Evening Star Newspaper, September 13, 1925, Page 57

HARSH MEASURES URGED TO HALT T IDE OF CRIME Desperate Remedies Held Only Way to Make Life Safe Where Violence Reigns Supreme and Desperadoes Go Free. BY F. G. CAMPBELL. N the wave of crime sweeping the United States we are paying the penalty for a quarter of a century of wallowing in maudiin sentiment. It is notable that many of the most startling crimes of today are com- mitted by very young men. These are the boys who 10 years ago were being put on probation, paroled, given suspended sentences, and the like, under the urgings of a group of soft- hearted and soft-headed vislonaries. Twenty-five years ago the amount of serious crime among the voung was so small as to be negligible. Then came the moral suasionists. The black death or any of the other plagues that have fallen upon man- kind at one time or another, would not have left any such frightful con- sequences in their wake as their doc- trine has lett. Parental Control Was Hit. According to these folks, Solomon, while reasonably wise in most things, had slipped a cog with respect to the disciplining of children. The parent who believed that firm discipline fn a child's formative years would be more than compensated for by the in- culcation in the mind of the child of a reasonable consideration for rights and feelings of other people, was gently but firmly rebuked. He was told that only persuasion should be used in the control of the child, and as for corporal punishment, that was absolute savagery—nothing less. That preachment was the beginning of the breaking down of parental con- trol of the child. Parents, quick to sleze upon this good excuse for avold- ing the disagreeable duty of control- | ing and disciplining their children, tell into line, hoping that perhaps the | new scheme would work out all vight. From the family, the moral s~sion- ists marched on to the courtd and legislatures, with the result that a saturnalla of crime exists emorg the voung, today, where it was practically non-existent 25 years ago. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Any theory must give way to the conditions that develop when the theory is tested. From all sides comes testimony of the frightful in crease in crime and the end is not yet. Time for Tests Past. There might have been a time in the history of this Nation when we could have afforded to view the ques. tion of the advisability of drastie handling of the criminal element as an academic one. There was a time when society had such a margin of safety with respect to the criminal class that it could afford to resolve some of the doubts in favor of the criminal in the name of humanity, and to try out doctrines that sound- ed well. That time has passed. We | have reached a point where we must bave either a two-fisted enforcement of law and order, or else have the criminal element crystallize into an organized resistance to the law. which can be eradicated only at an untold cost in both lives and money, if at all. It has been shown that organized gangs of criminals are operating on a fon-wide scale. Some of these devote thelr energies | to violations of the prohibition law upon a huge scale. Others have stolen and marketed automobiles of a value running into the millions of dellars. Pay roll and bank robberies are re- ported in every day's news. Is it a wild stretch of the imagination to foresee like conditions with respect to other forms of organized banditry? Aside from the impairment of the na- tional self-respect, this condition rep- resents an enormouse economic drain upon the people. Add to the actual sums stolen, the cost of police and courts and their subsidiaries, the large sums spent for auto theft, burg- lary and like insurance and the sums spent for mechanical protection de- vices such as burglar alarms, locks, safes, safe deposit vaults, watchmen and the like, and it will be seen that | the total will compare with the whole cost of running the national Govern- ment. Criminals Being Bred. No more complete system for the ereation, breeding and protection of criminals than that now in force in the United States of America could possibly have been devised if we had deliberately and painstakingly set to work to accomplish that result. The criminal is only one cog in the viclous machine which constitutes so grave a menace to our c The next cog is the type of who, some times for the fee involved and some times to feed his own vanity by the notoriety attending the successful | handling of a notorious criminal case, moves heaven and earth to free crimi- s of the most depraved and vicious type, oven though he knows them to be guilt There is a lawyer in the eity of W ington who openly states that his $20,000 home was built with bootleggers’ money. He is an “acces- sory after the fact” in their wrong- doing because he has helped them | evade the law. The next cog is the professional bondsman, who for a por-. tion of the ill-gotten gains of the thief or murderer will keep him free to walk the streets and prey upon soclety, while the lawyer plays for delay upon delay, until material witnesses are scattered, or dead, and conviction is rendered difficult, if not impossible. Add to the foregoing combination the propaganda of a lot of sentimentalists to discourage judges and juries from imposing adequate sentences in the low percentage of cases in which con- viction is had, and it becomes high time for justice to get that blindfold off. Criminals Satisfied. If the slick criminal can be assured of the services of a lawyer of the type Indicated and such court congestion as will delay his trial for a number of months, he is not likely to waste any time on honest work when he can live in affluence upon no more capital than & sandbag or a foot of lead pipe. In the State of Virginia the penalty for highway robbery is death, and properly so. For offenders in crimes involving unprovoked personal violence for the purpose of robbery, there should be no clemency, no mercy, no probation and no suspended or commuted sen- tences either for the first offense or otherwise. The man who for the sake of unearned money sets upon and strikes down his fellowman is the rattlesnake of society, and should be treated as such One of the most serious mistakes that a community, a state or a nation can make is to hold that the mere preservation of life is a matter of pri- mary importance. There are many things that are of more importance than the preservation of life. Honor, the safety of one’s family, the safety of the highways, the