Evening Star Newspaper, May 16, 1926, Page 57

EDITOR IAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL FEATURES Part 2—14 Pages GRAVE THREAT TO PEACE | FOUND IN FASCIST ITALY| Marvelous Success in Domestic Affairs| een Offset by Militaristic Desire for BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. Last week I discussed he domestic 3 mo. The movement which in Musso- lini has found one of the zreat leaders of our own time repre. sants beyond all else the e of power by a minority, | 1 the whole A minority made u n elite. power has been seized with the delib- erate purpese to save a nation which seven years ago at the close of the war seemed sinking into anarchy, communism, utter paralysis. The men who made the movement were annimated by a clear conviction that their country could only be saved from ruin by a complete revolution, by the destruction of precisely those things which in our own Anglo-Sax- on world seem the foundation of lib- erty and order. A free pres “tlons, government by leg mentary institutions, of ¥ resented the Italy they itworn systens wfore the cause of were the del which had o I new construction could begin. Accordingly. with the utmost vio- n of terror, the leaders of the Fas movement, Mussolint above all, proceeded to conquer, .to coerce, to cow all the representatives and defenders of the old regime. They carried on & revolution which was designed to root out, to crush, to extirpate all that stood in the way of their conception of the necessary re zeneration of their country. Ground Now Cleared. ay the task is accomplished. Parliament has ceased Lo be a reality, he press Is completely conivolied, the hinery of election has been recast | Fascisti needs. Fhe reign of r ix ending because there is no r any real oppositi The do stic battle, in ise of the Fascisti leaders, L won and the new task is to consolidate the vic- tory, to achieve the ends for which the revolution was made. But by contrast with the methods of the revolution, the results are as- tonishing. The Italy of today is some- thing vastly different from any Italy which has existed since the days of Rome itself. There is order in the ss of life. The finances of,the o have been admirably reorgan- ized. have been put | upon nd paying basis. the stre there is a sense nimation, ry, of activity e. There of ngtior and coherence ‘b is Tmpre n wh sfve, To judge from the outside, the men who have made the revolution, from Mussolini down, have not been ani- inated by any vulgar desire to seize power, much less by any selfish de- sire to profit materially. One is forced to see in all that they have done and are doing that the dominat- This | these | in the mind of | Expansion. terests are alike involved. Italy would Ike to make an alliance with America, were it possible; with Britain, were it concelvable, as many Italians continue to believe; even with Germany, al | though there is present fury over the | T But all the allianc | Ttaly | some one and for the aggrandizement | of Italy. This trip of Mussolini, which fol lowed the attempt upon his life, rep | resents the deliberate purpose to fire the imagination of the nation with the conception of its strength and its destiny. Italy must be mistress of the Mediterranean. Her fleet, mobil- ized to accompany Mussolinl, is the symbol of this greatness which is to come. But Tripoll is only a thin facade of verdure across the front of the eternal and immutable desert. Therefore it is not on Tripoll that Ttalian hopes are to be fixed, but only ipon the larger fact that Italy must :0 out and on. But where? Ask Italians and the | answers are astonishing, for while all | gree that expansion must come that uffocation be avoided, one will point to Tunis, another to Anatolia, a third to Angola. But Tunis means war | with France, Anatolla means war with Turkey, and Angola means the taking from Portugal of territory the Portuguese possession of which is guaranteed by Britain. Feel as Germany Did. Yet even dimly to appreclate the force and meaning of this Italian fact, you must again recall the enormous natlonal passion which is generating and has generated this almost fan- tastic conception of a high national | destiny and this concomitant belief | that all other nations in Burope are | sinking into deeay. Italy is in thes mood of Gery when_ before the last war the Germans believed them | seives constricted by the encircling policy of Edward VIL. ltaly is in the mood of the Germans who belleved that the rest of the world was de cadent, sinking, and that it was the destiny of German kultur to save the world, by force and violence at first, but by German order afterward. But between the relative calm of the German temperament and the white heat and passion of the Italian nationalism at the moment there can be no comparison. There is a fev in all this Italian state of mind which | quite defies description and mzkes | xaggeration impossible. Yon have to see the masses of marching men nd boys, you have 1o hear the speech of men who might well be taken to epresent the cooler and less ex itable elements of society to get even | a vague notion of what is actually | the case. i And what is Mussolini going to do ! with this national passion which he | and his assoclates have excited to this unbelievable pitch? What Is he going to do to satisfy this national craving for the position and the power of a great nation? ing motive is a form of almost in- flamed patriotism. They have acted and are acting with a fixed determina tlon to make of their mation a gre: country, to benefit the ma and to forms of class contest sapping the life of Britain at