Evening Star Newspaper, August 1, 1926, Page 45

'EDITORIAL SECTION . Star EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL FEATURES. LESSED be drudgery! That sounds like “a false benediction, but recent events, when there was an enforced idleness in English cities of toil, proved. once again that {dleness is a greater curse than hard labor of the most tedious kind. Apart altogether from financial loss, there was real joy In getting back to work among those who had been “out” for those 10 days of soclal discontent. 2 One saw it on the faces of the workers. They [EUROPEAN DEBACLE SEEN' UNLESS U. S. INTERVENES Financial Crisis Over Debts Compared With Dark Days of 1917 When America ~ Turned Tide to Vietory. the table, and said: “Gentlemen, I like my job. We all like our jobs, though sometimes we pretend to ourselves and others that we are tired to death of its ill-paid toll."” ‘Man need® no other blessing than honest work,” sald old Carlyle, and there was no - hypoerisy in ‘his words, because hé worked from morning till night with lion-hearted cour- age and infinite honesty. During these years since the war there have been many tragedles in our social .life, but none worse than the tragedy of men unable a man who goes from one place of amusement to another in search of pleasure. * Kok ¥ One must get tired to enjoy rest. One must work to enjoy play. Those titled ladies and lelsured girls who, in the recent strike, volunteered for any kind of job showed a fine , spirit, and got down to dirty work with the ut- " most good will, but they enjoyed it, and it did them good. It gave a zip to life. It was better than wak- Roosevelt Was Youngest, at 42, and Har- rison Oldest, at 68—Coolidge Was 52—Prospects in 1928 Compared. brief time we can continue to refuse new loans until debt settlements are made. But when the debt settle- BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. N the present article I &hall discuss two widely different ques- 30 Presidents have been 60 years old or over when they were first inaugu- rated. These were John Adams, 81; BY G. GOULD ' LINCOLN. HAT is the presidential age? Tn a measure the voters of the United States have settled this question once every four years. But they have yoted, it must be said, without so much regard to the age of candidates for that high office as for policies and the personal qualifications of the can- didates. Thirty Presidents have served the Nation, including President Calvin Coolidge: The average age of these 30 men on the days-they were first inaugurated was 54 years. George Washington was 57 yvears old when he was first inaugurated President. President Coolidge was 51 when he stepped into the White House as the successor of the late President Harding. Average is 54 Years, Fifty-four, the average age of Pres. idents entering office, has been estab- lished, therefore, as the “presidential age” over a period of almost 127 years. Whether any candidate for the of- fice of President was ever turned down because he was too old, in the opinion “of the voters, or because he was too young, is difficult to say. Probably some of the voters have weighed the ages of the respective candidates in their minds during the campaigns, and undoubtedly argu- ments have been advanced that this or that man was too old or too YOung. The party national conventions which have nominated the candidates for President doubtless have given consideration to the age qualification. Until 1832, however, there were no party conventions for the selection of candidates for President. Prior to that time presidential electors were chosen by popular votes in the vari- ous States without nominations by party until 1894, when the Republi- cans so called—now the Democrats— in _a congressional caucus favored Jefterson and Clinton. The Federal- ists in 1812 held a convention and their nominee was Lieut. Gov. De Witt Clinton of New York. Question of 1928 Candidates. The next presidential campaign is still two years in the future, but al- ready_discussions are under way re- gargifiz possible nominees of both of the major parties. And the ques- tion of age availability crops up with regard to some of these presidential possibilities. The Constitution of the United States specifies that to hold the office of President a man must have reached the age of 35 veavs.. There is no age limitation other than-that. A President may be as much older than 35 as nature and the voters permit. In more recent history. William Jennings Bryan stands out as the boy candidate of a great political party for President. He was 36 vears old when he swept the Democratic na- tional convention to its feet in 1896 with a marvelous speech and was chosen the standard bearer of that party. President Coolidge, who was born July 4, 1872, at Plymouth, Vt., if he elects to become a candidate to suc- ceed himself and is successful in con- vention and at the polls, will be 56 years old when he takes the oath of office March 4, 1929. He was 52 years old—the age of Abraham Lin- coln when he was first inaugurated Swhen he was sworn in, March, 4, 1 Lowden Would Be 68. What about the ages of other men whose names are mentioned from time to time in connection with the Republican and Democratic nomina- tions for President? There is Frank ©O. Lowden, former Governor of Illi- nois, hailed now as a friend of the farmer and a man of the Middle West who understands its problems. Mr. Lowden was a strong contender for the Republican