right to lie down and sleep in peace and safety; these and many other things are of much more importance than the mere preservation of a life. Law Proved Impotent. Nature in 24 hours snuffs out of ex- Istence more persons than all the mur- derers that the law could spare in 10 generations, with this difference, that some of those whom Nature removes the | | any other course. than useless incumbrances upon the earth, in that they have renderer the earth less beautiful to their fellow- men, and have spread broadcast in the land the devastating influence of fear. Who can measure the harm done by such a crime as that of the murder of the Franks boy by Leopold and Loeb? The influence of that crime will be exerting its baneful ef- fects when all of the actors in that tragedy are in their graves, though they live a century. Children, unborn when the crime was committed, will mirror in their nervous afictions the fear that clutched many a mother’s heart as the tale of that ghastly crime was spread broadcast over the land, a fear made doubly great when the decision of Judge Caverly made a Nation feel that not only was such a crime possible, but that the law was impotent in the face of ft. If it was sound sense to put the best of America’s manhood in the muck of Flander's trenches, to die by the thou- sands to emphasize that wrong should not triumph, there would seem to be no reason for completely reversing that policy at home and making the safety of the tens of millions of hon- est, hard-working people, completely subservient to consideration for the welfare of the very small percentage of the population, who for the sake | of unearned money, keep the whole Nation in turmoil and unrest. Criminals Keen Witted. Those who argue in favor of moral suasion paint the criminal as one of low mentality and usually one of life's unfortunates, who has never had a chance. Nothing could be further from the truth. The ranks of the criminal classes contain some of the keenest wits in the country. Accord- ing to one of the professors of Johns Hopkins University, a survey made by him discloses the fact that there are at this time 7,000 “college-bred” persons in the penitentiaries of the country and that A0 per cent of these fall into crime after reachnig the age of 40. Further, according to a survey reported to the Chicago Crime Com- mission, nearly 70 per cent of the in- mates of penitentiaries are what are known as ‘“repeaters,” or those who have been convicted upon more than one_occasion. The moral suasionists aver with pride that 85 per cent of paroled prisoners “make good.” Then by the same token 15 per cent of those turned loose promptly renew their criminal actlvities and resume preying upon their fellow man. They proclaim from the housetop “Prison does not reform’ and thereupon conclude that there is nothing_to do but turn the criminal loose. Well there is nothing eise to do if reformation of the criminal, who may or may not reform, is the ne plus uitra of the matter, but the safety and welfare of the whole social mass demands that the criminal be taught that if he violates the law he will be punished. There are too many loose thinkers who appear to hold that the disgrace connected with a criminal act is all in paying the penalty and none in the wrongful act. Nervous Disorders Increased. The medical profession concedes that the greatest menace to the health of the Nation lies in the enor- mous increase in nervous disorders. There is no influence so potent in the creation of such disorders as fear. Women, reading accounts of crime after crime of violence, are rendered fearful and if left alone after nightfall frequently become so terrified that the most harmful effects upon their nerves and upon unborn children is produced. What reason is there, then, for permitting a con- tinuation of such conditions? It wonld seem more sensible to about- tace and to say that from now on the law-abiding man and woman shall have first consideration, that their homes and highways shall be made absolutely safe, to such an ex- tent that the man forced to be away from home after nightfall may not have to feel that his wife is wait- ing in nervous dread until he gets back; that the mother may send her child to school secure in the knowl- edge that no brute in human form would dare to lay a hand on it, from either lust or greed. If we are not men enough to insure these things in our land then we are indeed “degenerate sons of noble sires” and are not keeping intact for our chil- dren the heritage left us by Wash- ington and Lincoln. To every man and woman to whom the teachings of Christ mean any- thing the tendency to listen to the appeal for clemency is almost irre- sistible. We feel “mean” if we urge The admonition to forgive again and yet again rings in our ears and will not down. The trouble is that we do not properly make a distinction between the re- pentant man and the “hard guy.” who makes no secret of the fact that the only thing he is sorry for is that he got caught. Suspended sentences should he conditioned upon a first offender establishing a previously good reputation. No Biblical Precedent. ‘We should remember that there came a time when even Christ scourged the money changers from the temple and, while he forgave the Magdalen, it was not while she per- sisted in sin, but only after repent- nce. There is no warrant either in | holy writ or in good sense for clem- ency to the man who has set out to get his living by his wits, with- out work and at the expense of his fellow man. If some frightful pestilence threat- ened the land, how quickly would we resort to drastic measures. How promptly would the individual suffer- ers be clapped Into contagious disease hospitals, under the doctrine that the welfare of the individual must yleld to consideration for the safetysof the whole social mass. And yet no pesti- lence could possibly be as harmful as the present criminal conditions in the country, because when a pestilence is over it Is over, but if a nation has grown o soft that 't cannot or will not control its crimiinal element its recovery, if at all, is likely to be very slow and only after bitter lessons. The following remedlal measures would go a long way toward correct- ing the situtalon. 1. The enactment of legislation providing for the automatic appoint- ment of additional judges or prose- cuting attorneys or both whenever a court docket becomes so congested that a criminal case cannot be reach- ed in 30 days. Parole Laws Opposed. 