of foreign nations—trontiers which had no concern for them— merely to prevent conflict, while Italy and France showed that, short of some specific alliance, they would not come to the aid of member nations of the league. Last Summer a final effort was made in the protacol to arrive at some solution in accordance with Continen- tal ideas. The constitution of the league was so amended in the protocol proposal that it would have been diffi- cult for any nation without the sacri- fice of honor to refuse to assist any other nation attacked. As the protocol was framed, it became the most gigan tic insurance policy in human histor not only incidentally insuring against war but actually insuring the satisfied wations against the challenge of thase which were dissatisfied. Second Conception Breaks Down. Thus, in fact, what had happened to Mr. Wilson at Paris happened to Mr. MacDonald at Geneva. He, like the American President, was forced in the end to make concessions totally transforming his conception, which was in truth Wilsonian. And quite as promptly as the people of the United States had rejected the league with the covenant, the people of Great Britain refused to accept the league ‘with the protocol. And with the Brit- ish refusal the entire Wilsonian con- ception, not of the existence of a When Russia invaded | clines to surrender her claims w respect of Danzig, the Polish Corri | and Upper sile Problem is Complicated. point ritain in the two prot is prepare antee the n | Germany joies in the cc Frence gua tees the land Ger refus cept it what then” If Germ: attacks Po. land, will the French violation of the neutralized area in the Rhineland es- by the Franco-German-Brit- t stitute an _offense compact which will bring | Britain to Germany's side? Obviou: if this were the case, then Germ: | would have every encouragement to land. knowing that it France | interfered Britain would become the | German ally in the following struggle But at t ind French have French invasion of the behalf of her Polis stitute an offense German-British pa Britain automatically into t provided the League through appropriate r | have pronounced the upon Poland wanton and unprovoked Of courde, in principle the same thing would occur if France wantonly at tacked Spain, Italy or Switzerland, but it is well understood that this aspect is purely academic But it is essential to see the evolu- tion of the league. It no longer re mains a group of nations united to guarantee peace by the combined re. sources of all members It is no longer an association of victor nations to preserve the settlement of 1919. Its mission is no more than that of a court to which is referred the question of the character of any breach peace. It does not undertake to ¢ |force any decision, but it i with the duty to decide w attack is wanton and unpro Should it so decide, then tion is at an end If, for rman troops entered the ed area of the Rhineland d the league declared the invasion unpr oked and a violation of the Franco German-British pact, then automati cally French, British and Belgian | troops would be released to share in the task of repulsing the German in- vasion. Should German troops enter Polish territory, then the decision of the league would permit French troops to enter the neutralized area of the Rhine without offense to the Franco. German-British pact, and the British would be under no obligation to defend Germany, although, similarly, they would be under no necessity to sup. {port France. Defense of Frontiers. In conformity with this arrange ment, any two or more nations can concert to defend any frontier which exists. They may enter into a defi | nite alliance, but the contract must be registered with the league, and it | for the 1 to decide whether | emergency which may arise warrants | the application of the treaty of alli ance, Thus, for example, Rumaniu and Poland are allied against a Rus sian attack, but it is for the league to say whether they are attacked If Germany attacks Poland, Britain has no other responsibility than that which is implicit in the covenant of the league, but while in theory and language this is a great responsibility. jin practice it has come to be without meaning, as the Russo-Polish and | Greco-Turkish crises showed. But | France. because she has a Polish alli- ance, has a_responsibility once the i league has affirmed the fact of an un- | provoked attack. Thus amended, the { league at last begins to have some re- {lation to the realities of the European situation. It is no longer the body | charged with the defense of peace and devoid of all means of defending that | peace once it is physically challenged Nor are its members saddled with re sponsibilities which no government { could perform, because no people will consent to go to war save as its own immediate interests are patently im periled. Given the situation of 1914, when Austria issued her ultimatum - to Serbia and followed it with a declara- tion of war, despite the adequate Serbian reply, the appeal of Serbla to the league would have necessarily re. sulted in the league decision that the Austrian attack was unprovoked, and that, therefore. the Russian protection (Continued on Third Page) - ntier Bu frontier | ish compa inst tha will not con inst th and t its func example utral a the