the present moment Brooked No Opposition. objective abolish wh ance In the pursuit of their these men have stopped at nothing. | In the presence of opposition they | have been as ruthless as the men of the French revolution or the Rus slan. But always there has been the dominating conviction that they served a great purpose and that, the purpose being what it was, the end justified the means. They have erushed all opposition to make unity in the nation and they have dreamed | imd worked unity as men | who loved thel There is cumstance in than (he contrast nd methods of the onds which they have sought. wver, they have conquered, the: won absolute control, the men who opposed them are dead, in exile or cowed into absolute submission. And recognizing that they have conquered, that the victory is achieved, these leaders, Mussolini first of all, have perceived that the time has come to have done with domestic violence. The problem of today at home is not to crush the opposition, which has disappeared, but to check and restrain the violence which was the outstanding ecircumstance of the bat- tle. But it is at that_the Ttal it Furopean. For Letween the means ti and the | More- | precisely this point n phenomenon becomes | indeed, of world im- | wthing is more in- | than ihat ihe consolidation Yome situation should be | 1ght through fo today all Burep g anxiously to know if Italy, having passed through its revolution and having In a degree at least found its Napoleon, is about to embark upon a Napoleonlc perlod of adventure. Rome in Tense Mood. 1¢ you go from London to Vienna, passing through Paris and Berlin, vou will see practically no soldiers, see no parades, hear no bands and discover few flags in the breeze. On all sides vou will encounter the en during weariness of the war. But if you go to Ttaly, above all if you go to Rome, you will feel yours i tantly in the atmosphere : plosive and exacerbated nationalism. T do not know any way quite to pre sent the picture of Ttaly as I saw it from the Roman peint of view in the excited davs which were marked first by the atfempt upon Mussolini’s life, and then by the Duce's departure for Tripoli, which was in itseif the clear. est and most striking revelation of this new and explosive national sen- timent. Moreover, you cannot stay long in Ttaly without feeling a strong under- current of hostility, of hostility to all foreigners, but, beyond this, of hos- tility to the other nations which have been more fortunate in obtaining colo- nies, empires, places in the sun. To day all talians are deeply moved by 2 sense that while other countries are old and sinking into weakness, notably | Rritain and France, while those coun es no longer have increasing popu jations, while they are still under the sway of the wornout systems which the Italian revolution has abolished, Italy is shut up in her narrow penin- sula, with a crowding population, in- creasing to the point of suffocation, with all outlets dened it. ‘Wants Place in Sun. Ttaly feels that she is young, strong, virile; that she deserves a great place in the sun; that her aliles of the last ! discussion of | na Relation to lLeague. ntial to perceive that Italy | ith scorn the whole concep- tion of the of Nations, the whole idea guaranteed by 1 and on of the existin v tinctively au 1y institution or id which seeks to prevent expansion. which seeks to ma quo in the world, because this exist ing status quo is for Italy the su preme and crowning injustice. If the league continued and grew strong enough to abolish not only war but the transfer of territories, then Italy would remain what she is today, an over-populated country, lacking all raw materials, lacking all flelds for expansion, lacking colonies, a small power, no power at all. Again Ttaly leeks, without any pre tense at disguise, h scorn upon the Ttaly i she is creating a strong. co- berent, well organized army. [n no field is the F ti machine busier than in giving to Haly the army and | y which are commensurate with | Italian aspirations. Mussolini on the | deck of the battleship Cavour, ha-| ranguing all Italy and setting forth | the imperial destinies which beckoned, is a symbol of the whole thing. More- over, in addition to the regular army, there are literally thousands and thousands of the Black Shirt, the Fascist! organizations, drilling and preparing. For what? Heated State of Mind. The Atlantic which divides America from Europe is not in reality so deep a ditch nor so wide a moat as that which separates Italy from all parts of Europe about which I know any- thing. It is the difference between I"ourth of July and the average Sun- it | om the Thames to the | Danube is w dull, drab, weary, op- | pressed continent, peoples are strug- gling with the memory of miseries still-recent and difficulties ever pres- ent. Strikes, work, taxes, bread, how to feed and clothe, how to exist as human animals, these are the ques- tions which dominate and absorb. No government or general France, Britain or Germany could be sure that the soldiers would march if they risked a war, no general would know whether his men would shoot forward or backward. But Ttaly is a roaring furnace of nationalism, of exacerbated patri-} otism, of exasperated and exigent na- tionalism. You cross the Alps wheth- er coming from FKrance or Austria vou pass suddenly into a new, a different, an astounding and terrify- ing world. You see, as I have said, soldlers, flags, you hear martial music and see masses of young people sing- ing what are manifestly for them songs of war, of conquest, of triumph over that not quite clearly defined enemy, triumph