nomination in 1920 and had it not been for the indiscre- tion of some of his supporters in Mis- souri, where money was. spent in his cause in a corrupt manner, he might have landed the prize and have sat in the White House ihstead of President Harding. Mr. Lowden is no longer a “spring chicken.” He was born In Sunrise City, Minn., January 26, 1861, hefore the outbreak of the Civil War. If he should be nominated and elected President, he would be 68 years old on entering the White House. Only one President in the history of the coun- try has been so advanced in years when he entered upon office—William Henry Harrison. He died a month efter his inauguration. It is of récord that only five of the Change in Notion of Soverei Andrew Jackson, 65; Willlam Henry Harrison, 68; Zachary Taylor, 64, and James Buchanan, 65. Taylor died after he had been in office little more than a year. On the other hand, John Adams lived to the ripe old age of 90. Andrew Jackson was 78 when he died and James Buchanan 17. Roosevelt Was Youngest. Six of the Presidents were between 40 and 60 years of age when they entered upon their dutles. They were James Knox Polk, who was 49 when he was inaugurated; Franklin Pierce, 48; U. S. Grant, 46; James A. Garfleld, 49; Grover Cleveland, 47, and Theo- dore Roosevelt, 42, the youngest President of them all. Compare the ages of these older Presidents and younger with some of the potential candidates for nomina- tion and election in 1928. On the Re- publican side, in addition to Mr. Lowden, are Senator William E. Bo- rah of Idaho, Speaker Longworth of Ohio, Herbert Hoover of California, Secretary of Commerce: Charles E. Hughes of New York, Vice President Charles G. Dawes of Illinois and 8en- ator James W. Wadsworth of New York. The Democrats are discussing Willlam Gibbs McAdoo of Califor- nia, Gov. Alfred Smith of New York, Gov. Albert Cabell Ritchie of Mary- land, former Senator Atlee Pomerene of Ohio, Gov. A. Vic Donahey of Ohio, Senator Carter Glass of Virginia, Sen- ator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas and Edwin Thomas Meredith of Towa, former Secretary of Agriculture. Senator Borah was born in Illinois June 29, 1865, and would be 63 years old on March 4, 1929, Speaker Long- worth, although not yet “Old Nick.," is yet no longer “Young Nick.” He was born in Ohio November 5, 1869, and would be 59 at the time of the next presidentlal inauguration. Sec- retary Hoover was born in Iowa August 10, 1874, and would be 54- years old: Senator Wadsworth was born in New York August 12, 1877, and would be 51 years old; Mr. Hughes was born in New York April 11, 1862, and would be nearing 67, and Vice President Dawes was born in Ohio August 27, 1865, and would be 63. Smith 55 in 1929. Of the Democratic possibilities, Gov. Al Smith first saw the light of day December 30, 1873, in New York City. He would be 55 on inauguration day in 1929, Mr, McAdoo was born October 31, 1863, and would be 65; Gov. Ritchie was born in Virginia August - 29, 1876, and” would be 52;: Mr. Pomerene was born in Ohio December 6, 1863, and would be 65; Gov. Donahey was born in Ohio July 7, 1873, and would be 55; Senator Glass was born in Virginia January 4, 1858, and would be 71; Mr. Meredith was born in Iowa December 23, 1876, and would be 52, and Senator Robin- son was born in Arkansas August 26, 1872, and would be 56. All of these possible candidates are today apparently In excellent health. Some of them look far younger than their years. But the job of being President to- day is strenuous. Vigor, both mental and bodily, 1s the need of any man who essays it for four long years. This is the age of hustle. In a large measure it is the young man’s age. It is a fact that not since the days of President Buchanan has a President been inaugurated who when he first entered the White House was 60 years old or more. John W. Davis, the Democratic standard bearer in 1924, was 51 years old when he was nominated af the New York convention. Age Not Only Factor. Age and physical condition must enter into the avallability of any can- didate for the presidential nomina- tion. Ability, common sense and vigor are not always to be gauged ac- cording to age, however. A great leader in a crisis doubtless would be chosen, irrespective of his age—ex- cept for the constitutional limitation that a President must be 35 years old or_more. / Discussion of the age of a presiden- tial candidate may appear somewhat indelicate and unkind, much as the discussion of the age of a woman. So far no women have been seriously discussed as presidential possibilities. That may come {n the future, and if it does the woman in the case will be compelled to give her age. It may be true that “a man is as old as he feels and a woman as old as she looks.” ‘The voters will want to know the truth of the matter. by Is Step Toward Peace, Politis Says BY N. POLITIS, inistar_Plani 4 Yormer Grook Ministers” of Forcign Affairs The Lasis of international law is the eame as that of national law; it is a social product; it is everywhere con- " cerned with man, and with man alone; its object is to insure human happi- ness and the improvement of human- ity The rules of international law are addressed to mankind in order to allow or to prohibit certain actions. ‘They are addressed also to rulers to impose on them the duty of formu- lating and sanctioning such rules. They were first created for the pro- tection of foreigners. They were later extended to natives of the