Evening Star Newspaper, January 3, 1926, Page 41

EDITO RIAL PAGE ATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL FEATUPES Part 2—16 Page WASHINGTO EDITORIAL SECTION he Swnday Staf , D. KETCHAM LAUDS POLICY OF COOLIDGE ON SURPLUS Reactions From Three Farm Gatherings in Middle West Recently Make Tariff Major Campaign Issue. ECOGNITION by the adminis. tion of the importance of the problem of pIns king to 4 so R 1 yester- ve John Clark Republican, for- mer master the Michigan State Grange and a lecturer from 1917 to 1921 for the Natlonal Grange. Mr. Ketcham is a member of the House zan mriodities aid Mr. Ke said to the cre of farmers that such proposals. ‘On the oth of the importance o farm surpluses and its promptly and constru sojution is tha most e news from W and points uppose hand, fts recognition | the problem of purbose (0 act vely toward a uraging farm come time vermit | Oldrield the | the West into any attack i wisely chooses to correcting one inequality nger the whole fine tendard of lving und wages we have de rotective poliey however, admitted of the last few weeks have he tarift fssue to the | aid. that the | React! gatherin really turned mipaign issue. farn have Wonld Revive Export Idea. *A widespread and intensive move- ment has been launched throughout the Middla West and Northwest to re- vive the export corporation idea of two 3 ago for handling exportable s of farm crops. The Ameri. | ‘m Bureau Federatlon in its cago declared in the dumestic u “Officers were e with the deck structed to work the enactme of the Mecessary legislation to make it effective. At Des Molnes another farm conference within two weeks de- clared even more emphatically in sup- port of an ex corporation plan. To cap the cilmax, the bankers of lowa at the third conference this | waek, which was attended hy the en- | tire congres: t from th State, de for the export c« | Jardine's Action. *The adi clearly awuke to the possibilitics suggested by this movement, and within the week Secre- fary Jurdine has announced his inten- tlon of calling immediate conference of leading agricultural authorities to “voive a workable plan for handling these troublesome agricultural sur. pluses, The average citizen naturally inquires what exportable surpluses of farm crops o do with the tariff. Simply this Western fnrmer' points to t ) the immigration } elslation, the othe ation an | _IACHIN ERY SEE standard ¢ above the vorld level. He buys In an Amerfcan _markel and at American rices. When he comes to sell some f his principal crops of which he pro- duces an exportable surplus he finds that the world price rather than the Anierican price prevails. Take wheat, for instance. He produces 800,000,000 bushels of wheat as an average, 150.- 000,000 of which is exported. Liver- pool fixes the price on the portion he >xports, which in turn determines the i price on that portion sold in the do- iestic market. There is a tariff of 40 cents per bushel on wheat, but it is not effective so long as we export Wants American Price. “The Western farmer Is asking that the tariff be made truly effective by the enactment of legislation that will aggregate the exportable surpluses and so allow the natural level of American_prices to operate on the products he sells as it now operates on the things he buys. All the expert corporation bills thus far presented have as thelr purpose the correction of this inequality. The Norris-Sinclair bill proposed an out and out purchase and sale of such commoditles by the Government, with the gain or loss to be borne by all the people through the Treasury. The McNary-Haugen bill proposed & plan whereby the, pro ducers of each crop alone would share the gain or loss, but was rejected be- cause the “ratlon price” feature of the bill was deenied to be too close an ap- proach to price fixing. “Several forms of the proposal are now being presented for consideration, the most promising of which combines the ideas of tariff, export bounty and excise tax. It is called the Noyes plan. Former Gov. Lowden has {« plan for the handling of surpluses itive organizations assisted m Hoard functioning wes of th ie Reserve retary Jardine li be- the most effective machin- ery for handling surpluses lies in the co-operatives, but the actual plan has not_vet been finally perfected. i “The vital thing to remember is that the problem of farm surpluses has registered strongly in Washington and something constructive may be expected in the way of legislation. co-ope: Index Comparisons. <howing the basis in facts for claim that the farmer fares badly sreed to take world prices sel! in of his hile on the Ameri lowing ind nitted showing ecefves on his more im crops at the farm in contrast with what he pays on certain things he buys, 1913 being regarded as the base.” in 1924 the indexes on major far products, Mr. Ketcham said, were follows: Wheat, 139; corn, 145: hogs, 100; cattle, 95. In the same vear the indexes on the principal things the farmer buys were given us follows: 9; huilding the Jortant |2 showins v 191 in- bining ss, are given Ly follows: Agricultural, cultural, 161.6. “Three other factors, said Mr. Ketcham, “contributed