over the foreigner who in some clear fashion had denfed Italy her birthright and stands in the pathway of Itallan destiny. Europe Becoming Alarmed. And all Europe has taken alarm at Ttaly. There can be no mistake about this fact. For long it was the fash- ion to regard the Italian phenomenon as of little foreign importance, as a domestic affair which would actually weaken, not strengthen Italy, which would proniote divisions within the ountry and thus leave it with little trength or energy to pursue a for- eign adventure. But all this has passed. Fascismo is recognized now as an established fact, as a force which has been generated and now lies in the hands of able and deter- mined men—in reality of one great man, to use as he may choose. It is a force in the hands of men who, having stopped at nothing to achieve that national reorganization of Italy, may well be expected to carry the same methods and mentality into the utterl; i | arming war defrauded her of a fair share in {he profits; that they treated her as a al and as of 1 sequenc Na- Al pride-@ee national ‘material in- international field. I_should perhaps be doing an_in- nued on Third Page) EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday 5 WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 16, Has Civilization Failed? T is a sign of the {imes, perhaps a new disease of civilization, that we are all wor- rying ourselves about the problems of life and the future of humanity. I find nowhere a settled faith in human progress, or a steady optimism in the endu- rance of civilization or the incréase of individ- ual happiness. Rather, one seems to see in all classes & kind of doubt as to whether we are on the right road to happiness at all, and whether this civilization of ours, as we know it and as some of us lke it, is not already showing signs of decay and dissolution. This is rather a new mentality. Before the war—at the time, for instance, when H. G. Wells was typical of the modern young mind in England, and to some extent its intellectual leader—there was a growing belief in the rapid development of civilization. Kducation was golng to Kill ignorance, stupidity, cruelty. Science was going to make a cleaner job of life, eliminating discase, dirt and drudgery. The intelligence of the average man would create a soclal system by which there would be less work for higher rewards, security for the common folk, peace between nations and a high standard of happiness. * %k ¥ % Something has gone wrong with that cheery outlook on life. In its place grave doubts have crept in. It was the war, of course, which overthrew that optimism in the progress of human na ture with a frightful shock We saw the degradation of human intelligence. We saw uelty dominant instead ofsdead. We saw the most civilized nations in the world tear- ing themselves to pieces by fhe aid of that sclence and education which were to have lifted us into new spheres of happiness. Now, since the war, the effects of that enormous tragedy—the rain it left behind and the price that must still be pald—have darkened the philosophy of every man and woman who tries to solve the riddle of life and find some kind of answer to the secret questions of the soul. Are all these so-called conquests of science a blessing or a curse to men? Are they going to 1ift us up or destroy us? Do they add any- thing to the sum of human happiness? * ok kK The acroplane seemed a machine that gave man a new touch of divinity by the glory of flight. It came in time for the World War, to drop down bombs upon defenseless citles and kill bables in their beds. Sclentists had been reverenced as the nmew leaders of light, the ploneers of a more beautiful civilization. They invented poison gas and high explosives These wireless waves, this new promise of television—how wonderful! In many ways how great a source of entertalnment and instruc- tion! Yet they, too, may be a curse in the long run, by an invasion of our houses and our brains, by all the vibrations of the world, with its follles rather than its wisdom, its madness rather than its sanity. Isn't peace better, and\ @ little sllence and time to think? * %k ¥ X Even education is being questioned. The other day I went to give a literary talk to some working folk in the south of London, and a friend of mine said: *“Are you doing a good thing? Why should you encourage these peo- ple to read books? They will only begin to be as unhappy as you and I. The more we think the more sensitive we are, the more we ques- tion the facts of life the more unhappy we be- come, because there is no solution of the riddle, and life is cruel!” In England the average man is worrying about almost everything, to judge from the newspapers and their correspondence, and I confess that now and then I have rather added to his worrles. Is England done? Is youth playing the fool? Is labor out for revolution? Is religion played out? Is Parliament worth while? This questioning, this melancholy perplexity with life, {8 not confined to England. France is anxious about its future, and has little faith in pacts of peace; none at all in politicians. In spite of victory they are desperately anxious about thelr social state. Germany is not a nation of optimists. Beneath all their industry and actlvity there is a conflict of ideas, a spreading poverty, a rising tide of unemploy- ment, a desperate anxiety about the near fu- ture. * ¥ k¥ % Even America, so rich, so vital, so strong, is strangely perturbed, not at all satisfled that its clvilization is secure. American writers are hecoming intensely critical of many aspects of their national life and