colonie: ‘They were finally applied to all citi- zens. At present international law is in a transition period; it is no longer ex- clusively the law of states; it is not yet completely the law of individuals. After the great war it seemed for a moment as if it were a dead letter. But the initial wave of discourage ment was soon succeeded by confl- dence in the renaissance of interna- tional jaw. The problem is not new, but merely an evolutionary manifesta- tion common to all branches of law. In the last century the international community and the law which governs 1t changed greatly, but until 1914 this was not properly realized. By over- ‘whelming the universe and breaking the anclent molds of the life of na- tions the World War brought these changes to light. It obliged us to.re- vise many Pfln&vle! which we had beld to be essentiai. Such-was, In the first place, the no- tion of sovereignty. Formerly it was considered as an -absolute and un- checked power. With the development of international law it is impossible to . maintain_this in absolute ceived as a relative notion; but ashis was fundamentally inconcelvable the next step was the complete relinquish- ment of the notion of sovereignty. The present tendency is to substitute for it the idea of liberty, which is lim- ited by the progress of law. There re- mains, however, a domain of liberty which 1s not limited, that of domestic affairs. As law develops, however, its scope shrinks. This first change paves the way for others. It was the same for the principle of the equality -of states. In practice it was never understood in an absolute sense. The exceptions it connoted have not always been properly under- stood. With the relinquishment of the dogma. of sovereignty, the equality of states becomes a principle analogous to that of the equality of citizen: must be understood as juridical equal- ity. From the material and moral point of view it does not exist. Nor does it imply an equal participation in the administration of the interests f the international community. But the application of this last rule raises many difficulties in practice. ,They are due to the shortcomings of interna- tional organization, and, above all, to the traces which the dogma of sov- ereignty has left in the mentality of the nations. Another change may be found in the determination of the rights and duties of states. Instead of speaking of the rights and duties of states it is nearer the scientific truth to indicate the ob- jective rules which authorize or pro- hibit such or such an attitude on the part of the men acting in their nam With telinquishment of the noti of sovereignty and of personality, the whole aspect of international law al- ters; it educates the commu jons to achieve the object all so- clety, which is the maini of or- | der, peaca and Justios. g were glad to return to the old drudgery on bus step or station platform, keeping regular hours again, forgetting grievances in the good old joy of punching tickets or trundling luggage. “If all the years were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work.” So old Shakespeare said without an eye on - propaganda to keep the workers busy. ' Cei- tainly my experfence bears out this philosophy. 1 would rather do the humblest drudgery, the hardest hagk work, than have a lot of time on my hands without purpose or job. L days as a regular journalist 1 had a 1 anging about.” It is the fate of all reporters. They have to wait in ante- rooms while great men confer in government offices, in courts of law, in editors’ rooms, in railway stations at home and abroad. I suf- fered real agonies in those tedious hours. Far better be addressing envelopes or sticking on stamps than kicking one's heels against closed doors walting for history. Z The fact is that drudgery—and most work becomes that after the first interest has passed —is an essential condition of life for most men women. Only the very rare soul can énjoy a lot of lounging, at least in climates like ours, where it is impossible to sleep in the sun be- cause there {sn't any sun. ‘The man of leisure who does not find time hang heavily on his hands, and who fills every minute with some interest in his hobbies, is dif- ficult to discover. Most of the men of lefsure that T have met have been intolerably bored with their own fate. Holidays mean nothing to In my ing up to blank days, with only a game of ten- nis ahead or a morning’s shopping. And all these girl clerks and typists and secretaries and show girls who trudged for miles along London pavements, or had exciting adventures in get. ting “lifts,” were inspired by something else than loyalty and pluck, though those qualities were ‘part of them. They hated the idea of staying at home without anything to do, though glad enough always to get home again after office hours or closing time. & The ordinary human mind, in whatever sta- tion of life it may be, has need of-escape from itself, and that way of escape is best found in work—the daily drudgery of the common round and trivial task. # All this talk about the blessing of leisure, brain-fag, overwork, slavery of toll, is mostly insincere and untrue to actual facts of psychol- ogy. Men who retire from their business at 60 generally wither away and die of sheer bore- dom. Their little hobbles are not enough; or, worse still, they have never cultivated a hobby. The secret of golf is not sport, but something to occupy men’s minds as well as their mus- cles. Our