largely to the unequal situation the farmer faces— labor costs in general, farm labor costs and increased freight rates. Using 1913 as a base, increased costs which must be met by the farmer are clearly shown by indexes covering 4. Tk indexes s follows: TUnion 1 28:1; lahor, freight rat AS SOLUTION Ketcham & 34; non-ag OF FARMERS’ LABOR PROBLEMS Engineers Claim That Substitution of Mechanical Equipment Will Soon Overcome Migration of Agriculturists From Land to the Cities. BY HARDEN COLFAX. out its inquisi- operations Bcience is react ive han turn tnside out what can be done 6 make their wheels turn more rapid eff nd cheaply. The Ameri- n farmers no pend 1 re than £3,000,000.000 y for power, and can spend more with profit to them- elves and added comfort, too. While the economist has been in the forefront in the consideration of | agricultural problems, the engineer is preparing to catch up with him rapldly. In the vision of the future painted %y the engineer there is no cause for worry about the migration from the farms to the citles, or of a popu- lation on short rations, for in this plcture there is a hea 1bstitution \f mechanical power for human tabor. Jardine Directs Inquiry. Becrstary Jardine has appointed a special committee to outline a com- prehensive program for investiga- tion in the field of farm operating equipment, headed by Pro J. B. Davidson of-lowa State Collese. A meeting soon will be held of an ad- visory committee composed of mem- bers of the American Society of Agricnitural Engineers, the National Associatfon of Farm Equipment ! Manufacturers and representatives of tne Department of Agriculture. ‘When the work done previously by varlous agencies has been gone over, a decision will be reached as to the research problems which first should be attacked, then intensive studles along these lines will be taken up by whatever agencies may best absorb them. Farmers of the United States have not been backward in adopting me- chanical means of operating. A study recently made by the Agri- cultural Engineering Division of the Department of Agriculture, with the co-operation of other agencies of that department, showed that in the lagt 75 years the volume of produc- tion of the average farm worker has increased about threefold, due chiefly to the substitution of power nd machinery for hand methods. If American agriculture has sed to other industries twice as ny workers as remain on the farms Jow, under conditions of rather hap- hazard development of the use of power, 1t appears entirely feasible that many more workers can be re- to d see m re- leased by the farms and yet that the crops can be increased with scientific direction of power use. Big Power User. An appraisal of power on farms, made by department engineers, show: that American agricuiture already uses as much primary power as do all manufactories and public utilities combined, and ranks second only to the railroads. In these calculations all forms of power are included, except- ing, strange to say, automobiles, for the farmer uses his automobile chiefly for management and transportation. But the fundamental problems af- fecting the use of power on farms have been only touched so far in the| studles which have been made by the sederal and State governments and various private organizations. For instance, the plow, the oldest of agricultural implements, is practically an urknown quantity in so far as the amount of power required to operate it under different conditions of soil, length of field, etc., are concerned. Power for plowing costs farmers of the United States over half a billion dollars a year, aecording to T. H. Mac- Donald, chief of the Bureau of Public Roads, which bureau embraces the Di- vision of Agricultural Engineering. A saving of only a small percentage of this power would reduce the cost of crops greatly. The Alabama Poly- technic Institute has undertaken a study of plow power, and, illustrative of the complexities, it has required the first 18 months to perfect a device to measure the power required. Machinery Offers Difficulties. Much of the machinery and other power used on the farms at present is only partially efficient because of the lack of famillarity of the operator with its fundamental principles. Some units are too small; others too large. Due to the seasonal character of most farm operations there is a heavy overhead on certain classes of equip- ment. Power equipment now replaces hu- man labor in little more than half of the work done on farms, whereas it could be used for much of the re- mainder. Power and labor together comprise about 60 per cent of the cost of operating a farm, and these are alements which can be controlled. So, for thelr fmproved control and the extension of labor-saving devices which will not only cut costs and in- crease production but will remove the drudgery the engineers are mow bonding their best efforta leading | ns | BY WILLIS J. BALLINGER. HE American farmer is in a. worse situation today tha: at any time in his history. That statement amazed me in the face of the as- surances of almost all business ob- servers that the farmer last year en- st prosperous year in a