morality. They see signs of poisonous growths which may destroy them, a growing lawlessness which is very dan- gerous, a vice of luxury which may bring them down. Looking outside their country, they see the creeping up of a yellow perll which may lead to another world war, and other danger signals that all is not well with the world. And everywhere, in all countries, there is a questioning of the old moralities and conven- tions, a loss of faith In dogmatic religion—and religion s useless if it is not dogmatic—a dis- bellef in any God. Everywhere we are told youth, in which we put our hope, is scornful R 1926. BY SIR PHILIP GIBBS nowhere, and that science only adds to the sum of human misery? * ¥ %k X People have called me & pessimist because 1 have told unpleasant truths, now and then, but I am not as pessimistic as all that! I be- lleve ‘the average man has a fair chance of happiness, if he goes the right way to find it, and the courage to stand up against the. in- evitable tragedies of life in which is death. It is because the world's philosophy and faith has been overthrown for a time in the minds of many people by the shock of the last war that all these perplexities and doubts are crowding in upon us. The questions are real enough. They are not based on imaginary fears. Sclence must be controlled by morality, or we shall be de- stroyed by the powers we have created. Mate- rial prosperity is not the highest form of civi- lization, and will lead a nation to the devil it its spiritual values are ignored. Knowledge is worse than ignorance if it is the wrong kind ot knowledge. Education leads only to unhap- piness if it creates unsatisfied desires and a false philosophy of life. It is true that this civilzation of ours is threatened by diseases within itself—social in- justice, class hatred, economic conflict and moral weaknesses. But I am one of those who still belleve that if we can see those dangers clearly we have it in our power to avoid them, and that if we diagnose the disease we can surely cure it * ¥ k K That is not the faith of a pessimist. It is the faith of a man who believes, as I do, that common sense, good temper and tolerance would cure half the woes of the world—and our own in England—when the folly of politi- cal fanatics and the bad temper of industrial conflict would plunge us into ruin. It is the faith of a man who is convinced that a love of beauty is better than the enjoyment of lux- ury, and that the happlest nations are not the richest, but those who have a dense of art, a prosperous peasantry, a comfortable middle class and an intellectual heritage. Tt is a faith in the average man and woman who want a few things rather than a lot of things—pence, securlty in home life, a good day's wage for an honest day's work, a little love, a little laughter, a few books to read. some faith in some God of their own, a fair Itherty of speech and ideas, a decent pride of manhood and womanhood, & full share of the sky and sun. That, to my mind, is all that life holds or needs, all that it will ever hold, whatever civi- and ingenious ways of slaughter tion. Since the war they have in knowledge. created are even more efficient tha in the last war. If there is anoth; these man-madg instrument ) their mechanism!—will, beyond any all, destroy the civilization which saved. The machines they have now and destruc- creased thelir an thosa used er worid war beautiful in doubt at we only just doubt. in has no control over its is no such thing as of the old loyalties, and has wiped the word duty from the dictionary. What is the meaning of all this questioning? 1s there any answer tb the questions, or must we go groping on blindly. without faith, full of sad acknowledgment that mankind attain? own destiny, that there human happiness. that new wars are inevitable, that knowledge leads HOW TO SECURE WORLD Note: This is the jirst of a series of ariicies Dy well known menon the Deneral suhjecte “How to Secure World Porive " The second articie wcill be pub: jished in The Star nert Sunday. ILITARY men and engineers have delved into the sciences and other branches of knowl- edge and even created a sci- ence of their own in or- der that they might succeed in war., Using our advances in the arts and industry they made, and are still making, astounding contribu- tions to the surgery of war. But it is their efficiency, or rather the re- sults of their successes, that now lead to the »f a united world to out law those very methods that have been developed. We view the remains of the last conflict with the depres- sion of the morning after. Desolated homes, economic burdens, osses are reflected in the prayers of peace. But this dream, this great emo- tional appeal that there be no recur- rence of the last conflict, what will it accomplish, what can it actually do? Supplemented by prayer it may be one of the most desirable agencies to- ward peace, provided, however, that we anchor it to facts and the proper machinery. Merely to have it float in the air as something wished for, but without a practical program for getting it, means that it will spend it- self until we have a hopeless world. Our experience has shown that the peace of the world is not assured by the surgery of war. Is it too much to expect better results from the selence of preventative research? Not so long ago we desired to out law the yellow fever. outlaw typhoid. We desired to out law diphtherfa. We desired to shake off the cnervating shackles of the hookworm. Prayed and Suffered. For centuries before men had grayed and suffered. They had ex- ibited the greatest daring and brav- ery in dealing with these