Evening Star Newspaper, August 30, 1925, Page 43

U. S. BUILDING PROGRAM IS URGENTLY NEEDED With Government Buciness Growing by Leaps and Bounds, No Satisfactory Scheme Has Yet Been Passed. BY G. GOULD LINCOLN. s outgrown his —the buildings weted the department censtant!s in bulged fac out of the vided, and hundreds of bullding inder lease to oImmodate, Admittedly this is not a s Tt makes for fency and res; ery nditure of money for rented than, actory t olidge, notwithstanding nom: program, has recognized the need of adding new buildings to tho plant. Tndeed, it is poor economy not to spend someé millions of dollax to bring the plant more up to date, e; ditures which, in the long run o the Government and the m of money moot, cf n of the Public ommission, which has distribution of space in the ment bulldings in_the District of umbia, with the backing of the Iresident, plans to put through a pub- building Lill at the coming session Congress, and many of the other embers of are strongl; wor of such are. Those ofli- ils who are, under the law, in charge publ idings throughout the al cognizant of the great - additions to the plant Biggest Plant in World. Unel It Senator Sr Build- Sam's plant and the Fed- 0 all the States. | o5, the entire plant in the neighborhood three-quarters of a billion dotlars. 15 the greatest business plant in world, nd. ke other Dbu: s, it requir from time to time renewals and vepairs. Department has un- ol through the office of ing architect the vast fons, a the of Columbia. the Jurisdf Department red 1.280, Tn (his 1 > post of ildings, United States court- , customs houses, the apprai " stores, marine hospitals, quaran- stations, immigration stations, and The total mints. these buildings. including es and exten ions, was 5.94, divided as follo ‘ederal wuildings, $264,175,768.77; marine hos- pltals, 6. and quarantine stations, $4,768.704.07. tual value of these buildings a0d the sites on which they stand is far above the costs given here. No estimate’ of the present-day values is available, but doubtless the values would add hundreds of millions of dol- lars to the figures given, the appreclation of propert since the buildings were constructed and the sites p 28 War and Navy Buildings The property of the Govermment coming under the War and Navy artments, including Army posts a vards and sta- hospitals, adds still more millions to the intrinsic worth of the vernment plant, and also the hos- pitals which have bLeen constructed and purchased since the World War for the use of the veterans. But a public buildings bill such as that de- stgned by the adm supporters tary activitles of the country, merely to the business functions of the Government. Tn Washington, where the seat of Government is located, the estimated value of the Federal plant is $110,000, 000. This s exclusive of the great vark system of the city, w owned by the Government, too. The Government owns and oecupies here 56 bulldings, including the White House, the Capitol group, comprising the Capitol Building, the Senate and House office buildings, the Library of Congress; the executive department buildings and the Smithsontan group. ted value of the bufld- vernmeant in Washing: as follows: Lixecutive bu- £50,000.000; the Capitol group, D: t i onian group, the AMall he White These buildings ction of the Trea on e oc of an is divided in 254 in the Zoo, $6,000,000; t Tiouse and White House propagating | garden, $1.000,000. The actual cost of Bullding and some of the other im- porta: ctures In the Capltol group wus §: Capitol Pufld- $14.000,000; Library of Congre. House Offce Buildin the Senate Office Buf 1.09; the Capitol pow 0. 48 Balldings Leased. use the Gavernment has c a1 and overspread mencowned plamt here, th ouildings now 1e Gov ent s £1,000.000 ann District of interes But ment in the Di buil tivitie: a drop iIn t compared with the rent pald for build- ings vsed by the Government outside the T . under the control cf the Treasury Department. The rentals outside the Dist approximate $23,000.000. or the interest at & per cent on $450.000.000. Some of thi amount would necessarfly be paid as rental 1 f any building program that might be entered upon Ly the nt. Included in the total for permanent, and fof whi ould not of counslderable sums of permanent headquarters. But it is =afe to say that a very con- siderable part s huge rent list would be loy the Government would really undertake to meet some of fits 30 bLuilding requirements. It is tw % since the last pub- nd the »ximately in the is the 000,000. I money tor o | be authorized. ¥ gress | new A in | buildings outside the | owing to ! values | istration and its | does not run to the mill- | but | ich is | the Capitol | first. an appropriativn tor new build- {ings In the District of Columbla, where {the President and Senator Smoot in- sieted the need s gr Tt_was proposed th: bullding program’cost- ing $30.000,000 over' a perfod of years were unwilling to buildings in the I e needs of the Aates nlxo were pr {¥ided for, and finally the House | through the Elliott bill, providiug ror {an expenditure of $1 | butlding program exiending ov . with a maximum cxpenditure or oblgation In any one year of $2 009,000, The understanaing was that | $50.000,000 of this total wa i pended “in the Natlo: Capital and }$100,000,000 in the Stat The Tilliott bill left to the discre- | tion of the Secretary ot the Treasury {and the Postmaster General, acting i provide for t unle jointly, the selection of the projects to be undertaken under the authority conferred by the Lill. Prior to this bill public buildings have always been authorized either in omnibus bullding @s in the 1913 measure. or in te bills for individual projects. v_case Con has speclified and the amount to be ex- pended for public bulldings. The Ll- ‘l tt bill was {n effect a lump-sum ap- propriation, leaving the executive de- | partments to determine