red up most of his debts, sturted out to replace his old equip- ment and was once again about to have another profitable year. The statement was made by B. F. Yoakum, chairman of the board of the Frisco Railroad System and na- tionally known as a student of the farmer’s problems. My question was —What is vour oplnion as to the situation of the farmer.” The answer wis “The farmer’s situation presents the greatest, ching and most periloue economic blem with which the Amerfcan people are faced. farmer was never unprosperous and so much in debt as he 1s today Q. Has the condition of the farmer, which was so appallingly bad between the years 192024, been righted? A It bas not. On the contrary, it has increased. Q. Is the farmer a victim of poll- tics, of the trust, of the railroads, of a bad distributing system, or what is {wrong with bim? Politics Partly, Blumed. A. Your question is inclusive that it is difficuit to unswer it briefly. Primarily, the American furmer is the victim of a bad distributing system; indeed, he s the victim of the worst system of distribution and marketing in the world. This essential factor of his business—just as much and as vital a factor of his business as pro- duction Itself—has been permitted to drift into the hands of a ast army of dealers and middlemen who, une close, modern organization, are now veaping all the farming fnc Cong d stop this it it would. A Curtts-Aswell il embodying the Yoakum plan. This bill was unani mously reported out favorably by the Senate committee on agriculture and forestry, progressed to a place on the Senate calendar and there was ner- mitted to die with the Sixty-eighth Congress. Tt soon will be introduced at this {on of the y-ninth | Congr The fate Curtis Aswell in the Sixtyninth C therefore, determine de whether not America is the victin | Congress 1s ruled E and there s no partisan polities in the Curtis-Aswell bill. Its | authors are Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas, the titular. Republican lea jof Congress. and Representative James B. Aswell of Louisiana, rank- ing Democratic member of the House committee on agriculture. Victim of a Combination. Was there politieal com- on against \he farmer in 1920. was it simply an inevitable aftermath of the war? The fact that every other of our |blg industries has been marvelously | prosperous since the war except 13 most IS s0 the or e of politics; for 1 politics, | Q bir The | provided fu the | n| Joint | SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 3, 1926. DENIES THAT FARMER IS PROSPEROUS Economists have said that last year was the best year on the American farm since the war; that the Farmer had paid off a lot of his mortgages; that he was buying more from the mail order houses and putting in more farming implements than at any time since the armistice and that another such year would put him on his feet. They also said that it looked as if the farmers would have almost as good a year this year. B. F. Yoakum, president of the St. Louis and San ,Francisco Railroad, who has devoted many years to a study. of the farmer’s ills, says that the farmer is not only not prosperous but that his condition is getting worse. fndicates plainly that | farmer is the victim of a combina. tion that reaches into politics. The combination against him, however, 1s more economic than polftical. It Just so happens that the Republican party has complete control of the two branches of Government which bear down directly upon the economic life of the natfon. Were the Demo- cratic party in control of the Go ernment 1 do not pretend to know whether the farmer’s terribly di ndition fure any | farming would Must Control Distribution. Q. What is your solutlon of ! farming situation? A. It is cortained in the Curtis Aswell bfll. In brief, my solution Is for Congress to grant a Federal char- ter under which the farmers would control the distribution factor of their great business as well as the produc- tion factor, just as every other h.g - now controls both of these al factors of successful and rous commerce. Under | indust | essen prosy present nomic farr of less than a third of the wealth he produces, while the organized distribu- tors get more than two-thirds of the dollar pald by the ultimate consumer for the farmer's products. The fact that the farmer gets such a small pro- portion of the consumer’s dollar ac- counts directly for his financial dis- tress. He has been operating at a loss for so long a time that he is now fac- ing bankruptey. Q. Will you explain briefly merits and demerits of the bills of the ! r farm bills now pending before Congress? A. 1 do not know definitely just at system of distribution th | Many Believed Going During the past two weeks there has been a steady backflow of negroes from the North to the South. The tide appeared to reach its flood just before Christmas, but has continued since that tinie to such an extent that railroad officlals are inclined to be- lieve the movement to be more permanent than seasonal. ‘Washington is the Eastern gateway to the Southern States and here the movement to and fro may be noted better than at any other point. Thé Florida