plagues. All their heroism, all’ their prayers availed them nothing for their relief, for God, in His infinite wisdom, had seemed to say you must help your- selves. And yet the plagues and yellow fever, fyphoid and diphtheria, the hookworm and malaria are outlawed in the world today. How was it accomplished? The dramatic story is well known. The patient research worker in his lab- oratory, seeking facts, building theo- ries and testing them by experiments, showing not only devotion to his work, but frequently a self-sacrifice which led to his death, came through victor. The practicing physicians, who are the administrators of medi- cine, adopted the fruits of that re- search, and today these diseases for the most part exist no more. Science blazed the way for the administrator to follow. So with war. We must create a sclence to deal with this world mala- dy. We must provide the machinery to isolate the facts about the diseases in the international system by meth- ods as scientific as those employed so successfully in other flelds. There must be a systematic body of things known if we desire to make our aspi- rations for peace effective. Can Science Be Applied? And let me anticipate the question as to whether research or science can be advantageously applied in this con- nection by status that facts can be applied in any fleld. Our curse is ignorance. Facts are our scarest raw taterial. This is shown by the econ- omy with which we use them. One has to dig deep for them because they are as difficult to get as they are precious to_have. 8 The Walter Hines Page School of International Relations that 1s to be We desired to! BY OWEN D. YOUNG Who Assisted Brig. Gen. Dawes in Rehabilitating German Finances. * ¢ ¢ S0 with war. We must world malady. of peaceful decision in operation. ourselves. | kins will, as I see it, provides ma- chinery for research such as I have indicated. Tt is evidence of the de. sire and intent of the American peo- ple to get the practical processes.of peaceful decision in operation. The plans for this school call for an agency where, guided by profes- The peace of the world is not HINTS ON WAY TO PEACE ssured by the surgery of war. create a science to deal with this Our curse is ignorance. Facts are our scarcest raw material. The desire of the American people is to get the practical processes Sclence is so compressing the world we can no longer isolate If our command of natural resources, inventive genius, productive application are to be exercised for the benefit and safy then we must learn how to do it. In any event let us try to learn. v of the world, human | started this coming Fall at John Hop- |sors of distinction, research workers will accumulate information of world affairs by study of original sources. These men will gather the facts about international trade, racial psy chology, commercial and militar: geography, diplomatic usages and ex- perience, effects of artificlal economic barrfers upon international amity, ef- OBSERVANCE OF LAW IS HELD SOLE BASIS OF CIVIL LIBERTY Widespread Violations Threaten t6 Make Govern- [ ment Mockery—Foolish and Unnecessary BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy ‘We have no people in this country who have the right to consider them- selves above the law. We talk of liberty. It is trite to say that liberty is not license. Our liberty comes by {a.w‘ and must be exercised under the aw. ‘Widespread law violation is sweep- ing the country. In its wake are crimes of every sort and description. There is nothing more contaglous than crime and license. The murders in Herrin and the latest burglary in New York City spring from the same source and are bred by the same con- ditions. Should this continue, our Government will become a mockery. The liberty which is so grandiloquent- ly proclaimed in patriotic orations on our material holidays will cease to exist, and America will go into the discard. . One of the causes of this law viola- tion is the fact that so many escape the penalties of the law. This is true both as to major and minor crimes. An assocfation for the study of criminal justice was organized in Missouri not long ago. In one of their recent reports, it was shown from court records that in St. Louls the iIndividual who commits man- slaughter or murder has a 6 to 1 chance of going free; in Kansas City, an 11 to 1 chance: in St. Louis, the robbers have a chance of 24% to 1 in their favor; in Kansas City, ac- cording to police figures, 28 to 1; the burglars in St. Louis have a 25 to 1 chance; in Kansas City, at least 50 to 1. Little Risk Taken. Records are not available in other parts of the United States, but I see no reason to believe that in our other great cities the story would be ially different. A burglar in Kansas City takes hardly more than an ordinary business risk. With the odds so much in favor of the offender, is it any wo that evilly disposed Ipeople are tefted Lo commit crimes? Statutes Blamed After Survey. The results we should aim at in fixing penalties for crime should be curtailment of crime. Penalties must be adjusted to meet this end. The most important element to be at- tained is the certainty of punishment. Where the penalties are too severe they often defeat themselves, for a judge or jury will sometimes let an offender go scot-free, rather than give the penalty prescribed. Too mild a penalty is llkewise a mistake, even deranged men can and do consider the consequences of contemplated actions before taking them. As an illustration of the way criminals, and largely unbalanced criminals, can still reason and weigh the penalties they may receive, the man who_shot