where bulld- |ings were to be erected and of what cost and character. Bill Hits Snag. vlan contemplated the es- of a list of projects to be money rvey of had been Such a system has a distinct |adiantage over the cld method. in |that with the latter many cuses re- { sulted in the limits of cost being set for butldings below the actual needs new b Landied ness | of the particular locality and condt-| tions. Tu other cases unnecessarily large Tmlts of cost were set, which, | if followed. cause fo | the expes would have given just ms of extravagance in ture of public money. Furthermore, the new plan proposed ort DIl is directly in line reasury Department policy stundardization for public bufld- ings. The type of building selected for a community would be dictated by | the needs therefor, Instead of having | the amount available too great or too | little. as has been the case too often | in the past. The Elliott bill, however, struck a snag in the Senate. Democratic Sen- {ators in the closing hours of the short session ending March 4 declared it could not be passed. In this the: may have been aided and abetted by some of the Republicans. For Con- | gress is jealous of its power to deter- | mine just where public funds are to be expended and for what purpose. Senators saw their authority to ai tate where a new Federal building should be located in their States about to vanish. But Senator Smoot, chairman of the Public Bulldings Commission, |lieves firmly in the proposed new sys- | tem, "swith " authority placed in- the ands of tie Secretary of the Treas- ¥ to determine, {With the Postmaster General |other department heads, when and {where and in what proportion the | money shall be expended. plan to introduce a bill authorizing the appropriation of $£100,000,000 at the coming session—850,000,000 to be expended for Iederal bulldings in | Washington and an equal amount throughout the country. “Pork Barrel” Charge. | The “pork barrel” charge has been {\mada against public bullding bills {in the past, just as it has against {river and harbor bills. Appropria- ;llOIIN have been made for buildings | too large and expensive for the com- | munities in which they were located, | and members of Congress have sliced | off pleces of “pork” for their districts | which the actual needs of the Gov- ernment’s business did not warrant. Log rolling, by which one Senator got what he wanted in a public butlding | bill because he was willing to support projects for other Senators—a kind of back-scratching game—has been | practiced frequently. The more Fed- | eral money obtained for a district or State, the better for the Representa- 3 or. This kind of 1 does 1ot make " for economlical administration of the Government or for efliciency. An important step which has been ’underlukcn in connection with the construction of Federal buildings is standardization. Four classes have | been established, determined by the | size of the postal recelpts, situation and character of the site, character lof the surrounding property and streets, and the valuation of the sur nding property and the probabili- of its increase or decrease in 1z with the buflding class of monn terizls used aded down to the stmpler less expensive classes for use in | merefal tvpes- of small building accordance with the basie clements of fication adopted. By . bufldings are designed in ac- cordance with the principles of sound | business fhvestment and In accord- ance with reasonable local require- | ments. | How Standardization Works. This scheme of standardization of public bulldings {s carried into effect under the dlrection of Assistant Se retary McKenzie Moss of the Treasury Department, in charge of public buildings, and of the supervising ar- chitect of the Treasury, James A. Wetmore. The office of the supervis- ing architect Is charged with the dut: of making plans for the ¥'cderal bufl ing under the jurisdiction of the Treas ury Department and with planning all extensions and repairs. The office of the supervising cent years has also e of the more terfals for the rental fne | E designed and Governm, mis hospi 2 number of hospitals and aneous buildings, s for the Veterans' erous in making appropriations for hospitals for the veterans In recent But members of Con-| ol be- | after consultation | and| Tt is his| lic buildl through Con- exs. sure, pussed at the t administration, car- appropristions and Some of the buildings e not been con. structed simply because the limit of cost authorized by law was entirely 0o low to permit construction, in view of the greatly increased cost of con- struction. Business Increased. In the period since 1913 the business of the Government has increased by Jeaps and bounds. New activities have been taken on through action of Con- gress. The volume of the postal bus!- ness alone has jumped by the mil- lions. Government offices have become overcrowded throughout the country, as well as in Washington. Secretray Hoover of the Department of Com- merce the other day referred to the fact that emploves housed in some of | the temporary war buildings faint be- cause of the excessive heat. They be- come ovenlike In the Summer time. An effort was made during the last sesslon of Congress put throu vears, . The standardization of the publ bufldings, with four classes, was ap proved In June, 1915, by the s ry of the Treasury, Willlam Gibbs McAdoo. The leaning toward { bulldings of the office building type, | rather than the ornamental edifice, has been marked in recent yea | Utllity, combined with beauty of de. algn, is the prime essentlal. Un doubtedly in the construction of Go ernment buildings, both in Washing- ton and outside, this idea will pre- vall hereafter. Among the large number of con- gested buildings outsjde of Washing- ton which come under the control of the Treasury Department there are 118 which stand out particularly as requiring immediate legislation to in- | crease the working space. Instead of a floor space of from 75 (o 100 square feet per employe, which is declared to | be eseential for healthy working con- | ditions, the majority of these have an area as Jow as 40 square feet. In some of thees buildings the employes are ried $4 authorizations. then authorized then | | | | | | | | | { | {18 | | destro: erected for other departments of the ments determining where the money i h, afforded oniy 26 square feet. or one. i building has practically | prepared place. | interview. | tinues to be | the previous week, which latter an- SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D.. C.l UGUST 30, 3925-—PART 2. 