travel has, of course, been extraordinarily heavy for some time and the addition of the colored back- flow from the North has taxed the Southern carrfers to thelr utmost limits. The negroes are returning from Philadelphia, New York and points be. vond. Always there is a return move- ment from the North when the real hard weather of Winter sets in. The East has been shivering In the grip of a cold wave for the better part of the week and this undoubtedly has accelerated travel “back home,” but the main movement, according to rafl- road men, started during the really mild weather which prevailed the week before Christmas. Many Going to Stay. Prosperous conditions among_ the negroes who migrated to the North may account for some of the travel at this time of year—the return to the old firesides for the holidays— but it would seem that great numbers of the negroes are returning home for good and all. This {s shown by the number of families included among the Southern-bound passengers. Some- times five or six children may be ob- served in a single group. The intense Winters of the North have proved too much of a hardship for the colored people with children and it is reported that not nearly so many families have been included in the Northern migra- tions of the past year. There are no {mmediate means of checking the north and south move- ment of negroes except through re- ports of trainmen and passengers who are much on the road. Pre-Christmas travelers from New York reported the Pennsylvania statfon in that ecity crowded with happy groups of negroes awaiting trains for the South, The day coaches of these trains told their own story. Here In Washington the facilities ‘of the Union Station have g%gn taxed to care for the moving e. . Southern resorts, about to open their full activities for the Winter, have been claiming their usual share of “help” from the North, both white and colored, during the past two or three weeks, but not enough to ac- count for the extraordinarily heavy traffic. West Experiences Movement. Reports from the western gateways to the South, such as Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis, are all con- firmatory of the movement noted here in the East, NEGROES RETURNING TO SOUTH IN EXTRAORDINARY NUMBERS Movement Greater Than Usual Holiday Travel.(Has Effected Amazing Economies “Back Home” to Stay. Taking Families Along. The negro migration of the last few vears has followed certain natural channels. From Virginia and the Carolinas the movement northward was virtually confined to Philadelphia, New York and other northern sea- board citles. From Tennessee, Geor- gia and Alabama the movement was in the direction of Cincinnati and Chi- cago. St. Louls claimed its immi- grants from Mississippi, Loulsiana and ‘Texas. Government bureaus are without definite figures as to the more receat movements, but observers are certain that the backflow of the past 18 months has been greater than the outgo. Labor demands of the North and Middle West appear to have been met and the same inducements are not being offered to the negroes as was the case in the years immediately following the war. R. T. S. the | the | loose, antiquated and uneco- | r or producer receives u return ! B. F. YOAKUM. pduced be however, tnis moment wh are pending or will be int tore Congress. I assunu that the old McNary-Haugen bill in one or various forms will soon be pending hefore Cong The Curtis Aswell bill will be introduced without destructive variation from its original character. I have already briefly de- | scribed thesmerits of the Curtis-Aswell bill and its efficacy permanent cure of the firmin stry's dis tressful i The MeNary-Haugen bil agricult | | authors of th have been Introd duced of knowing the evils their measures are fraught with. When I say that thelr bills in the muin are un-American, undemocratic and criminating against the farme | cttizen and ess man 1 | said eno h ion of themn ill be intro- busir have to sh opin en agi- | tation Fthe ce {sm. tion of & President in which th of grangerism, etc., did not figure. A. That is true, and it is natural that what you say about it should exist. The farming industry is the base upon which our entire busine |and industrial life rests. In its acti | ties and output in money v. | ceeds those of ¢ } Industri should not eye on ments? en 4l- sne actively he farmers keep polities is and move But I deny that the farmer sharp | | keeps himself as well informed as does | system of distribution and markett:g. | ness. | bill. | form you have put it, you shouid “has been the center of a great deal of radicalism.” In every well ordered government the farmers constitute the most conservative element in the citi- zenship. Farmer Knows His Rights. Q. Wil you glve me a brief outline »f vour expianation of why the farmer has been such a storm center of politica? A. This has been covered in broad strokes In my answer to the preceding question. He has been and alwayvs will be & “storm center in politics” be- cause of the predominant strength of his industry as compared with other industries. Too many business men and politiclans think the American farmer does not know