2. The enactment of legislation prohibiting the commutation of sen- tence or the paroling or the pardoning of the offender in any crime Involving robbery by violence. 3. The restoration of the whipping post in both adult and juvenile cases. (Let doubters read the speech of Representative Franklin Brockson in the United States Congress defend- ing Delaware's use of the lash and quoting police officials' of nation-wide prominence as to its efficacy.) 4. A gentleman's agreement among newspaper owners and editors to stop giving so much publicity to notorious criminals and particularly to put a stop to the activities of those are without fault upon their part, while those whom courts and juries frequently spare have been worse reporters who have a tendency to cast such criminals in heroic mold. 5. A recognition of the great. use- 1d THE SUNDAY 'S TAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SEPTEMBER 13, 1925—PART 2. The Story the ‘Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief sum- mary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended September 12: United States of America.—The hap- plest news—the Navy seaplane PN-9 No. 1, with its crew of five, Comdr. John Rodgers commanding, was picked up on Thursday night by a submarine about 15 miles off the Is- land of Kauai in the Hawailan group. It would seem that on September 1 a radio message from the guard ship Aroostock giving the latter's bearings was misunderstood by the plane, which altered its course to accord with the mistaken message. The Aroostock, not belng sighted as expected, the plane was just about to inform the Aroostock of her change of course when her gasoline gave out. A fine landing was made in heavy swells, but owing to lack of gasoline the motors were out of action and radio transmission was impossible. The crew cut the fabric from one of the wings of the plane and with part thereof rigged a foresall and with the rest caught rain water. They sailed before the wind for something like nine days, making about 50 miles per day, the craft at all times be- having very well. The emergency rations were not quite exhausted when rescue came, but there was some distress from In- sufficiency of water, which would have been far worse had not the mother of Comdr. Rodgers insisted that he take with him a small water still. It is evi- dent that Comdr. Rodgers handled the situation with the most impressive skill and great gallantry. It is good to note that he has already been re- warded by a pleasant assignment. The plane deserves as much congratula- tion for its seaworthiness as Comdr. Rodgers for his seamanship. In a long statement issued to the press on September 5 Col. WHiiam Mitchell, formerly assistant chief of the Army Alr Service and now air officer of the §th Corps Area, violent- ly attacked the aviation policies of the War and Navy Departments. Referring to the disaster to the Shenandoah and the supposed disaster to the PN-9 No. 1, Col. Mitchell sald: “These accidents are direct results of the incompetency, criminal negligence and almost treasonable administration of the national defense by the War and Navy Departments. In their at- tempts to keep down development of aviation by an independent depart- ment separate from the Army and Navy and handled by aeronautical ex- perts, and to maintain the existing system, they have gone to the utmost lengths. All aviation policies, schemes and systems are dictated by non-flying officers of the Army and Navy, who know practically nothing about the business. The lives of the airmen are being used merely as pawns In their hands.” President Coolidge returned Washington on Thursday. The long drought has hit hard the Middle West crops. * K o % France.—Day after day, with char- acteristic boldness, Abd-el-Krim at- :a}‘ked the French and Spanish to forces in Morocco in a desperate effort to forestall the impending Franco-Spanish general offensive, but in_vain. Under cover of a bombardment by a great number of French and Span- ish ships and French seaplanes, a considerable Spanish force was land- ed on Alcuhemas Bay on September 8, and this force i{s now marching south, while French forces.are march- ing north. In other words, the Franco-Spanish general offensive has begun. Apparently so, at any rate. Rene Viviani, the distinguished French statesman and one of the most effective orators the world has known, is dead at the age of 61. He was premier at the outbreak of the great war, but gave place to Briand in October, 1924. He had co-operated ardepntly with Sir Ed- ward Gray in efforts to avert the conflict. He was the first French minister of labor in Clemenceau's cabinet of 1906, and his work on behalf of the laboring masses was notable. It is, howevey, generally agreed that he just misse® very high rank as statesman; but what elo- quence! * kX ok Germany.—August 31 was the first anniversary of the Institution of the Dawes plan. The first year's working was smooth, as was to be expected, since of the 1,000,000,000 marks Ger- man payment 800,000,000 marks came from the external loan, the remain- der being a charge on the Ger- man_Railway Co., organized under the Dawes plan by consolidation of the state railways. In the year be- gun September 1, 1925, and thence forward, four annulty sources will be in play—the budget, the transport tax, the industrial debentures and the German rallway bonds. The total annuity, 1925-26, will be 1,220 million marks; that for 1926-27, 1,200 million marks; that for 1927-28, 1,750 million {marks. The standard annuity begins | September 1, 1928, namely, 2,500 mil- lion marks (subject to increase de- pending on the “index of prosperity”), distributed as follows as to source: 1,250 mlillions from the budget, 290 millions from the transport tax, 300 millions from the Industxial deben- tures, 660 millions from the raflway bonds. The experts’ chief apprehension seems to be as to the budget. ‘The budget contribution of 500,000, 000 marks for 1927-28 will soar to 1,250,000,000 for 192829 and ensuing vears. In this connection we are re. assured by the information that Ger- man revenue receipts for the months April to July inclusive of this year | exceeded ~estimates by 400,000,000 {marks. Nothing could be more interesting than to watch the operation and fnci- dental effects henceforth of the plan; the transfer problem (pressure on the exchanges); the career of the consoli- dated raflway system; the somewhat dubltable scheme of the industrial de- bentures; the extent to which deliv- erfes in kind will be acceptable; the effects on international trade of ef- forts to increase the German export surplus. Of course the grand object of the ,800,000,000 marks external loan of 1924 was to enable German productive- ness to recover. Opinions differ as to how far this object has been achieved. That Germany should experience painful deflation pangs might seem in | the nature of things, but informed opinfon is, on the whole, and taking a long view, discreetly optimistic. * K kK Austria.