2 - PAN:-AMERICAN CONGRESS BY DREW PEARSON. HE alrplane of the future may not depend on landing fields but perhaps will be able to malie its ascent. perpendicu- larly from roofteps or from almost any reasonable small and un- These were not the exact words, but the substance of a prediction given e by Danlel Guggenhelm, whose generous endowment has made 1t possible for New York University to build a School of Aviath Mr. Guggenhelm made it clear, of course, that he wus not @ prophet nor an ex. pert on aviation. but that he had a strong conviciiou that the genius of wan, given the 3 which to work. could ov the most dan- zerous ph ion-——t} lem ‘of lieves thar perpendi descent may be accorn the’ perteci of th vter, or | sonething akin to it. | Alr. Guggenhelin received me in his magniticent office In a Broadway sky. | scruper. which looks out upon the | junction of the iiudeon und East | ers, Along bis walls were glass ses cxbiblting minerals trom all | parts of the world, reminding me of | the Guggenhelm vision which had | penetrated to the four cornérs of the | globe und extracted from the earth's | crust some of its most precious riches. | Not an Aviation Expert. “L am not an expert on aviation,”| road lines which take tne lines of Mr. Guggenhe!m warned me at the| least —geographic resistance. 3 outset. brecticatly all of my interest | planes can take short cuts and stop c rough my gon, Tarry, who | at almost any city where it is profit- 'Jé’fi;“éfi‘ii"ml‘M;‘l;.m?.‘g of the w::: able. and has flown overseus and in this| jowever,” Mr. Guggenheim con- country. His enthusiasm s too con-| (jnued with a fainly perceptible taglous. It has captured me.” | smile, “‘remember that 1 prefixed my My first question happened to un-|statewent with an ‘if the present th the most implortant polnt In the | type of machine continues to be used.’ reminded Mr. Guggen- I pelieve that the alrplanes of the helm that one of the blggest problems | fyture may not require extensive confronting aviation companies was| lunding fields. It will come straight finding suitable landing fields. F wn or fly straight up. Tt will be Instance, the New Tork transcontl-| oo to land noos the tops of sky. nental madl closes ut midnight. | sorapers. Ferhups I can fly to my and it taxes six hours for the mall to| be taken ovelr to fil:n:ulha nndfll aded | the top of this bullding. on the machine which hops o 5 in the morning. London's air passen To Avert Landing Dangers. gers also have to spend seyeral hours| .jyqzine S onDarthis v, riding out to Croyden before they can | o ouein@rt® this will be. At present embl:-r‘k. fincg z;peed l;;‘);e v"‘h:‘flme most dangerous thing about fy. requisite in air transpo lon, W ino " z. A typical ~“esent-day can. 'we ‘cut out these long delays in | xnn;':c::‘h::mll\mb l:nf‘l’ o B o reaching the landing fleld, T asked Mr. | ot "o (L55 [iles an hour, which | not only requiress big landing field, Guggenheim. | Cities Should Prepare. | but which fs liable to hit some ob- l‘s!r\lcflon and overturn. If your en- “You are t ght, replied. N el e et gine goes dead, vou have to land al- unreasonuble | most any place. “If the present type of machine con- used, an _nex | lensth of time is wusted because land- | machine {5 developed 1t will revolution- ing fields are su far away from the| ize our Navy. Ileretofore, we have center of citles. In my opinion, the| bullt immense alrplane carriers from cities that want to get included on | which planes could get a running start these new air lines which are going to | before they hopped off. In the future, spring up all over this country wili|any ship should be able to launch do well to construct suitable air fields. [ planes perpendicularly. Alr routes are going to go where the| “What kind of a machine do vou and d through | air fields are. They are not like rail. air office in one some day, and light on| If this new type of | “Cfl on the Air Routes™ Daniel Guggenheim, who has just founded a School of Aviation at New York University, says the age of air traffic is at hand and that cities with landing fields will get the routes. But he looks for a development that will do away with the extensive landing fields now required. The airplane, he says, has passed the stage of novelty and war-time usefulness and is rapidly growing to be a competitor of the railroad and the automobile. But America lags behind. | believe will be able to make this new type of landing?” I asked. “That is not for me to sav. I have heard that the helicopter has great possibilities, and perhaps the machine of the future will make use of its principles. New Methods Coming. “Ouly this I do know. Since the in- | ventlon of the airplane there have been no fundamental changes. The | engines are better and stronger. They | don't give out in midair as often us they used to. !instruments. Planes are more air- i wwort We are developing radio di- rection finding ko that a pilot may be sure he is on his proper course. But {all of these have been only improve- | ments on the old method. We have not fundamentally changed the old method. We have perfected it and added to it, but we have not changed it. | “I am expecting a brand-new type | of machine to be developed soon—one | which will be revolutionary