what s going on in the country, when the fact is he sther element of our citizenship. Q. 1s it true that migration trom the farm the ecity s becomiug arming? A. Yes, as shown by the last two Government censuses. Q. If so, do you foresee a foud shortage in the United States? A. No, because the farming indus- try will take on a new character un- less the farmers soon are enabled by Congress to speedily check the rav- ages being wrought under the present any ! ©@. What do you think about tais ige of big business? Is our industrial civilizagion belng so emphasized that country living in America with its traditional virtues 15 in danger? A. 1t will be all right when the farming industry is permitted by Con- gress to so organize commerclally snd sconomically as to be entitled to a seat around the table with other big husi- Q. How ara we golng to get people iack on the farm if we need to have k there? restoring an agric making provi prosperity Iture as an indusery; | ‘ming profitable. This 3 the Curtis-Aswell | No Farm Trust Danger. Q. WIIl not co-operative marketing eventually end in a farmers’ trust? That has been the loglc of all organ- izations that have united. They have all inevitably become trust companies. A. Permit me to say that, in order for me to answer your question in the ave deilned Your meaning of a trust. The | fixed policy of the Government is agalust trusts. They are broken up when they take on the character and functions of what you obviously mean when you bespeak apprehensions of a farmers’ trust should farmers be en- abled by act of Congress to organize co-operative assoctations into one sol- 1d, compact system of co-operative marketing. | reason thut It 18 now jence the late President ! Society News | | Present Period of N BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. HE decision of the administra- tion, with the apparent ap- proval of Congress, to send one or more representatives to Geneva in March to join in the preparation of an agenda for a later conference to consider limitation of armaments, must open agatn the consideration on this side of the At- lantic of a whole variety of European and international questions which have more or less disappeared from attention since the collapse of the League of Nations struggle It {s true that agreement between the President and the Senate has rath er sharply limited the extent of our participation, or rather the extent to which participation might commit us to later responsibilities. We are pre pared to discuss the subject of arma- ments, to conslder the extension of the agreements made at Washington for limitation of naval force, to examine the broad fleld which concerns the forms of weapons used in war. On the other hand, we are not ready ARMS CUT NOT PROBLE OF PEACE, BUT ECONOMY o Fear Is Best Time to Work for Ultimate Security of Europe, Simonds Thinks. while the French are now basing their forces upon a state of reative security. As a consequence, Poland at the end of next year will have an army larger than the French Eu ropean force and Rumania & force at least equally large, although Polant has a population of but 30,000,000, against 40,000,000 for France, while Rumania has but 17,000,000 Larger Nations Worrled. Unless, however, Poland, Rumani {and Czechoslovakia can be persuaded to reduce their & Russia, Ger- many and Hungary are bound to look upon the situation with some appre- hension. d 10 refuss to continu of relative dis- armament, with but 100,000 troops al- lowed her by treaty, while Poland not only counts 300,000 under arms but 18 able to train her whole population by universal service system, while Germany s restricted to the volun tary. The importance of this factor may be appreciated when it Is perceived | to consider the possibility of limiting our military etrength, for the simple 80 'small that there is no conceivable chance forces down to our level. Our army is not & factor in the military calcula tions of Europe and we are not pre pared to agree that if any natlon con- sents In the forthcoming conference to reduce its army, we will expand our labilitles by pledging ourselves to come to its ald if it is attacked. Insists on Distinction. Broadly speaking, the Coolidge ad- ministration has made the very ob- vious and wholly proper distinction be- tween the dis ble. as the possible exclusion of s as & weapon in war, and the pat 1tly political results which might take the line of the Locarno pact and engage nations to defend each other if any one is attacked. At the time of the Paris confer- Wilson ac cepted the idea of & league which was to represent the pooling of the jolnt military and naval as well as economic and financlal resources of all mem- ber nations. This combined strength to coerce the would-be violators of the existng order. jected b Senate and the people of the United States along with the covenant. ttar e b : the same idea was discussed for a long period of time and finally set forth in the protocol, which put the from Europe |ideas of the covenant in this respect in stronger form. But the British at once rejected the idea of their fleet as the police force of the league and thelr