my father at Milwaukee followed my father through a number of States where there was a death penalty, but did not make his attack until he had reached a State where there was no death penalty. Surplus Laws Dangerous. Perhaps one of the most potent in- fluences for law violation are those lawmaking bodies which seem to be- lieve that they can Justify their existence only by passing additional laws, and which pass law after law without regard to either its funda- mental soundness or its practicability. This, of course, is thoroughly wrong. ‘We have too many laws, not too few. ‘What we need is less laws and stricter _enforcement of those that exist. Laws that for one reason or another do not meet with the ap- proval of the majority of a community are particularly pernicious. In this category comes the Volstead law. Perhaps no law in the community has contributed more to the breakdown of the respect for law. X Entirely outside of the moral or constitutional aspect of this law, it has brought about law violation on a more commerclalized and gigantic scale than our country has ever known before. This law has built up a profession in the United States— " (Continued on Third Page.) lization has In store for us. hope for? Is it beyond the power of man to Is it too much to 1 refuse to think =0, and because I think humanity may get as far as that, if it likes, I propose to attempt an answer now and then to some of the questions of the day which are nagging in the minds of many men and women. (Copyright, 1926.) PEACE fects of new inventions to expedite . and all the hundreds enter into the contracts of nation with nation. These facts will be digested, s: to everybody who needs them. The men who do this research work wiil become experts in inter national problems. Some of them will continue their service in pure re- search as a lfe career. Others will be teachers of the sclence. Others will be drafted into the Government service, The Page School has a three-fold aim: First, it will develop a science of international relations; second, it will ascertain the facts, so far as they can be found, on any particular prob- { lem. and third, it will produce a con- tinually growing body of men trained in that sclence and available for serv- ice in the fields of education, Govern- ment and business. Our contacts with the world at every point would show more conductivity and less useless sparking. Science is so compressing the world that we can no longer isolate our- selves. It 1s too small for countries to- be isolated from each other and avoid frritation through want of con- tact. And if. in the evolution of the nations we have become the creditor of the world, then we shall have to face that fact and act with the responsibility and intelligence which that situation imposes. If our command of natural re- sources, inventive genius. productive application are to be exercised for the , benefit and safety of the world, then | we must learn how. to do it. In an event, let us try to learn. Tmportant Time Now. Development of a sclence of inter- national affaire was never more pertinent than now. The United States {s committed to the World Court and arbitration conferences, dis- rmament councils and the like are playing an unprecedented role in ‘world relations. More and more are men needed who are experts in dealing with such prob- lems and the resuits of non-political, scientific research could be of material assistance in narrowing the limits of possible international misunder- standings. _ Then there follows, quite naturally in considering such a program, the prospect of instituting units similar to the Page School in the leading universities of other countries. There should be one in England, one in France, Germany, Japan and other nations, with conferences from time to time to which these research agencies would bring, not opinions, but the results of investigation for analysis, comparison and agreement. There would emerge, I believe, from such procedure certain agreements on facts, slowly and from great funda- mental basic facts on which depend, in my judgment, the peace of the world. No good will come of dealing with new international problems in the newspaper headlines and in_ inflam- matory political statements. We only create trouble for ourselves and the world if we do. The thing to do with such problems is to get down and study them, soundly and sensibly, day after day and year after year, until we find some way of working them out. And inasmuch as we ourselves cannot take account of all the facts we must develop some non-political, non-partisan agency for the investiga- tion and discovery of the actual facts. Let us secure the necessary machinery and prepare a real basis for lasting ’ §_ oowrriens. 1020 I : - | American automotive tematized, cross-referenced, analyzed, and made accessible and intelligible | to know | | Society News [LATINS’ INSPECTION OF U. S. Journalists’ Visit BY WILLIAM ULLMAN. | JINED closely in spirit, fmbued | with identical political aims and ideals, and bound in nar-| row-meshed economic union t a serfes of fundamental consid erations, the three Americas—North, South and Central—have been even more tightly allied in #hought, which gradually will evolve into firnf action as a result of a tour just completed by a group of Latin American journalists. These prominent southern news- paper men, who met in convention in Washington last month prior to their journey, were taken upon a comprehensive and unusually detailed tour, encompassing a variety of inti- tutions of a business and an educa- tional nature. It is impossible to estimate the significance of this trip. It is of prime importance in two respects, economic and political. Bearing in mind the tranquillity of our relations with most of the Latin American countries, the cconomic phase of the matter is worthy of first place in its discussion. 