statesmen and politiclans complain of the burden of office, but they are very dis- gruntled when they have to hand over their portfolios. e e I remember Roosevelt telling a story about that. One day, when he was President of the United States, he sat among his colleagues at a round_ table and listened to them grousing about this “burden™ of office, until at last he became impatient, and banged his big fist on ing within life. tude. or two. to get work, trudging the streets for work, looking at that notice “No Hands Wanted" ‘with despairing eyes. “Oh, but they are on the dole al| right,” says the lighthearted or cynical observer of soclal conditions. Well, some of them are, and some of them aren’t. I have been to night refuges where, as far as I could make out, no man there was on the dole, though some of them had fought for thelr country and helped to save it. * K ok X But dole, or no dole, the tragedy is heart- breaking to any decent fellow who, day after day, and sometimes year after year, finds his muscles growing slacker, his moral fiber weak- ening, his hopelessness deepening and darken- his soul because he has no job in 1 know that if I were on the dole a year or more I should be utterly undone, demoralized beyond repair. I must work or die. Blessed the drudgery!, Happy are the men and women who have some kind of job to do, with regular hours and regular pay, keeping their minds from introspection, giving them a little purpose in the activity of life, keeping thelr noses to the desk or the grindstone. To them a brief escape this Summer will be joyous and heartening. tion days the office will seem a place of servi- They will grouse against its drudgery. They will hate to go back—just for an hour In the lazy vaca- But they are the lucky ones of life, and should know their own luck and be grateful. (Copyright. 1926.) FRENCH RESOLUTELY FACE TASK |EUROPEANS LOOK ON LEAGUE OF STABILIZING THEIR CURRENCY Situation by No Means Despaired Of, Says Financial|Power to Prevent War Weakened by Skepticism of World and by Absence of U. S., Germany and Russia. Attache Here—Reviews Measures for Balancing Budget and Relieving Treasury. BY R. LACOUR GAYET. Financial Attache to the French Embassy. The practical expediency of the French committee of financial ex- perts is to be judged by the new French government. It is not my place to comment on it. It seems use- ful, however, to point out the deep significance made ,by independent men, placed above any party consid- erations. In conjunction with the formation of a National Uniort. min- istry under M. Poincare it gives evi- dence of the efforts of France rapidly to bring back her financial situation to normal. It is another proof of the effort of the French people to put an end _to difficulties which are the in- evitable heritage of four years’ war and devastation. The committee of experts was made up of 12 men chosen from -the banking, industrial and commercial worlds; it also included in its num- | bers. several economists particularly renowned for their studies on mone- tary and financial problems. In order to guarantee every liberty to this com- mittee, so that the - Impartiality of its conclusions might be assured, the government decided that mo man from the political centers and no pub- lic official be included in its ranks. Representatives of the ministry of finance alone were to furnish to the committee the necessary information, without at any time taking part in its meetings. Report Favorably Received. The report, which was quite favor- ably recelved by American public opinion, proved the experts unani- mous in thinking that the financial situation of France was in no way to be despaired of. It said: “If France knows how to impose discipline upon herself, to work with unity, ardor and constancy at the task of her re-estab- lishment, to produce and economize in greater measure, order and economic prosperity will not be long in re- turning.” However, the condition for any financial restoration is “the stability of money.” The experts recognized that it was, vain to attempt at this time to brig the franc back to its pre- war valug, and they likewise ener- getically condemned any inflation policy, expressing in this way the Bishop opinion of practically the entire French population. In order to reach this end, the com- missfon brought forth the idea that financial science permitted no other solutions than those of reason and good sense. The experts therefore recommended a series of measures, as simple as possible, and calculated to insure the strict equilibrium of the budget and the freedom of the treasury. These measures are sum- med up as follows: B To keep down as much as possible all government expenditures; To return to the Bank of France its independence by setting aside any direct or indirect recourse to the ad- vances of the Bank of France as se- curity for new government expendi- tures; Reduction in Advances. To reduce gradually the advances of the Bank of France to the govern- ment; To insure the proper functioning of the treasury; to restore it to its nor- mal work by relleving it of a great part of the floating debt; To undertake, by means of volun- tary consolidation, the transforma- tion Into redeemable securities of the “bons de la defense nationale” and the short-term ‘‘bons’’; To realize, very shortly, with the help of the Bank of France, the mone- tary stability which alone can rénder possible and of a lasting efficiency the preceding