—Following, and no doubt largely in consequence of, a report by a commission of experts, under league auspices, a commercial treaty between Jugoslavia and Austria has been con- cluded which really goes far to break down the absurd economic barriers previously existing between the two countrfes. The commission’s report declares that Austria can achieve pros- perity if the economic barriers be- tween her and her neighbors are re- moved, which statement is a blow to the Anschluss advocates. The league assembly has resolved that league control of Austrian fiscal flairs shall end on January 1, 1926, except that, by a plan to be evolved, league control is to be retained of resources sufficient to secure the in- ternational rehabilitation loan. The resolution declares that league control has been a perfect success. The end of the last fiscal year showed a re- spectable budget surplus. * ok k¥ Bulgaria.—Bulgaria has sent her foreign minister to Geneva to urge on the league measures to insure proper | execution of the provisions of the post- war treaties relating to minorities, with particular reference to Bulgarian minorities in Macedonia (Greek and Serblan), Thrace (Greece) Dobrudja (Rumania). Premier Tsankoffs says that 800,000 Bulgarians have emigrated to Bul- garia from Macedonia, Thrace and the Dobrudja because of persecution in those districts, and he asserts that his government, already desperately bur- dened by costs consequent on the war, cannot provide adequate relief for the refugees, whose number is being steadily augmented. Proper treat- ment of Bulgarian minorities in the districts above named should, he points out, halt further emigration therefrom to Bulgaria. Russia.—Celebration of the 200th anniversary of the founding by Peter the Great of the Russian Academy of Science, began at Moscow on Sep- tember 6, and on the tenth was trans- ferred to Moscow. The visiting for- eign pundits are being elaborately feted. Soviet authorities declare that the celebration marks complete recon- cllement of the Soviet government with Russlan leaders of sclence and educatfon hitherto estranged. Some are saying that the cordiality being shown to foreign scientists by the Soviet government on this ocassion is scarcely consistent with the Mosco- vite intrigue at Urga, which has com- pelled (at any rate, such is the bur- den of our dispatches) the sclentific expedition headed by Roy Chapman Andrews to cease work and leave Mongolia. It will be recalled that the execuitve committee of the Communist party re- cently ordered that the technical staffs of the state industrial and commercial establishments should be treated as well as other categories of workers. and the China.—There was a violent anti- British demonstration in the interna- tional settlement of Shanghal Tues- day. A mob estimated at 2,000 enter- ed the settlement from the Chinese city and moved\ upon the central poilce station. The British police at- tempted to force the mob back with their sticks, but a policeman having been knocked down, they fired, hitting three Chinese and dispersing the rest. According to a Hongkong dispatch two English journalists were seized by Canton strikers the other d#y, chained by the neck and kept confined dn a bamboo cage for 17 hours, while a crowd hurled insults at them, being restrained, however; from violence by an armed guard. At length the Can- ton higher authorities had them re- leased and turned over to the British authorities on Sha Mien Island, with apologies. * k¥ ¥ The League of Nations.—On Sep- tember 7 Paul Painleve, premier of France, opened the sixth League As- sembly. Senator Raoul Dandurand of Canada was elected president. M. Painleve's opening speech was a very fine performance. He de- clared that, though the protocol of arbitration, security and disarmament was rejected by the 1924 Assembly, the spirit of the protocol survives, and added that negotiations now are in process toward a British-French- Italian-Belgian.German security pact. He expects to see a number of such reglonal agreements co-ordinated into a system under the league. He rec- ommended that the counell be em- powered to issue invitations to a dis- armament conference “as soon as it 1s considered that satisfactory con- ditions from the point of view of security are well established.” He declared himself confident that the ancient enmities of Europe will cease, and that enduring peace will be established on the solid basis of justice. France, he reminded ‘the assembly, is willing to submit all in- ternational disputes to. compulsory arbitration. Seventeen foreign minis- ters are in Geneva. * ¥ % % Peace a la Mode.—The twenty- fourth universal peace congress was held in Paris recently and was at- tended by a German delegation in- cluding Herr Loebe, the Soclalist speaker of the Reichstag. Herr Loebe made the interesting remark that the European countries will be compelled to combine industrially to protect themselves agalnst increasing production in the United States. Alas, the congress ended in an atmos- phere of utmost bellicosity. A German spoke flippantly of the Geneva protocol. And the champlons of it rose in wrath. * ¥ ¥ ¥ Notes—The outlaw strike of Brit- ish seamen continues serious in Aus- tralla and South Africa. A New York company has con- tracted with the Greek government to drain a portion of the Saloniki Plain at a cost of $26,000,000. An- other American company is to supply Athens (whose population is now about a million, as against 125,000 25 years ago) with water via an aque- duct from Marathon, 18 miles away. LEAGUE ASSEMBLY APPROACHES SHIRT-SLEEVE DIPLOMACY IDEAL Nears Realization of Open Covenants Favored by United States—Really Is Bar of Justice for Na- tions Large and Small, Rich and Poor. BY PROF. CHARLES HODGES, Department of Government, New York Uni- versity. Speaking through the modern na- tional state, the sixth assembly of the League of Nations is the way our times broadcasts the world interests of a clvilization that runs back to the outlook of an anclent city market place. Today's news carries the story of mankind's latest development of the wholesome habit of talking things