in con- | struction. I don’t know what that | principle will be, but my chief idea | behind endowing a school of aviation for New York University has been to give other men a chance to exper|- ! ment along new principles. I want to create a laboratory where men who | know far more than I do can work. I “Did you ever stop to realize,” Mr. | Guggenhielm continued thoughttully, “how much of the development of this country we owe to research and to the colleges which have fostered it. We have better flying | No industry in this country has been developed without the scientific’ re- search of college men. Take the in« dustry which 1 know most about— mining and metallurgy—if it had not been for the trained men who im- proved mining methods, and did away with the wasteful treatment of high- grade ores, and nerfected processes for the treatment of low-grade oree, say, that without these sclentific men, the metal industry would be nowhere today. “The air {ndustry needs the same thing. It needs tralned men, too. ‘When 1 speak of an alr industry, 1 very seriously mean what I say. Com- mercial aviation is very soon to.be- come & gigantic new industry. Ayla- tion is about to become a means of transportation equally as important as the motor car and the railroad. ‘With it a new profession for Amer- fean youth is opening. The older pro- fessions are already overcrowded and opportunities for success in them are limited. But here is a new field with unlimtied opportunities. I wish I were young again to take advantage of them. “That is one of the ideas behind the aviation school at New York University. It will provide a training for this new generation of air trans- port men.” “Do you belleve that the United States Government should subsidize our alr transport companies?” I asked. Against Government Subsidy. “No,” was Mr. Guggenheim’s em- phatic rep ‘This country and all its industry was built up without subsidy, and T belleve we should stick to- that principle. Commercial avia- tion is going to be a big thing, sub- sidy or no subsidy. “The European countries, I realize, have been subsidizing their air lines, but then they also subsidize their rail- rouds and their steamship lines. 'In other words, they have government ownership, which is another form of subsidy. Our mafl lines, I understand, are far more profitable than Europe’s, and that should be sufficfent proof that we can develop without subsidy. ““One danger we must guard against, however, s that of slipping back in aviation as we did in ocean shipping. We were the creator of the airplane, just as we were the creator of the fust salling clipper and the steam- boat. We lead in creation, but we lag behind in later development. This must not be repeated in the .ir.” When I asked Mr. Guggenheim what he thought of a proposed air mail route between New York and London, using ocean mooring Sta- tions for refuelling he replied. “A New York-London mafl service will undoubtedly be developed. Dut 1 do not believe it practicable today Such an alr service may come tomor- row. In fact, any : develop in the air tomorrow. This Is an age of surprises that we live in.” The Story the Week Has Told | cording to these later dispatches the | citadel of Suweda in the Jebel Hauran a brief sum-|(or Jebel Druz). with it rrison of important | 200 Frenchmen. is still eged. and rebellion the Hauran Druses ading. Moreove French garrison the Euphrates ( tured. probable, BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following wary of the mo: news of the world days ending August 29: The British Empire. — There something peculiarly nasty and redo- lent of Moscow in a concerted strike the other day of considerable num- bers of marine firemen on British ves- sels {n harbors of Britain, Australia and South Africa, an “outlaw” strike, disapproved by the unfons. It ha led out in Britain, but continues formidably in Australla and South Africa. As Zinoviev and his British henchmen know, the Diritish shipping interest is in no condition to sustuin even minor shocks with equanimity. There are some who find a connection between this business and the assault of the Red government at Canton on British trade and shipping. The Reds are just now making a special effort to create disaffection in the British army and navy. According to Philip Snowden, the average natfonal tax per inhabitant of the United Kingdom s 15 pounds 18 shillings, as against corresponding averages as follows (expressed in Eng- Nsh money): United States, 6 poun 14 shillings 10 pence; France, 6 pounds - 4 pounds 1 shil- pounds & shil- | is seven | the x o g is reported that the Deir-ez-Sor on has been cap- highly im is far away from any one of the three Druse dis- tricts. Very likely apture was made by the Boudins in sympathy with the rebel Druses no end to the trouble: attempt was 1 assassinate the gov tae French Island { Martinique, the colony which fac in de tng_up to Tokio, says M a Japanese interviewer, "I am. a Astatic,” says M. Thitcherin, in 3 speech at a banquet in honor of two Japanese birdmen on their arrival in Moscow, flying from Tokio. ‘“Your flight shows how far Japanese culture has progressed. Long ago Japan fought for freedom from capitulations and unfair treaties and was com- pletely victorious, then, as now, show- ing the road to other peoples of the o n 4 pence; Italy, 2 s 11 pence. is reported ling . : oud confer: on October be closely uss: s to open That Is something tehed (confirmation seems required) that 54 obsolescent British rs to be scrapped, and that the pay of sallors in the navy is| to be reduced 15 per cent. The offi- pay has already been reduced by percentage. The appointment of Lord Baird (untfl the other day Sir John Baird) as governor general of Australia is a satisfactory ome. Lord Baird has shown competence as diplomat and a member of Parliament. He served with distinction at the bar, he was minister of public works and trans- port under Lloyd George after the u eager sportsman— A please the sport-loving The salary of his new to China.