measures, and to hold, at- tract. and cause the return of capital and prepare for an early return to its free circulation: To contract, in view of stabilization, loans in forelgn money, at as long a term as possible and to obtain credits besides; To pursue an economic policy which will tend to mitigate . the inevitable crisis, which would be the conse- quence of return to sound money; and help to re-establish the country’s pros- perity. This program rests on a close ob- servance of the government's obliga- tions and on the settlement of the in- terallled debts. - The experts thus declared them- selves advocates of the ratification of the London and Washington agree- ments. y f (Copyright, 1926.) ing Scores Duplication And Rivalry of Churches as Waste BY WILLIAM T. MANNING, Bishop of New York. A disunited church cannot give the full message of Christ to the world. How can we expect the world to ac- cept the gospel of fellowship from an organization which is at variance with itself? What consistency is there in an appeal for a united world issued by a divided church? Of the practical waste, the squan- dering of energy and resources occa- sloned by our divisions, it is scarcely necessary to speak. We see the evi- dences of this on every hand. It is obvious that.the energies which as Christians we - devote to controversy and conflict with each other should be devoted to the one great purpose for which the church exists, the bringing of the whole world to the knowledge and fellowship of Jesus Christ. But the overlapping, the duplication of effort, the competition' and rivalry among Christians are worse than mere waste of resources, serjous as this is. They are a spectacle which lessens the faith of men, which brings religion into disrepute and which does daily hurt to the cause of Christ. Men today in general are not hostile to religion, but the message of Christ seems-to them confused and uncer- tain. Amid the controversies of the churches they cannot hear the great central message of the church. The fact which they see clearly is that however the divisions among Chris- tians may be accounted for, they con- flict with the church’'s own teaching and contradict her own principles. ey know that whatever else the church of Christ stands for, it must, if it truly represents Him, stand for harmony, not for discord; for peace, not for dissension; for fellowship, .not for séparation and division. The hopeful feature of the situation of na- |- A new spirit of fellowship is show- ing itself. Misconceptions are being removed. Mutual respect is taking the place of suspicion and misunder- standing. Scholarship is at work, and under its impartial searchlight some of the old difficulties wear a changed aspect. There is a new freedom, a new inter- change of thought, a new readiness to compare ideas and to consider oppos- ing views among scholars and leaders in all communions. Roman Catholics and Protestants, Anglicans and non- _conformists are found n'mnthetlullz They are asking why the sel should continue. ‘We know that there unity of the spirit. emphasize too strongly the reality of this inner unity of the spirit which binds all true Christians together. But this {nner invisible unity alone is not sufficient. ‘We cannot, as Christians, be satis- vinced by an inward and invisible unity which is hat the calling us—to make new efforts for the realization of that unity and fel- ‘which St. cont led by out- and diylaigh, 1 be- | ye AS CIVILIZATION’S SALVATION BY SIR FREDERICK WHYTE, Former President Leglalative Assembly of We Europeans must think of the League of”Nations as an institution which we ourselvéds can help to make or mar. We must remember that it is not a thing apart from any human be- ing or any country; and that, there- fore, when it is either praised or blamed, . we being in part responsible for it, should take our share in the blame and in the praise. The League of Nations has its strength and its weakness. | ~ The first element in its strength is that it holds the fleld and that even its most determined critics offer us no alternative beyond the return to war and anarchy. A further element in its strength is its youth and, there- fore, its potential capacity of growth. Now youth is the period of hope. If our hopes of the league are to be real- ized, those of us who believe in it must be able to give reasons for our faith, not merely in theory but in proof and emh[‘lmd fact. War Threatens Civilization. THe first of these established facts is that modern war is so devastating as to threaten, if not to destroy, all the foundations of civilization. The World War more nearly wrecked the world than most of us realize. And if another great war were to arise in the future, it is probable that the world would plun backward into universal and irredeemable anarchy. Therefore, knowing what war has been and estimating what it will be, we have a strong incentive now to remove its causes. The opportunity which the league offers of discussing and settling those problems out of which war arises before they become ‘too acute for reasonable settlement justifies our belief that many of the potential wars of the future can be 8o avoided. The second element in its strength is that it marches with the progress” of history and repre- sents a perfectly normal develop- ment of human institutions; and though it is, perhaps. a very large step forward, it represents no greater change than those which the human race went through in the establishment of the modern state. The third element In its strength consists in its achievements. The first element in its weakness is the skepticism with which many still regara it. It is held to repre- sent an idea contrary to human neture! but since it is an effort in co-operation and since mankind has learned the value of co-operation in other spheres, there is no reason why humanity should not also learn this lesson. Skepticism can only be re- moved by education, both in the principle on which the league is based and ‘in the functions which it is already discharging. Three Powers Absent. Another cause of weakness is the absence in three of the principal na- tions of the world from the family of the league.