duties as including defend- ing all frontiers against any aggres- Q. How do you propose to avert A farmgrs’ trust or what guarantes | have you that it will not become a | trust under the farmers' co-operation? A. The Government's most secure- fixed policy is agatnst the sort of trust your question implies. That is arantee enough. (Copyright, 1825.) OF MEXICO, Country After Years o . BY WILLIAM ENGLISH WALLING, Author and Authority en Mexico. Calles s redeeming Mexico. In his first year of office he has established order without losing his popularity; he has Introduced a measure of effi- clency and economy in his administra- tion; he has established a national bank of fssue; he has opened 2,000 new schools, completed hundreds of miles of paved roads, reduced the num- ber of menacing strikes, and distrib- uted hundreds of thousands of acres among the landiess peasantry. Already one-third of the land al- lotted to the peasants under the Con- stitutfon of 1917 has been distributed and the further division of lands at the present time has heen limited by Calles to those few States where the need is greatest and the possibilities | Man stood on his own legs, weak- kneed though he was, from the time of his origin, for as Dr. Dudley J. Mor- ton of the department of surgery of Yale University told members of the American Anthropological Association fossil evidence shows that an erect posture has exifted In the anthropoid ape stem as far back possibly as the Oligocene. “Of all the great apes, the chim- panzee, the gorilla, the orang and gib- bon, the slender and agile gibbon is the ‘only one who has preserved good proportions between leg and body, al- though this fact is obscured by its long, strong arms,” Dr. Morton said. “It is n erect, running, tallless biped, both in the trees and on the ground. The other apes have long. powerful arms, shoulders and chests, weak pel- vis and short legs, which show that they are predominantly treeclimbing. Tree life may have enabled animals to develop the upright posture, Dr. Morton explained, for all animals which are familiar with tree life, or come from comparatively recent ar- boreal ancestry, assume erect, Squa ting position easily and habitually. But all the arboreal animals but the primates, to which man belongs, are nevertheless essentially quadrupeds, for their thighs are not extended as in man. “The ancient apes walked better than the modern ones,” Dr. Morton said. “The antiquity of the erect pos- ture in this line of creatures and the recognition of the physical changes that hand locomotion in trees will bring about show that the quadruped vosture must have resulted from the enfeeblement of the legs from under- use and the bad balance of the upper part of the body from ovardevelop- ment.” S Scientist Declares Man Always Stood As Erect Biped From Time of Origin “Just as the long arms of the apes were due to thelr tree-climbing habits, 8o the greater leg development in man resulted from his habit of walking on the ground. There must have been a time, Dr. Morton belleves, when this development had gone about half way, when the arms and legs of both groups were of the same length. Such a con- dition, he thinks, would be the point where the ape and human stem sepa- rated. “To the original human creature erect standing on the ground was a real physical effort, in spite of his pre- vious experience of tree life,"” Dr. Mor- ton said. “Without holding on to something it would have been ex- t're'mely difficult to stand for a long me.” ‘Their feet were all toes and there was no heel to support the body weight. Their knees were still bent and their hips partly flexed and the spine bent forward at the shoulders, The perfect body pose of modern man was of slow development, in which great changes took place in the feet, {f(fi" hips, spine and other parts of the y. The entire human body, Dr. Morton said, has become remodeled on a cen- tral axis plan, and that weight of dif- ferent parts of the body is so balanced that only slight muscular effort is needed to maintain the equilibrium of the whole. Man is the only animal to- day that grows straight up like a lily on a stem. “Arboreal man, as a tree-living hu- man being must be considered a myth,” Dr. Morton said, “for the char- | acteristics which definitely mark the human being as man are ones which | Mexicans. CALLES DECLARED REDEEMER BUT NEEDS HELP and Restored| f Trouble, Says W. E. Walling—U. S. Aid Urged. are at hand for the permanent estab- lishment of small farms. Agrarian disturbances which formerly accom- panied these distributions and wers the chief cause of continued disorder have been checked. Calles has kept a close eye on this situation and no less than five State goverhors are now on trial suspected either of encourag- ing irregular land reforms or of resist- ing the moderating policy of the na- tional administration. Economies Successful. Calles’ first official act was to begin paying off of the government's float- ing debt and to dismiss superfluous government and raflroad employes. His economies have been so succes ful that he was able to arrange re- centlv with Thomas W. Lamont of Pierpont Morgan & Co. representing Mexico’s American creditors, to recom- mence the pavment of the Mexican debt. Beginning on January 1, pay- ments are to be resumed according to the schedule agreed upon in 1922. That will mean something like $15,- 000,000 the first year—a very large sum for Mexico. At the same date the National Railway System is to be returned—intact—to its American owners, Not only has Calles restored Mexi- co’s financial credit abroad, he has also restored her political credit by securing full recognition by the Brit- ish government—after an interval of 10_vears. These are amazing achievements. In many ways Mexico s still a back- ward country and 10 years of revolu- tion had put her finances, industries, communications, agriculture and ad- ministration in a terrible state. Calles, popular at home and abroad, liberal, energetic, practical, and in complete control of the machinery of govern- ment, may be able to achieve in a few years what it would otherwise take decades to accomplish, Needs Assistance. ‘What he needs, though, and must have, {8 understanding, support and assistance from this country. Even from the point of view of our own self-interest, America owes him that support. We must not withhold it because there are conditions we do not like in Mexico—such conditions are in- evitable in a backward country and would take many years to remedy un- der any government, We must not take alarm at Mexico’s attempt to pre- serve at least a minor share of the ownership of Mexico for Mexicans. We own three-fourths of her mobile capi- tal now—and if Mexico gets the new capital she is seeking here we shall continue to own a large part of the country. Calles knows this and is merely trying to keep something for There s no crime about that. Calles, surely, is doing his part. For the rest, the salvation of Mexico de- sfon. Locarno Substitute Pact. The covenant and the protocol hav- g been practically nullified by the irement of the United States and the rejection of Great Britain, the British undertook to | tute, and to this end seized upon the | German proposition for a Rhine guar | antee. Locarno then represented a distinct break from the Paris and Geneva conceptions. The league dis | appeared from the situation directly. What took place of a general obliga- tion, an underwriting of the whole European state of frontlers, was the first of what might well develop into @ eeries of regional agreements Britain agreed to defend the status quo existing from the Dutch to the Swiss frontiers and specifically to aintain the houndaries, ween ¥France and Belgium on t and Germany on the oth {attack, whether French or G This British substitute wi way between the league fdea of uni- versal responsibility and the old post-war conception of particular alllance. Actually it supplied a very large measure of security for France, Belglum and ‘Germany, by giving all three a British guarantee against attack. It could. then, be made the point of departure for a later dis- cussfon of the question of the limi- tation of armaments, for the arma- ments of France und Belglum were obviously based upon the fear of later German aggression. Now, in the larger sense, all lmi- tation of armament in Europe must { j in | adjustments of political questions. The French, as a result of the final satisfacton of their demands for security through a British guarantee, army, as are the Belgians. The com- binal effect of the disarmament of Germany and of the acquisition of a British guarantee has led the French to cut their term of service in_the army from three vears to one. This means that where the French had up- ward of 700,000 troops, exclusive of colonial and native units, with the colors in 1914, they will have by next year no more than 250,000. ‘Native Troops Necessary. We may exclude the colonial and natfve troops from the estimates of the situation in the present discus- sfon because neither France nor Britain, with their great colonial em- plres and their exceedingly grav problems, s likely to coneent to any arbitrary scaling down of their co- lonial establishments, which represent for the French not less than 200,000 in North Africa alone and some 230,000 for the British in India. Despite the fact that some of these colonial troops could and would be brought to Europe in case of war, they are essential to the defense of British and French in- terests in colonial territories. The French, having & guarantee, then, have réduced and are reducing their European forces. By the end of the present. year they will have cut their European forces down to the lowest point concelvable, while the system of conscription—that s, of training all citizens—remains in vogue. This is true because a year with the colors is necessary for training and also to keep any army In existence at all. Until the French are willing to {adopt the voluntary system, tradi- tionally employed by the British and imposed upon the Germans by the treaty of Versallles, French disarma- ment can go no further than is at present provided for by France on her own volition. But by contrast with France, the Polish, Rumanian, Jugoslav and Czechoslovak situations are quite dif- ferent. These