—Dispatches tell oi u uew de- velopment of high fantasticality at Canton. It seems that on the 25th s of the Whampoa Military Acad occupied Canton, arrested more hundred officiais of the Canton south China”) government, charged by them with complicity in the recent assussination of the finance minister of that government, set on foot a house-to-house search for other villains in the piece, and In time took over the government. A government by military undergraduates of super- | red complexion is o new and interest- | ing phenomenon in the world, and its | career will be watched with interest The professors of the military art | Whampoa are Muscovites, imported { by the late Sun XYat Sen. ! T take it that the departed finance | minister was too red for his col- leagues, and that his assassination !was an |timent in Canton, sordidly unwilling | to sacrifice a lucrative trade to the | red millennium. |with a pink general who has estab- lished Limself on Honan Island in the Pearl River opposite Canton and who offers them “war for war, blood {for blood, controlment for control- ment.” At Shanghal, on the 26th, Chinese fired into a mob of striking orkers who were besieg- |ing the police station and demanding |the release of four workmen Incar- o |Cerited for assaulting a coolie (pre- sumably for attempting to return to work). Four of the mob were wounded | Fgypt.—Seven of nine Egyptians | {found guilty of participation, direct {or indirect, in the murder last N vember of Sir Lee Stack. the Egyptian army and gov eral the were ro last Sund: sentenced to 1 hard labor, and one to ars’ imprisonment at hard Jabo It will bs recalled that Egyp general elections in March of this | year resulted in victory for the |tionalists under the leadership of $Zaghloul Pasha. But that was not King Fuads idea at all. In view of the strained relations with Britain he had hoped for a moderate Parlia- ment. He, therefore, promptly dis- |solved the new Legislature and Egypt has since been ruled by royval decree. * hang United States of America.--Orders !were issuel on Thursday by the is the equivalent of $30.000 P France—The operatious in the Mo- roccan war during the past week ap- | pear to have resulted altogether fa-| vorubly to the French and Spanish. | What is perhaps more important, thousands of tribesmen who had been drawn to the service of Abd-el-Krim by propagenda or terrorism are sub- mitting to the French. Obscure dispatches of the week cast doubt on the accuracy of dispatches of (Continued from First Page.) ! ference promptly broke up, after which each interest had filed informal briefs presenting its idea of a “four svstem plan” with the Interstate Com- merce Commission. Move Opposed to Tradition. Except for the Van Sweringens, who I had been_doing incredibly well in Cleve- land real estate, these men had been fighting each other for carloads of rain, coal and “package freight” for nounced settlement of the little diffi-| culty between the French authorities | of Sy nd_the Hauran Druses. space which third of the minimum should be provided. | In 1920 Congress passed as a lump | cum appropriation an aet for “remod- | a generation. Rallroading quite gen- | erally running in families, in some - ging public buildings, S cases their fathers before them had Its object was to permit rellef in, itect i 4 cases of overcrowding. with ) fought. These men, it seemed, what- a" and i(ul'ln-gz’:":usury and Post Office Depart- | :ver the wishes of Congress were, could not bring themselves to swap rall- should be expended. But Congress | roads, created by the day and night articularly | inserted & clause lmiting to $20,000 ;work and aggressiveness of them- 1o’ Bureat | the amount which could be expended | selves and their friends, as traders Congress, by the way, has been gen-|in a year on a The } swap horses at a county fair. Loree, who 20 years ago was sent by Kuhn, Loeb & Co., to take the place v one buflding. result of this lmitation hus been to preclude the vellef designed in many | instances where a material enlarge- ment or actual extension of buildings s needed. There are approximately 40 cases of projects upon which nothing has been domne, although authorized by Con- gress, because the lmit of cost was fixed too Jow to conmstruct the pro- posed buildings with the increased cost of labor and materials which have occurred since the authorization. Congress has authorized the pur- chase of 162 sites for public build- ings and has failed to make authoriza- tion for the buildings themselves. The majority of the sites whose purchase has been authorized have Leen ac- quired by the Government. But the Government service needs greatly many of these proposed buildings. Uncle Sam’s business plant is far behind his needs, it is clear. Govern- ment building, like private bullding, was halted during the war, except for strictly war purpoges. But unlike pri- vate bullding, which has done its ut- most since the war to catch up with the needs of the country, Gov]lernflzent 0od still. of the tragic Danlel I. Wilcox—found dead in his berth on a Transatlantic ! liner a few days latéf—on the Dela- ware and IIudson, was not a partici- pant in this conference. A few weeks later it was announced that Loree had leased the Buftalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh and purposed to connect it and the Dalaware and Hudson with the Wabash, which he then already controlled, by building a line in Penn- sylvania, following part of a forgot- ten plan of E. H. Harriman. This, Mr. Loree announced, could be considered henceforth as a fifth system. It seems likely, for this reason, that Mr. Loree will be invited to attend the forth- coming conference. Consolidation Under Way. Otherwise the same forces will face each other when the conference meets as