over In common council. Starting at the cross-roads of community life, the Greek agora, the Roman forum, the Old World parlement were literally “talking places.” They represented the Greclan, Roman and European way of giving voice to the citizens of the community. Now 55 sovereign states, the new citizens of the world community with its post-war organ- ization of common life, mark the opening of a vaster horizon to all humanity as they speak out in meet- ng. This cross-roads of world life we call the League of Nations brings the gov- ernments of the earth—barring our- selves, Russia, Germany and five lesser states—to the heart of Europe for the annual accounting of this business of international existence. The Septem- it fulness of ‘‘habitual criminal” laws and more frequent use of the same. 6. A recognition of the fact that the the so-called “honer system™ in treat- ing criminals has not worked. (Several life-term prisoners have walked away from the honor-system farm of Illi- nois recently, and a lawyer of Wash- ington has just recovered large dam- ages from the District of Columbia be- cause the escaping prisoners from the District workhouse, near which he had a farm, were in such numbers as to keep his family in terror and finajly to force him to move). Chain Gang Urged. 7. Revival of the chain gang, with its accompanying manual labor in lieu of movies and radio entertainments for law-breakers. 8. The creation of a “bail commis- sion” and the enactment of legislation prohibiting the release upon balil of an offender already out on ball upon a previous charge, except when such bail commission, after a hearing, is- sued a certificate of possible doubt of the guilt of the accused. 9. A revision of the rules of evi- dence. As the matter stands now, the law functions much more effectually as a protection to the criminal than as a protection to soclety. There should not be so many technical rea- sons why the truth may not be brought before a jury. Furthermore, the mere fact that evidence has not been pro- cured in strict accordance with Hoyle should not be reason for refusing to consider it. If officers get evidence by improper methods they should be dis- missed or otherwise punished, but the criminal should not be permitted to profit by the situation. 10. The enactment of a law render- ing testimony of alleged expert alien. ists inadmissable in criminal cases and providing, where a plea of insanity was offered, for an examination by the prop- er medical officer of the State, whose finding should be accepted as conclu- sive and whose salary should be paid by the State. Experience has conclu- sively shown that alleged experts com- manding fees of from $100 to $500 dol- lars per day can be hired to testify either way, according to whether the State or the defendant hires them. The foregoing may be drastic meas- ures, but “‘desperate diseases need des- perate remedies.”, It goes without say- ing that mere misdemeanors should not be punished by the rigorous treat- ment suggested, but felonies should be punished with such severity as to make the criminal realize that organ- ized soclety is still supreme. ber gathering of the assembly is really 1 meeting of the stockholders in world destiny. It is the climax of a year's lalsors to maintain the rule of law and order. ‘Weeks of Brainwork. On the one hand, the work of the council, which we may term a select committee of the nations carrying on between assembly meetings like a board of directors, passes in review; on the other, the labors of the secre- tarfat, the office force in charge of the Immediate execution of activities, are examined. With the new business that may come up in the actual meetings, it means the statesmen of the world are in for a strenuous few weeks of brainwork ever balancing national in- |terests against the international needs of the nations as a whole. The secret of the league's success in surveying and meeting world prob- lems lies in its careful preparation for the assembly work. The agenda, as every one now speaks of a pro- gram, has been built up by the sec- retariat in detall and the problems worked over by the council in a ses- sion just preceding the assembly; so the groundwork is laid with all the efficiency of a meeting of Rotary Clubs. Just recently the councll went over 22 international problems, rang- ing from the disposition of the Mosul ofl fields to where mail boxes may be placed by Poland in the streets of the Free City of Dantzig. Each item rep- resented expert study by the secre- tariat, its technical organizations or a speclal investigatory body. Knowl- edge, not guesswork, dominates. Near East Problem. The outstanding assembly discus- slons promise to be over the Near East, the reconstruction of central Europe and the progress of the pa- cific settlement of international dis- putes. Related to these questions are matters such as the mandate problem in general, especially in view of the recommendation from the Mandate Commission that the development of these peoples “in trust” rest on solid economic foundations; the German re- quest for league membership, now tied up with the fate of the security pact, and the league efforts to re- strict the ravages of war, on the one hand, while strengthening the possi- bilities of conciliation. on the other, by extending the activities of the World Court. Other reports debated will be from the Opilum Commission, the Minorities Mixed Commissions, the Slavery Commission, the preparatory committee on the development of an “international relief unjon” as a super Red Cross and the committee on intellectual co-operation. Nearing Open Policy. All this is formidable, but it is very business-like, reducing the chaos of before the war to orderly procedure. It is the nearest approach to the realization of the American ideals of “shirt-sleeve diplomacy” and ‘“open covenants” the world has seen—all proceedings are public property, as open to the day as the discussion of your neighbor's faults and virtues. Yet, it is far more than a debating soclety. The difference {s that instead of discussing questions in general terms, the assembly gets down to act- ing upon concrete data dealing with individual problems. Now the story of man's progress is bound up largely with his abllity to govern himself in accordance with the needs of his time. Civilization, there- fore, more and more has represented the application of peaceful discussion and co-operation to the problems of the day. The assembly really becomes a great court in equity where the na- tions of the world, large and small, rich and poor, powerful and impotent, can appear before the bar of o world opinion. (Copuright. 