nations have no guar- antees from Britain; they also have no assurance from their powerful are associated with terrestrial, biped- | pends upon the patience, the under- [neighbor, Russia, which dominates the ism. The treeliving habits must have |standing -and the enlightened self-in-|thoughts of the Rumanians and the country. Polea. been given up long before the skeletal of changes could have o of this 3 (Copyright, 1928.0 Thelr armies are based upon a situation in which security is lacking, that | | other natfone will bring thelr armed | tion usstons which may lead | to spectfic physicial results, such, for |« was to be used to preserve peace and | This idea was re- | find a substi- | be percelved to depend upon similar | are in the process of reducing their | that, in theory, a nation with the vol- luntary system ca bilize for war |only the st which she has, while a na power "has In | veter: |too vld to serve, sh . 1100.000. But Poland would not alone mobilize the 300,000 which constituts her army, but 1.000,600 more trained troops, belonging to the mors recent classes of conseript Our own Governm, celved with clarit Germany arms now, 2t has, then, per- that the discussion »pe will not be of the method iy con and balanced | ments c: states. tween Europear of course, Is going t Idl>s.rnl a be hoped for at most some adjustment of the armies of all the conslderab 8 | which will permit of a very consider. ble net diminution of the total of mer. under arms in ope. Adjustment Not Easy. But suc 0 one. olut rdjustment i3 not € Gern Polish tr: and with Gern Russtan | would become Insignifics If it were made by the agreement of the first class powers to 1 powers to acept a condition of hopeless in- ferlority. Again, any standard accepted by great ;powers would involve the in- crease of the German strength bevona (‘gm limits imp the treaty standard of me: ent which shall {bear a relatic not alone to the si | of nations, but also to their respective dangers The protocol undertook to bridge all these difficuities by boldly mmitting all nations to the defense of any mem- ber attacked. Thus the strength of all armies was available for the pro- tection of each member natfon. But |lhe protocol has been rejected through | British influence, and the single sub |stitute is a systém of regional agree men But there new obs and R agreement 1 | defense Russia will be at the least to maintain ar {army large enough to deal with both Rumanian and Polish armies. Then Hungary might be tempted to make an agreement with Russla, which would instantly alarm Rumania and call for a new increase in Rumanian strength. Guarantees Demanded. The tendency of all continental nae tlons, with the exception of Germany, which is disarmed, together with her allies of the war, will be to meet ail arguments for the limitation of arms- ments with demands for guarantees {of thelr security in case of attack after reduction. Britain and Ameriea, ywhich are bound in the nature of things to be the p gonists of re. duction, are thus lik to be faced steadlly with demands for guarantees. And it IS their possibility which Amer can instructions have wisely foreseen Despite ull expectation to the con trary, little real progress is likely to be made in the actual reduction of armed strength at any early confer ence. Every natlon in Europe at the present time Is maintaining its army without aggressive intent. This is true both because no nation ha the re. sources, financial or economic, for a new war and because the peoples of all countries are at present in an utterly peaceful state of mind. Fear, and not aggressive purpose alone, explains armies It follows, then, that all countries are eager to reduce their armies be- cause they constitute burdens which are well nigh intolerable. The proof of this lies in the course of Franée and Belgium, which have reduced their armies and are still reducing them, precisely as they are obtaining security by other means. But no nation will reduce its army unless it feels that it will run no risk by such reduction. And as long as a confer- ence can offer no guarantee and no Insurance it can present no effec- tive argument for reduction. There is the main obstacle. On the other band, what & conference of all can- not do, separate conferences, like Locarno, between several nations, can bring about and probably will. Naval Difficulties. On the side of naval limitation the difficulties are quite as plain. Battle- ship strength s now regulated by the Washington agreements. But as to crutsers the agreement covers size but not mumbers _An agreement as to numbers on the basis of the Wash- ington ratios is not easy, however, because the needs of nations vary, Britain, with her enormous comercial fleet, her extended empire and her vital sea lanes, requires far more cruisers than a compact, self-contained mass like the United States, which cannot be blockaded In the sense of affecting its food supplies. An agree ment between the Uniied States and Great Britain us to crulser strength would, therefore, inevitably mean not another reduction but rather an ex- pansion, for the British calculation of ued on Fourth Page] nia