~These three are America, Germany and Russia. The American people has not yet seen its way to join the league and will not until the American Government is able to until_we have su the European house in order. jon as that is dene, and in rtion as America finds it to her erest to join the league, the oppo- sitfon of America will gradually de- cline; but I am not one of those who consent to appeal to America on grounds of pity, or any other ground, to join the league. We don't want your pity, but' we will accept gladly your whole-hearted co-operation when to give it. America ‘when she is ready. - are not blinded by prejudice that it is better both for Germany and the world that our late enemy should be a|inside the league than outside it. of these values will show are not as antagonistic as they may |Rov appear on the surface; but that in S ,“ & 2 ussia is different. We m%flmmh Russian do- 23 | rmeatic. policy, but until the Soviet ernment. shows that it is ready J international 15| clety of Authors. this: That it represents a new stage in the development of human institu- tions. For, just as the tribes and clans gradually combined to form the nations of the world, so now the na- tions, profiting by their experience of co-operation, are trying to form a per- manent arena of conciliation. If the nations of the world can only agree to sacrifice some part of their independent sovereignty in the general interest, many wars in the future will be avoided. The League of Nations offers an opportunity to realize this desirable result, with no undue sacrifice of the essentials of patriotism. Herein, as also in the actual achievement of the league, lies our justification, as Europeans, for upholding the league and putting our faith in it. (Covright. 1926.) Varied Articles Left In Vienna Pawnshop Long ago Vienna banished the loan shark by starting a city-operated loan institution. In the Dorotheum, as this institution is named, the small ower can negotlate a loan on his watch and may pay an interest rate of about 8 per cent. The Dorotheum also has a savings department, the to- tal savings of which are now well over $6,000,000. *“Aunt Dorothy” has many Yisitors from all positions in society. Not only the small clerk seeks her out to raise money on his watch, but also the shopkeeper does not hesitate to deposit his wares with her and ob- tain cash to'prolong his notes. Even the well-to-do stock broker visits “Aunt Dorothy” and hocks his automobile. Forty cars were in her garage recent- ly. Winter coats and gold watches are most often deposited as security. Some persons deposit their fur coats in the Spring and take them out when Win- ter comes. It saves storage and pro- tects them from moths. “Aunt Doro- thy” has her own garage and her own 'machinery storehouse, with engineers to estimate values. Loans are made to the extent of from one-half to two- thirds of the intrinsic value of the object. Jewelry can be borrowed on te the full valve of its gold worth. In 1913 there were 1,360,000 objects left with “Aunt Dorothy,” and about $6,- 000,000 was loaned on them. Now the figures have sunk to about half of these amounts, but show a tendency to increase. Shaw S—huns Practice Of Socialist Dogmas George Bernard Shaw is a great ad- vocate of soclalistic theories, but does not like to put them into practice. ‘When the organizers of a labor demonstration at Alexandra Palace wished to include in the program the play “The Showing Up of Blanco Posnet,” Mr. Shaw replied to their in- quirfes: “Under no circumstances can any play of mine be performed with- out payment of the standard author’s fee. A labor advisory council ought to understand this as a point of trade unionism. What is more, unless you assure me that the admission charge will go to the players, and not to any other non-theatrical body, the per- formance must he classed as amateur, and the amateur fee pald to the So- It is hard enough for my poorer fellow authors to meet the competition of my plays ‘without the handicap of having them per- formed gratuitously. ou - see the point, I hope.” Jerusalem Attempting To Become Modern City Jerusalem is in for some town ning, One of the most a.ndex?tl- :; :l’lltwhl; cities ‘pl:fl endeavoring to recon- cram| streets, twisting pas- and magnificent walls ts:) the of modern civic life, work is in charge of Sir Ronald Storrs, of J has g the present situa- showing what work is to be done. Without In any way interfering with the historic fascination of Jerusa- lem, Gov. Storrs is determined to make it a ugw. and he has a and can- | series maps Which show | the. Da 3 mflc.hwdn‘ Goy. Storrs was a of 1 tions which have present im- portance, namely the matter of the European debts to the United States and the crisis in France