1925, FACT-FINDING BOARD CALLED. CURE FOR ANTHRACITE STRIKE Coal Tie-Ups Will Pass When Light of Full Publicity Is Thrown on Cases—Both Parties Wanted Present Suspension and Welcomed It. BY SAMUEL CROWTHER. Noted Authority on Industrial Problems. Once more we have an anthracite coal strike. It is singularly like all previous strikes in that no one seems to know quite what it is all about. The operators have a press bureau working and the strikers have a press bureau working. The operators say that they cannot sell coal excepting at lower prices and that these lower prices can be gained only through lower wages. The miners say that this is untrue, that it is not wages which make the high prices and that they must have higher wages or stop living. As usual neither side gives any figures which can be trusted and, also, as usual, neither side seemed anxious to dodge a strike. The only unusual teature is that the public cares very little about the strike and detests both sides about equally. The coal operators and the coal miners’ unions have about reached the class of pub- lic nuisances. Welcomed by Both. This strike is not about anything in particular and it was welcomed both by the operators and the union heads. The operators have plenty of coal on hand which they would like to sell at an extra margin of profit and they can get that extra margin of profit only by a strike. The mines have not been very busy for some time past and the unions were threatened with a loss of member- ship. The coal unions are fighting unions and their members can be held together only when a fight is on. The union organization is an exten. sive one with a great number of of- ficlals who hold the members in a grip of iron. That grip was loosen- ing and the only way to strengthen it was through a strike. All of this is stone age stuff—most of the operators and union officers, if they dressed according to their in- would wear bearskins and carry flint hatcbets. - But that being granted, what of it? These men own and work the mines in the small an- thracite flelds, and a good part of the East, and especially the large cities, are dependent on them for fuel—al- though many former coal users have turned to oil or gas heating. These men are in control. Shall they be left in control? And if not, what control can be substituted? Is coal affected with a public use? . The ready answer is Government ownership. Let the Government take and run the mines. But how would that be brought about? The Govern- ment would have to buy the mines at a high price and then the trouble would start. We saw enough of Gov- ernment ownership of rallroads dur- ing the war to know that if the Gov- ernment took the mines we should have the labor troubles given a po- litical tinge and that, with a mass of bureaucrats surging over the mines, ‘we should get coal only by accident, and that If it were cheap in price we should pay the difference in taxes. Supervision Opposed. Government supervision, as through the Interstate Commerce Commission, does not offer anything unless one be- lieves that the supervision of the rail- ways is a success—against the fact that railway rates have steadlly gone up and profits down since the Inter- state Commerce Commission was cre- ated. The real remedy seems to be in the recommendation of the Coal Commis- slon which, under John Hays Ham- mond, made such a thorough investi- gation two years ago. That commis- sion suggested the setting up of & con- tinuous fact-finding body, o that when a strike did threaten the public could know the real facts and not be dependent on publicity agents. This coal strike would cease if only the public knew the facts. For public opinion can force anything. (Copyright. 1925.) tellects, Little Red Hens Grow White Feathers When Dosed With Thyroid Glands “Off again, on again, off again, says M. Zavadovski to himself as he harvests crop after crop of new chick- en feathers from the hens in his laboratory at Sverdlov University, Moscow, as a result of feeding them doses of dried thyroid gland. In ex- perimenting to study the effect of ex- cessive thyroid in hens with a view to applying the knowledge gained in treating human cases, M. Zavadovski observed that chickens moulted arti- ficlally two weeks after one strong dose of thyroid was given, and grew new feathers in another two weeks. ‘The new feathers were always white, regardless of the color of the originai plumage. It was also shown that fowl could withstand large doses of thyroid with- out symptoms of acute pofsoning, and the fact of cumulative action of the thyrold hormone was confirmed, for they could endure large doses in one administration better than daily small ones. The quickness with which the fowl lost the old feathers and put on the new depended on the size of the ose. The biggest dose that could be iven induced moulting in six days and brought new white feathers in 17. The method of. giving sin- gle doses enabled the experimenter to obtain a picked chicken in two weeks and one with new plumage in four. The new plumage that grew after iental mouiting was markedly softer than the original, but was not lclaims that the thyrold. When M. Zavadovski graft- ed a thyroid gland from a dog under the wing or on some other part of the fowl, white feathers grew at the site of the operation, but moulting did not oceur. Zung Leaps to His Death When Badgered for ‘Tips’ Zung's name may not go down to Pposterity, but to a certain extent he has made himself famous. As far as records go, East or West, Zung is the first man who paid the supreme sac- rifice rather than submit to the sys- tem of tipping. Zung thus became. a martyr to a cause. 2Zung, who worked for a foreign firm in Nanking, when pressed for a tip, leaped over the side of the vessel on which he was travel- ing from Nanking to Wuhu and was drowned in the Yangtze River. His body was recovered later miles down the stream at a place called Shiakwan. ‘When Zung boarded the ship he was signaled out immediately by cabin boys, stewards, baggage coolies and he sailors as being a “'soft They approached him for ‘“cumsha,” otherwise known as a tip. Incensed at their rude behavior, Zung, without a moment's hesitation, jumped the ship. The Hupeh guild is to ask an investigation into the affair and promises to bring proceedings against the crew at the District Court of Pro- curation in Nanking. The i““d crew attacked Zung g0 easily changed by a second dose of when he Jefused to tip them, 3 JUSTICE MOVING SLOWLY IN SUITS ON OIL LEASES All Cases in Order, But Can’t Get Through Crowded Courts Before Many Months. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. HAT has become of the Teapot Dome and Sinclair ofl cases, the indictments | against Doheny, Fall and the others who figured so sensationally in the headlines of near- ly two years ago? Has the statute of limitations begun to run or have the cases been dropped? It's a curious sidelight on modern prosecutions that none of these things has happened, yet the cases have dropped out of sight, so to speak. Inquiry at the Department of Jus- tice reveals the fact that the Govern- ment is absolutely confident of win- ning virtually all its cases and that decisions in nearly all of the suits pending are expected by next Spring at the latest. Also the statute of limi- tations will not enable any offender to escape, as the suits were all brought within the time limit, and therefore the delays of litigation ' itselt do mot count. Status of Cases. Here Is the status of the various cases to date: 1. The United States vs. Mam- moth Oil Co. (Sinclair) is the case involving Teapot Dome leases. It was tried in the lower court at Cheyenne and won by the defendants. The Government was unable to pro- duce the witnesses to support charges of fraud, as the witnesses were in Canada and it was not possible to get the depositions in time. The Gov- ernment has appealed the case and it will be tried in the efghth circuit, either at Denver or St. Paul or St Louis, within the next few months. 2. The United States vs. Pan* American Petroleum Co. was tried be- fore the Federal Court in Los Angeles and won by the Government. The defendants have appealed and the case will be tried in a higher court in San Francisco shortly. This case involves an effort to cancel leases in | | Thus in California. The point at issue was whether the transfer of authority from the Navy to the Interior Depart- ment was valid. The District Court of Southern California under Judge Sheppard ruled from the bench that the lease was valid and ordered the Government's plea dismissed. Appeal has been taken by the Government to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth District and the case probably will be tried soon in San Francisco. 4. The United States vs. Pan, American Petroleum Co. This in- Volves virtually the same points as case No. 2 above, but covers a differ- ent section of the ofl reserve. The court in Los Angeles has indicated a desire to await the outcome of the appeal taken by the defendants in case No. 2 before permitting trial, as the decision will be of guidance. Both case 3 and 4 are being handled by 8. W. Willlams, special assistant to the Attorney General. 5. The United States vs. Albert Fall, Edward Doheny, Harry Sinclair and others. This is a criminal pro ceeding under the statutes covering conspiracy to defraud. Indictments were quashed on the ground that member of the Department of Justice was in the grand jury room. The Government promptly secured new {ndictments and the case s pend ing before the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. An appeal could be taken to the District Court of Appeals but this usually is the | court of last resort unless by a writ of certiorari—a rare happening— there is an opportunity to get the matter before the Supreme Court of the United States. The docket of the District Court here is crowded and there is no telling when the criminal cases will be tried. There is reason to believe they will come up, how- ever, before another year passes. Justice Moves Slowly. it will be that seen the California which were made originally | wheels of justice move very slowly in pursuance of a transfer from the |and there is ample chance for the Navy Department to the Department | The Government |dwindle to nothing. of the Interlor. now alleges there was no authority for the President to make the transfer. It also was alleged that the lea were granted without requesting pro- posals, without advertisement and without competitive bidding. There also was allegation that the leases were fraudulent in that they were made without adequale consideration and that this was not demanded be- cause E. L. Doheny, prior thereto, had paid Secretary of the Interior Fall for the latter's sole use and bene- fit a sum of $100,000, which payment was supposed to have been made to influence Secretary Fall in the leasing of naval petroleum reserves and pub- lic lands. - Both this and the foregoing case were prosecuted by special coun- sel—former Senator Atlee Pomerene and Owen J. Roberts. 3. The United States vs. Bel- ridge Ofl Co. This was an effort to publicity the cases to Naturally there {1s some advantage in this to the parties because the case then is argued on its merits without the intervention of public opinfon and | passion. Very little was said about the cases during the last presidential campaign largely because the public took it for granted that the Republican ad- ministration under President Coolidge was doing all it could to prosecute them. When the decisions are rend- ered there may be another campaign going on—namely the Congressional elections of 1926—and if the Govern- ment has failed to win its critics may make a point of it though victory for the Government will tend to help the Coolidge administration on the ground that prosecutions were made of former Republican _officenolders and the acts of a past Republican administration were fearlessly chal- attending cancel a lease for naval reserve No. 1 lenged. Lines Clearly Drawn in Aircraft Row Stirred Up Anew by Mitchell Attack (Continued from First Page.) The War Department is endeavor- ing to develop this anti-aircraft de- fense against airplanes and the air- men, from lessons learned in the war, prounounce it useless. In addition, the Department has taken a decided stand against a united air force. It cannot acquiesce in any proposal which contemplates making the Army Afr Service anything other than a per- manent and integral part of the Army, the same as is the Field Artillery, I fantry, Coast Artillery and other com- batant arms. Unity of command is necessity, it is contended, and to have the Army, Navy and alr force all act- ing independently would end only in disaster in time of war. The Depart- ment adds it should not be tolerated in time of peace. Falth in the Airplane. If the two departments had as much faith in the airplane as the aviators themselves, they would be in favor of a unified air