faced each other last year. There will-be one great difference. The first | great consolidation, now being heard, will either have been put through or rejected. At last coneolidation of some sort will be under way. This year the three big roads musi act, sither to. Plan for Consolidation of Railroads Involves Prospect of Titaric Battle i gether, or, if they disagree, independ- ently. One reason is because the Van Sweringens will be, perhaps, in a vastly improved position to acquire the Lackawanna. Every argument they have presented to the Interstate Com- merce Commission to gain its permis- sion for this present consolidation will apply with double force to any appli- | cation they may make in the future | to acquire the Lackawanna. The gates will be open. The conferees, when they sit down, will know they must make thelr provosals quickly, before inde- pendent roads slip aw Strong pressure will be brought upon the conference to agree amicably upon the division. Part of it will come from the Coolidge administration. Twenty- fiver years ago, in the days of the Northern Pacific corner, the influence of the bankers would have been the other way—for war—with Kuhn, Loeb & Co. backing the Pennsylvania and Atterbury and the House of Mor- gan behind the New York Central, and probably the Van Sweringens. Those times have long since gone, The influence of the bankers will un- doubtedly be for peace. To frustrate friendly agreement stands the same loyalty to their own snorting engines and miles of shin- ing tracks which sailormen have for thelr ships, and inbred distrust for competitors, a feeling that anything they. propose must have some secret potentiality to hurt you and your prestige and power. If no agreement is reached, if war comes, to be fought out before the In- terstate . Commerce Commission by armies of lawyvers, perhaps in Con- gress, and on .the floor of the Stock Exchange by seasoned operators, it will be in a way as titantic as the struggle of Harriman and Gould. (Copyrizght. 1923.) The second article in this series tells of the decision of the Chesapeake and Ohio minority stockholders to op- pose the Van Sweringen-Nickel Plate consolidation. It will be published fo- morrow in The Evening Star. 1 expression of majfority sen-| One hears that the | red heroes of Whampon have to deal| a strike, August 31, o miners in ds. Ten < men will be left on duty, to prevent flooding and cave- |ins. Iight hundred and twenty | mines, operated 135 coal com- panies, are affected. | ,Charles Frederick Chandler, chemist, ator and ecitizen |charming personality, is dead at the age of 5. He was dean of the school of mines of Columbia University for 33 years. 1t is reported that Cornelfus Van- derbilt, jr., and a: es, are about 1to establ i great commercial a {base near Atlanta, and contemplate {number of Southern airplane line | (to include Cuba). The planes ure to | carry freight, express and mail, but |no passengers Our 1923 wheat crop was greater than our 1923 crop, while the aggre- gate 1 b of the rest of the world was less by about 441,000,000 bushels than the corresponding crop of 1923. By recent estimates our 1925 crop will be less by 193,000,000 bushels than our 1924 crop, while Europe's 19 crop will be greater by £00,000,000 bushels than its 1924 crop. It is not likely at we shall export much of our 192 crop. | miners’ union officials for commencing midnight great and A Z0-ton, 43-foot yawl. with three Norwegians aboard.” arrived in New | York Ytarbor on Thursd: 3 days from Norway. The little stunt was in Tionor of the centenary of the arrival w York of the first group of glan immigrants. * % | Norwe: Miscellaneous—Amundsen’s schoon- | er. the Maud, has arrived at Nome en | route to San’ Francisco. Some say that bullfighting is seeing its last days in Spain. Others assert that Spanish enthusiasm for that cle- gant eport is vastly increasing. At any rate, the Prince of Asturias and | some other Spanish royal personages have joined the Iberfan Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. As the process of “liquidation” of | the Stinnes propertles proceeds, | lovks as though the assets will prove | tar from sufficlent {o balance the lia- bilities, and that Stinnes’ widow and | younger son, at any rate. will be left penniless. Edmund, the elder brother, by an ingenious maneuver, salvaged, as he thought, a score or more mil- lion gold marks for himself out of the wreck, but the legality of that transaction is being questioned, and even Edmund may join the thousands of penniless victims of his father's slnister genius. On the 22d, while the Zionist con- gress was orating and resoluting else- where, in Vienna some 20,000 persons (argely veterans in uniform and Hakenkreuz gentry) participated (un- der the watchful eyé of the police) in (an anti-Jewish demonstration with music, instrumental and vocal, torna- does of denunciation, and Bacchic ceremontes. The commission appointed by the League of Natlons to decide on the question of the Danzig mall boxes has decided in favor of Poland. The French reply to the Berlin note of July 20 concerning the security pact was delivered at Berlin on Au- gust 24. It is most conciliatory in tone and proposes a conference (in which, presumably, Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium and Germany would participate) looking to consum- mation of a pact. The Luther gov- ernment finds the note acceptable as the basis of a conference, and replied to that effect on the 27th. The promptness of that reply is regarded as significant. Communists Oppose Swedish Cavalrymen Disarmament plansa of the Swedish government have led to plans for the formation of voluntary cavalty in addition to the voluntary riffe force already in existence. This movement has led to many protests among the Communists and Soctal Democrats, who declare that the Swedish con- servatives are seeking to create a na- tional Fascist