grow- ing out of the financial breakdown as that crisis may affect Europe generally. As to the European debts to our- selves, it must be becoming fairly clear after the events of recent days, culminating in the debate in the House of Commons, that Europe does not mean to pay the debts because it does not belleve that they are just or have any moral foundation. What we are actually szeing is the more or less sporadic manifestations - of & movement which is bound in the nature of things to develop and ex- tend until it unites the whole con- tinent. % One of the great mistakes in the whole Amefican view of the situation has been to imagine that it would be possible to separate the debt ques- tion from the general European post- war problems or to deal with the various debtor nations separately; that is, to prevent the ultimate draw- ing together of all these debtor na- tions in a common resentment of the American course and in a common purpose to abolish all the separate contracts made with our government by some general movement. Effect Upon Germany. In the same fashion, not a few of our politiclans with German c¢on- stituents have imagined that they would serve their supporters best by insisting upon seyere terms to France. What they failed to perceive was that the net effect of severity on France was merely to pass cn to Germany the necessity of continued large pay- ments, because the French stood and were bound to stand always on thé principle that they would only pay as they were paid. And at the end of the paying line stood Germany, her territory occupied by allied troops, her course prescribed by the Dawes plan. Thus in the last analysis Germany was bound to be driven to make a common cause with the rest of Europe. The discussion of the justice of our policy can hardly have any impor- tance now because it is thoroughly established that Europe will never recognize that justice. Much less is there any use in maintaining that we have been generous at & moment when Uncle Sam has become “‘Uncle Shylock” for 2 whole continent. The moment has arrived when we must face with absolute clarity the essential fact that Europe believes we are in- sisting upon payments which are not fair and pursuing toward a continent which is stricken the most selfish and grasping policy in human history. Now the end of a!l the present dis- pute is perfectly patent. We are go- ing to lose the money we lent to Eu- rope during the war save for some relatively small sums which may be paid during a short time and solely because such payments are a_detail in getting more money from us in the shape of commercial loans and cred- its. And these incidental payments will have the same result as pouring kerosene upon a fire. Seen as Perilous Course. ‘We have, quite unconsclously, em- barked upon one of the most danger- ous and provocative courses which any country has ever adopted. We are undertaking to collect from at least four great countries and a number of smaller nations vast sums of money which these countries do not feel that they owe and do feel represent nothing more or less than tribute. However unfair the Euro- pean estimate of the situation may be, we have always to remember that the estimate is now pretty generally ac- cepted by three or four hundred mil- lions of people. At the moment we can affect a very lofty disregard for this European state of mind. At the moment we are strong and Europe is weak, we are rich and Europe is poor, we are solvent and in the larger sense Eu- rope is bankrupt. It may be that, as the Washington politiclans have preached, we can disregard Europe and that wise policy would demand that we avoid every conceivable Eu- ments have become official contracts and Eyrope has the new loans, then the real crisis will arrive and we shall have lost our last weapon of coercion. Thereafter, I think, we shall be exceedingly lucky if we able to collect the commercial loan: as for the war loans, they will be- come as obsoleteras Fenian bonds or Confederate currency. Our policy of debt collection is just as bankrupt as the French policy of reparations. We cannot collect and we have to face the fact. Meantime, because our people have not been educated to the fact, our Government does not dare to act on the basis of fact and we are treated to the spectacle of a steadily rising and fusing European anger, which already expresses itself in a variety of relatively ridiculous reprisals, such as political denunciation, press criticism and occasional acts of violence against American tourists. ‘And this is only the beginning. The nation which really has at its mercy is the British, because it is saying it is immune from any American criticism, but it is in the perfect position to rally the continent against us. We are making the British pay through the nose; they are paying, but they are also giving the whole continent the lead in what is becoming a continent-wide cam- paign against the United States. Poincare Last Resource. Turning - now abruptly to the French situation, one s bound to pecognize at once that a Poincare nilnistry ‘is the last _resource of France. If anything is to be saved from the ruins it must be saved now and without further shilly-shallying. For the present situation a measure of responsibility must be charged against the new premier. He was prime minister of France for a con- siderable time—from the fall of the Briand ministry over the Cannes pro- posals to the election of May, 1924. In that time