1t should be understood that the world is_made up of interdependent parts. Each nation leans on the other, each s an fmportant link in the economic chain. The factories of the United States are kept busy by two demands, domestic and foreign. One i3 as vital as the other. The greatest prosperity comes to that nation which has the most fully de- veloped foreign trade, backed by wholesome domestic demafid. Auto Tndustry Greatest. The automobile industry and allied trades make up this country’s greatest ndustrial endeavor. ndustry gives e sands of workers wre so extensive as to be almost un believable, Necessarily, such a vast enterprise touches in some way or other the whole of the people. It is essential, therefore, that this indus- try be kept keyed to the high pitch at which it is now traveling. A let- down would mean unemployment, which would be reflected sooner or later in almost every pocketbook. The American automotive industry is one gigantic machine, byilt up to an enormous productive capacity. For the economic good of all concerned there can be no sloughing off in con | fumer demand. Let that fact remain { to the forefront. let it be fully com | prehended. and the significance of the { Journalists' trip will be understood. " South Amer nd Central Ameri {need good roads and automobiles to bring about full economic develop ‘nent. They are needed in order that Latin America may progress to a de- gree in keeping with her natural re- sources and in line with the trend of the public mind thers. The will is plainly in evidence; the good roads and the automobiles are lacking. Both Parties Helped. The journalists realized these things ployment o thou its ramitications !inspection of our roads and our fa {tories. But never before has the truth of their convictions been brought home to them in so graphic a fashion ! And, incidentally, never before has the industry don: {itself such a good turn. Now, more than ever, these Latin American observers are certain that what they require, above all things, is the transportation system which good roads and_American automobiles can provide. They are going back home with that principle squarely before them, and there is every reason to be- lieve ‘that newspaper readers in their | respective communities will hear much of it from this time forth. | With these points in mind, the real importance of the following state ment, ordinarily a rather trite one, b more fully appreciated. The trip was a s | succes: 1 The mark of official and private attention in every community they visited. They were given right of way; they had escorts of State troopers on man of their jaunts by motor bus; their tours of inspection through motor fac- torles were such as might be worked nut for a visiting potentate. And ap- preciation spoke In every gesture of the journalists. That is tmportant, be- cause what these gentlemen say and write when they return to their offices will mean much in the development of our forelgn trade in automotive prod- ucts to that highly lucrative fleld. Careful observers are in no doubtful frame of mind regarding the probable tenor of these expressions. Especial emphasis was laid upon splendid character of this Nation's | highways was a constant source of { wonderment to the journali: The extent to which poor roads have hin- dered export expansion is indicated in remarks by Senor Julio Trens, pub- lisher of EI Domocrito of Mexico City, who said: Mexico Needs Roads. |, “Our reluctance to buy automobiles is not a question of purchasing power, but a question of transportation facili- ties. Mexico City has only 55,000 cars registered this year; within the next five years this city alone, with macadam roads to the border, will absorb tens of thousands of motor TS, “At present the 1,200-mile roadway | from Laredo to our capital is in such {bad shape that automobiles must be ‘Rhlpped tothe interior by train. ‘' The |average freight per car amounts to | approximately $500, making the cost almost prohibitive. “Interior provinces of Mexico have roads within themselves, but they lack adequate contact with outside cities.” Conditions such as these in a num- ber of southern countries naturally have tended to stunt the growth of export trade in automotive products. However, their American tour has proved a revelation to the leading journalists of the region, and it is logical to expect broad moves toward extensive highway improvement which will, in turn, induce greater purchas- ing at our markets. In addition to expressing the deep- est and most vital interest in the American automotive industry and in the things which they are convinced it can accomplish in the Americas, the Jjournalists throughout the trip spoke In no uncertain terms of their ad- miration for our industrial system as a whole and for the people of our country. Learned More About Us. Senor Angel Mendez Calzada of La Libertad, the largest daily of Men- doza, Argentina, and correspondent of La Naclon of Buenos Aires, one The autgmotive before they started on their tour o ¥ our automotive export the question of good roads, and the | BRINGS AMERICAS CLOSER Far-Reaching Economic and Political Benefits Expected to Accrue From in This Country. but only by direct contact could we learn the ideals of your people. We are intensely interested in your tre mendous industrial achievements and the vast influence they will have on