organization to be used in subduing the workers when the right moment arrives. The Com- munists’ organ, Politiken, calls on the workingmen to create a rival force for their own defense. BY HENRY L. SWEINHART. LANS are now under way and the invitations will shortly be issued to editors throughout the United States and all of the other 20 American republics to attend the first Pan-American Con- gress of Journallsts, which will be held in this city in April, 1926. The con- gress is being called in accordance with a resolution of the fifth International { Conference of American States, which met in Santiago, Chile, in the carly part of 1923. Leaders in the field of' journalism threughout the American continent are expected to attend the conference. Speakers of international prominence will be on the program of cvery ses- slon, it is asserted. "All phases of press activity will be discussed. In addi- tion to hearing the views of editors in the United States, the visitors will be given the opportunity of inspecting some of the principal newspaper plants in this country, as well as witnessing other exhibits which will be of special interest to them. Coolidge to Receive Delegates. President Coolidge, it is expected will receive the delegates to the con- gress, and the Secretary of State and other officials also will participate in some of the social and other affairs arranged for their entertainment. Dinners and receptions probably will be held at a number of the embassies {and legations in honor of the distin- guished editors from the respect countries. An elaborate and unique { entertainment by the National Press LClub s one of the features contem- ed during the tay of the editors n the Natfonal Capital. Foliowing the conference here, which will last from April 7 to 14, with the business sessions held in the beautiful and spacious Pan-American Union Building, the editors of the Americas will be taken on a tour covering a number of points of historic and scenic interest. The itinerary which will include travel by motor, rall and boat, has been mapped only tentatively, but will probably include a motor ride through some of the ple- | turesque mountain sections of Vir- | ginia and a visit to one or more of the | famous caverns In that region At Richmond it is expected tha in their honor. prgbably where the shipyar | sigt ton Roads From there they will proceed to Newport News, will be taken through th 1d then gee the histo :nd Fortress Monroe. This owed, if the present plan is carried out. by a trip up Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore, foll visits to the United States Na demy at Aunapolls, and thence to Philadelphi: some entertalnment or recep- the may be arranged. From Philadel. {phia’ the editors will go on to New York time to attend cne or more of 5 of the American Publishers’ Association, | which will be in annual convention af { that tim Will Attend Special Exhibit. Tn addition to inspeetir ore jof the large newspaper plants in New York. the visiting editors from South Central America, and th st Indies will have the opportunit visiting also a special newspaper bit which wiil be held thes tigne in connection with the p of this trip,| some interesting function will be given | nd_around Norfolk, Hamp- | OF JOURNALISTS IN VIEW All Phases of Press Activity Will Be Under Discussion at Parley to Be Held - in Washington Next April. ering of the United States editors ai | publishers. ‘The coming Pan-American Congres of Journalists is expected to result irf an exchange of views which will bo of great value from an inter-Americas standpoint. The editors of the tws continents, it is believed, have muel to learn from each other, and a bette understanding in the interpretation news of the Americas is anticipa from the rubbing of elbows and fro | the contacts established when the ed tors of the two continents meet. It {the discussion at Santiago, which led to the adoption of the “olitic recommending the calling of the fir. Pan-American Congress of Journalist emphasis was laid on the importance of such a conference. If the editor of the Americas understood each othes better, if they were brought througiv exchange of ideas to know each other. better, it was held that the peoples of. North and South America would come to know each other better—the edito being responsible to a large extent the understanding or misundersta ing which exists between peoples thus genuine Pan-Americanism be developed. Kellogg Discusses Aims of Parley “The Pan-American Congres: Journalists cannot help but have a reaching influence in bringing abot closer acquaintance between the p ples of the Amerlcan continent Secretary of State Kell delegate from the United States to t congress which adopted the resolutio: urging the conference. As a res such a congress the journalists { hemisphere will be able better t pret to their people the com poses and ideals of the natio America “The countries of Latin America playing an increasingly important roie in the affairs of the world. It is mos important that through the rapi transmission of news between the na tions of America, and particularh through the enlightened interpretation of such n the people of this cont nent be kept fully informed of out standing events and of the trend public opinion. It is through a co stant interchange of views and impre sions that a real continental publ opinion can be attatned. ‘“The Pan-American Congress | Journalists to be held in April next |certain to contribute greatly tc this end. The interchange of vi and contacts established at that by the journallsts of the United States" of Latin America will ha an important bearing on the future relations between this the republics to The editors of have much to les they impart fro | of the greatest {lications in South America and | other republics of this hemi {Mutual benefits will be deri | believed, from the differences | nalism veen