service and other expan- sion of aeronautic activities. And until they can come around to the way of thinking of the airmen, argu- ments on various phases of the ques- tion are useless. The War and Navy Departments cannot be convinced that Mitchell’s program is correct when his airplane has falled to convince them of all the things he claims for it. The airmen regard themselves as a superior type of fighting arm. They are characterized by Col. Mitchell as the greatest individual fighters the world ever has seen. They do mot fight in mass or in a body, but each man, he claims, is solely responsible and held to an accounting for his deeds. Superior manhood also enters into the airman’s qualifications, the Colonel avers. A higher type physic- ally and psychologically is required and he repeatedly cites the example that a very small percentage of applicants for West Point are fit for the Air Service duty. ‘With the Navy now, however, the addition of a course in aeronautics has raised the physical entrance require- ment and from this year on, Col. Mitchell cannot include Naval Acad- emy entrants in his list. Each en- trant is examined as though he were to be taken into primary training at Pensacola, Fla. Better Pilots Being Produced. The training given the Army and Navy aviators also, is in advance of any other instruction of the present day. Applicants for the flying serv- lice are required to go through the most rigid mental and physical exami. nations and the greatest grind comes in the advanced training. By _the present system, the young man who emerges from the schools wearing an Ensign's stripe or a second lieuten- ant’s bars, is a better pilot than the war ever produced. Advancement and promotion sys- tems of the two services are thorns in the side of the alrmen. Because their duties differ entirely from other branches and because their death rate is higher; they feel they are entitled | to greater reward. Young officers of the Army and Navy now, according to Mitchell, are performing duties simi- lar to those held down by Admirals and Generals in other arms. ‘What Mitchell Advocates. Col. Mitchell, in his latest publica- tion, “Winged Defense,” outlines what the air defense of the United States should be at the present time as fol- lows: ‘Within the continental limits of the United States there should be an of- fensive air force of one air division of 1,200 planes to be operated as a unit, and two separate brigades, one along the Atlantic coast and one along the Pacific coast, of 600 airplanes each. ‘The force should consist of two-thirds pursuit and one-third bombardment (included in the bombardment avia- tion should be some attack aviation, if this continues to be an element in our organization). There should be a local defense unit of 100 planes and accessories to de- fend the City of New York to be used 84 & model on which defense against afrcraft organizations for other places could be based when required. There should be a local defense unit of 100 airplanes at Panama. The afr- ways_should be organized throughout the United States, Porto Rico, the West Indies Islands, Cuba, Mexico and Central America to Panama, so that air force units could be dispatched to the most important point for the de fense of that area. The Hawailan Islands, due to their remoteness from the continent, should be equipped with an _alr force of 300 airplanes, two-thirds of which should be pursuit and one-third bombardment. In addition to the air force units there should be a unit for the local defense of the Island of Oahu of 100 pursuit planes and accessories for defense against aircraft. Due to the strategic position of the Philippine Islarifis there should be no air force or local defense units main- tained because the locality could not be defended in case of war. The aero- nautical organization there should consist merely of two general service squadrons of 25 two-scater airplanes each. These should be organized for use against local uprisings, for recon- naissance and in developirg the air- ways of the islands. Force in Alaska. Alaska should be provided with an air force of 300 planes, 200 pursuit and 100 bombardment. These should have their headquarters in time of peace in the vicinity of Fort Gibbon; opposite the mouth of the Tanana River on the Yukon. The airways should be organ ized with the consent of Canada from the United States to Alaska as far as Nome and Cape Prince of Wales, and also down the Alaskan Peninsula and the Aleutlan Islands to the Island of Attu. Of the force in the continental United States there should be about 15 per cent of officers and enlisted men maintained permanently with the organizations and the rest in reserve. The general overhead, engineering and supply services should be per- manent. In Panama the units should remain at half strength; in the Hawaiian Islands they should be at tull strength; in the Philippines at full strength and in Alaska at half) strength. The number and strength of, both the local defense and auxiliary units for observation purposes should be varied from time to time in ac-s cordance with the needs of the or:s ganizations which they are designed to serve. Modern Antiques Find Eager Buyers in Spain’ That American vogue for “Spanish houses” is sending to Spain an ever- increasing swarm of buyers of fur: niture and fittings who pounce on all Spanish articles, good, bad and indif: ferent. Since genuine Spanish period fur- niture is becoming very rare, anys: thing that is merely old is snapped up. A rug or a carpet with holes in it has become more valuable than the same article in good repair. All sorts of faking and imitation are resorted to. For example, an old chair is taken to pleces and one of its legs is incor- porated in a reproduction, which is then sold as an antique on the strength of its one old leg. In an an- tiquary’s shop a few days ago was a. man being shown Andalusian rugs called Alpujarras. An old Alpujarra rug is very valuable, and when more than 100 years old pays no duty on entering the United States. It is one of the features of the rugs that they bear the names of the persons for whom they were woven and the date. Many purchasers of these rugs make it a’ condition of purchase that the date be removed when it is less than 100 years, in the hope of getting them home duty free. Granada, visited by most tourists on account of the Alhambra, is the center of the new furniture-faking trade, though Madrid makes impec- cably rusted doors, grilles, lamps and candlesticks. Ironwork is the ear‘est article to fake.