our future development, but most of all we are happy to have found o1 this trip that beneath the rush of manufacture and commerce there lies a warm and friendly heart, the heari of the United States. “It is wonderful that two nations can be so nearly alike and vet so dis tinctly different as are_the United States and Argentina. In language, business methods and customs we are far apart, but in the fundamen- tals—ideals, aspirations and integrity of thought—we are much alike.” Another editor, Senor Luis Cano, of El Spectador, Bogota, Colombla, put the thoughts of many delegates into words when he sald: “I belleve it the duty of every South | American writer to return h !let our people know just whi of a place the United States i< the past, the (blombian people have misunderstood vour country. They have thought you were so busy mak- ing money that you had little time for the court Of course, our gov- ernment always has been friendly. but the people do not always agree with their government. U. 8. “Not Grasping.” “And now I will go back to mv country and write what I have found here. I have \seen your great indus- tries, even mipre impressive than T expected. But I have also found. and this is much more important, that the United States is not grasping. The American people are friendly, hospi {table and cultured as well busi nesslike.” Again [ Kl Teleg as Senor Carlos €. Reissig of Buenos Aires. pointed 's conelusion visit m: distinetly new epoch in the relations between the Americas. Our people in the southerm republics depend more than you do, I belleve, on our pre: for the forming of ideas and the shap- ing of public attitudes. The deep con- viction we editors of the South have gained in this trip cannot fail to be an inspiration to us in our work, and it cannot fail to shine through what we write for our periodic it will {be reflected, immediately you mav rest assured, in a warmth of friend Iy feeling of our people for you, which never before existed. “I do not expect the Americas to be welded into one = ment in the future, but I am confident that more and more the lay tions, eco nomic proces the real aims of molded after one pattern. When the people themselves come to feel these ommon bonds, the force of the West- ern Hemisphere, in leading the entire world, will be irresistible.” These quotations will suffice to show the attitude assumed by the journal: ists and the splendid atmosphere of good feeling engendered by the trip. Tt not again be emphasized, per s, that such expression: age ample returns in fellowship and in henefit. Entire Trip Perfect. The trip was completed without o untoward incident. The same spirit o | enthusiasm and broad interest mani fest at the journey's beginning wus | to be noted at the close. Although it is difficult to summarize the results of a trip of such bread and general scope, vet certain fa stand out because of their ba nificance to_so large a proportion of the people. What the journey will ac complish, among other things, are the following: Cementing of the ties of friendship { which have so lonz characterized the tional relations of the three interna- materiat : of & Southern high em upon our own p ial advance in the to the means tor repub wreatc tel Hes, which, in turn, sperity at home. Hastening of the industrial develoj: ment of the Americas by providin: adequate transportation facilities Kingdom of Sweden Over 1,200 Years Old By comparing evidences from two independent sources, the Nordic sagus and recent archeological discoveries, Prof. Birger Nerman of the Upsala University, in Sweden, has come to | the conclusion that as a unified king dom Sweden is 2 |and therefore o lin Europe. Anthropol | ments of skeletons un | eral parts of the countr | that direct ancestor: ! population lived in Sweden at least 5,000 years ago, and probably much longer. Other remnants, such as am- ber beads, throw much light on the Swedish foreign trade of 2,000 years ago. Even in the extreme North the Swedes preceded the Lapps and Finns, about 2500 B. C. 'As historical sources the sagas were once discounted by research workers, but now Prof. Nerman, who is both a linguist and archeologist, has backed them up with the results of recent ex- cavations, and his deductions are that the chief incidents are founded on ac- tual oceurrences. Originally Sweden was divided up into a number of smaller kingdoms. and Prof. Nerman believes that the process of unification took place much longer ago than pre vious writers have supposed. The final submission of the Southern provinces to the “Svea” kings of the central reglons did not take place until the latter half of the eighth century, he concludes, or just before the beginning of the Viking period. - Pray to Gods to Keep Yangtsze From Drying Six thousand Chinese employes of one of the largest tobacco factories at Pootung, across the Whangpoo River from Shanghai, took a day off and, joined by other thousands, paraded the streets with banners, Joss sticks and shooting firecrackers as an appeal to the gods not to let thie Yangtsze River run dry. An ancient legend has it that years ago an old priest of diabolical intent came to Shanghai from north of the Yangtsze and raised havoc. Finally in despair the natives of Shanghal and Pootung rose and drove him back to his native haunts. Ever since then the natives have been afraid that he might come back. But the only con- of the world's largest newspapers, |dition permitting his return would be ' declared: ~“We long have known the great. ness of North America through books; Ifllfl drying of the world's third largest river. Next year the function will repeated.