the r | south, and the instituti, of many of the papers thr America, extending terest | Unite private | furnish m of those plinning the ¢ the publishers and e United States, (Copsright | | | [ | | with thos lies and other p nference ors of League to Tackle « 1 | i 1 1 ment frontlers of all nath what the French w ike the prot c Y want by all fons to respect the n: This, too, is nt. But the Ger- |mans will not sign such an agree- ment; they will not renounce their hopes of remaking their eastern fron- tiers. And the French, who are eager to have some form of British guar- antee, are confronted with the fact that they can only get such a guar- antee in the form of a limited security pact. Were France rope Jerabl akia, Jugoslavia mania. She could, too, pre ! man entrance into the league, hec | her veto would Le sufficient. Bu price she would have to pay would {be the resiznation of all chance of {any form of British guarantees, and on’the whole the French regard this guarantee as essential to their safety. French Think Price High. partict of Po and pay the full price for such guarantee. They cannot consent to permit such an arrangement to prevent them from carrying out their treaty obliga- tions to Poland. for example, in c of a German aggression. This the British perceive. and now the whole problem is to find some way by which this French action may be put upon a legal and justifiable basis—that i to find a way by which French action may be restricted to totally legitimate circumstances. Germany cught not to be permitted to make her guarantee pact to France a permission to attack Poland when- ever she felt ready. On the other hand, France ought not to be allowed to invade Germany without regard to the security pact whenever she felt satisfied What is required to meet the situa- tion is plainly some wi of de- termining whether German action against Poland constitutes aggression and is therefore cause for French action. Make the league through some ap- propriate commission the judge of the issue that might arise between France and Germany over German action with respect of a French ally in the east and the way may be found for reconciling the conflicting views. But | this instantly changes the character of the security pact. It is no longer an ieolated affair. The British, after all, do not escape from the danger of ¥ European involvements. - For what they are after is to keep out of any eastern troulle, whether Ger- many or Poland be the segressor, while if Germany is pronounced in the wrong they will have to see France marching into Germany, thus insuring disturbance in the area within which they have immediate concern. All Hopes Thwarted. Thus Britain does not get her de- sired security growing out of the elimination of all chance of Franco- German collision, Germany does not get the freedom which she desires in the east as compensation for formal resignations in the west. And one is led to the conclusion that it is just as difficult to arrive at wholly sepa- rate pacts as it is to achieve the acceptance of a general pact. Those who followed the argument of Wil llam Rappard at Williamstown will remember his contentions that sepa- rate pacts would not serve and that the single possible solution lay in the general pact. As,was 1o be espected.. ihe.oppo an agree- | I But the French are not willing to | that she had justification. ! Greatest Issues Ever Before Body in Coming Session- 5 o s, was all for but in reality one saw a in the debate the clash bet 3ritish and the continental vie continental nations main whole of what occur: all; the B) in one quarter concerns - sh, who are on an islan: Jjoins their s between member of concede the status quo in the which the British are i France alone has bee s to the east ques neva the eastern n: heard and heard powerfu shalt have a renewal of the old deba which has always turned about the same question. teres left to B Divergence Is Clear. Beginning at the Paris conference the divergence between Irance and because we were unwilling t take any engagements with res uropean frontiers: the British have ) far refused to accept any of the va rious proposals because they were willing to take engagements only for certain areas in which they were di rectly interested. But the Continent, is just as opposed to the insular view and Geneva is almost certain to close the protest of the continental na tions against the British idea which for the moment has a German indorse ment. Moreover, the nece: to reconcile the two views, to find some compromise for herself which will give her a British guarantee v out losing her all-continental ‘stan ing and support, supplies the main problem. That Geneva can accom plish much this vear is unlikely the debate promises to be both portant and illuminating. (Copyright, 19! y of France Abolition of Air Tax Achieved by Caillaux Among the minor, but not unimpo: tant, achievements of Joseph Cafllauy present. finance minister of France, the total abolition of the ancient on windows and doors. This surviv: of medievalism in taxation has puzzled * foreign visitors to France for many decades. In the course of time, to ba sure, the tax was repeatedly modified but the bureaucracy would not cor- sent to its abolition. The effect of > tax on light and air has been greatly, detrimental. Public health, especially in the smaller towns and villages, has suffered. Tuberculosis, a_widespread and serious malady In France, has been traced in many instances to in- sufficient air and sunlight in the dwellings of workers, peasants ‘anc petty: traders. The disappearance of the tax on windows and doors is re gretted by no one. The income tax removed the last lame excuse for it It is no longer necessary to gue what a person’s income is by counting and measuring the door and window space in his house. If a Chinaman expects a present and it does not come. he mends one of lesser. value as a- reminder