the ex-president was gullty of two fatal blunders. It is possible still to debate the occupation of the Ruhr as a necessary step; it is impossible now or ever to deny that when the Germans did sur- render in September, 1923, Poincare was not ready to take advantage of the situation. He could not make peace and the situation dragged, to the very great cost of France. More- over, he was at least compromised by his failure to stamp upon the first moves in the lamentable Rhineland separation intrigue. But the real criticism of Poincars rests on the fact that for more than two years, while he had power and a solid bloc behind him in the Chamber, he did nothing to rheet the financial problems, and the crisis of 1924, the first real crisis in the franc, came upon him unexpectedly. He did act then courageously and energeti- cally, but it was too late; the country was not alive to the situation and unwilling to carry the burdens im- posed. . Once Before Met Crisis. Poincare is honest, obstinate, dull, with a routine mind, no imagination and a very narrow and parochial view of forelgn affairs. But he s safe, sane, logical and, if timid at the outset, obstinate when the de- cision has been made. He has no personal following and no real popu- larity. But once before he was called to liguidate a frightful mess in which the name of Caillaux was prominent. It was with a ministry of “all the talents” that he came to power after Agadir in 1911 and pres- ently passed on to the presidency. But the French problem now has gone beyond personalities and it is not even limited to France. If the financial situatién cannot be remedied without a debacle like that in Ger- many some very grave convulsion in France is far from unlikely. The Germans, beaten in the war and broken by the Ruhr defeat, crushed mentally and morally, submitted to the ruin following the collapse of the mark with complete passivity. The middle class was practically annthi- ropean entanglement. But it remains to be seen how far the debts may prove to be the strong- er form of entanglement. I wish I might make clear also another cir- cumstance. Washington has steadily maintained that the resentment dis- coverable in Europe was transient and that prosperity would come quick- ly and then the debt payments would become so insignificant that they ‘would cease to be an issue. By con- trast, for three years at least the fever of European resentment has been growing and it is very far from having reached the possible maximum yet, while it is clear that there has been no such recovery of prosperity as was cheerfully predicted in th American Capital. 3 Believes Resentment Is Fixed. Cancellation of the debts en bloc now would not change the European estimate of our spirit. Such an act would merely be interpreted as.an ‘eleventh-hour discovery that we could not collect and that ‘the attempt to collect threatened to be unprofitable. ‘We are going to be Uncle S8hylock in Europe now until the present genera- tion bas disappeared. The mere offi- clal - declaration that we have been' generous arouses a storm of passion- ate resentment from Moscow to Lon- [don and a flood of contemptuous re- Ination. . Nevertheless, if our Government desires to avoid a full generation of dangerous European hostility, sooner or later taking the form of actual combination against us, it must in the end face the necessity for edn- cellation, It is an even thing whether repudiation comes before cancella- tion or we are presently faced with the necessity of choosing between an attempt to collect by force and pas- sive acquiescence in general European repudiation. : ‘We have arrived now in precisely the position in which the French found themselves three years and more ago, when the le had lated, the masses suffered misery not yet fully appreciated abroad. In recent visits to France I have been told over and over again that the French people would never submit passively to a similar strain, that the bourgeoisie would never go to ex- tinction with the sheeplike fesigna- tion of the German. Without attempt. ing any forecast, then, one must appreciate at once that a French col- h;r? mlghhtl ;ufly ll;rl{xg‘a new con- vulsion, which, would in n limited to France. - Effect on U. 8. of Collapse. “If we down we shall not go. down alone!” How often has this been said to me by Frenchmen, and how. frequently it has been the burden of bitter articles in the French press! Moreover, up to the moment Poi care was called, France had been go- ing down with ever-increasing ra- pidity. A real collapse in France might, then, prove the final act In the world catastrophe, the twelfth anniversary of which is just at hand, It such a catastrophe did arrive, we should certainly lose all that we have put into Europe in the past dozen years, and in addition most of the markets on that continent, which are the chief elements in our foreign. (r’rde. hat {s why we are certain now to be faced with the inevitable inquiry as to what we are going to do to assist in the prévention of & new and, perhaps, general collapse. France can-: not be saved now without some Amert- can assistance. Great Britain has peop! been | fed to the limit on the notlon that Germany would pay for the costs of the war and the reconstruction and ! Germany had begun to show signs of an unwillingness to pay anything. Because the French politiclans were afraid of their own people they oc- Ruhr, but they got no n the end to accept plan, which eliminated all |