Evening Star Newspaper, August 15, 1926, Page 47

- ALL PRODUCTION CURBED ‘SO _MAN CAN KEEP PACE Economist Sees Trustlike Danger in High Industrial Technique Over- supplying World’s Needs BY WILLIS J. BALLINGER. HAT would old Neanderthal man have thought if he could have looked down the telescope of time and have seen the genius of his de- scendants so triumphant over nature that 120,000,000 people, inhabitants of a great Republic. were face to face With a plague of too much wealth and comfort, and that they were soberly devising plans for slowing down the production so as to escape nny of too much consump- How in his cold, damp, hillside cav- ern, where he munched upon a few tish and a s ty supply of deer meat, peering every now and then out upon the wind-swept. frozen country- side, waiting patiently for the retreat of a severe Winter whose rigor had killed his first born and visited famine upon his household—how he might have envied the generation at the other end of his telescopic vision 30,000 vears away! What would W. J. F M. La Follette say if some one told them that trusts were no longer unmitigated evil but a nec it a benefit; that only restricted produc- tion can protect industry from the eco- nomic calamity of overproduction and the people from the distress of having to eat themselves sick and clothe themselves to a point of discomfort? What would th thousands of “plumed” knights who have entered the lists of popularity with I gllded rhetoric against th clawed and breathing trust of r Reed's viv tion. to rescue a nation from the clutches of limited, monopoly produe- tion, think about this joke of industrial evolution? Tt is safe to say many of them would turn over in their grives in a horrible death nightmare, if it were possible thus to register a pro- test. But that is just what is happening to Ame savs a distinguished econ oniist We are entering an era when the technique of production has so enormously speeded up production that the consumptive powers of the American people are in danger of lug ginz behind He Is Noted Economist. Dr. Harold G. Moulton, director of the Institute of Economics, is one of America best known economis The that he has written on transportation., money and banking and international finance would make small il .1 questioned him n or Robert th g Dr. Mouiton ricted production 1 by industry to from overproduction that is true, then we have in operation a general trust system that stretches over entire country. As 1 understand it, the old-fushioned trust was condemned becanse it limited proc m and ised prices t it whole indus tries are restricting production, th trust evil has niultiplied fold. Tell me somethir out how this is being done and what the out- come will be. Answer. In typical industry within 10 to 40 mum capacity dustry operites from 50 cent of full speed. The bituminou: coal industry is badly overdevelo and the equipment i at onl hedf cap bitum ining equi n capacity of from 800,000,000 1,000,000,000 ¢ £ conl a year the dem: bhituminous conl the Nati nly 400,000,000 to 500,000,000, The hituminous coal plants half time. The text other example of an industry that operates much below its maximum capacity to avoid overproduction, Farmer « The overprod in self-defense America to does not ope er cent of it The i the ite maxi- to 90 per to work only e industry is an- Other Side. tion of the farmer, as is well known, has heen one of the causes of his economic distress, He is trying to correct this by co-oper- ative 1 ing and attempts to fit his sup e the market Only Department of Ag ricult out warning to the Brows) » limit their pro. Inetion liks 10 per cent in order to avo itting the market, ucing pr and destroying the profit of the growers, Perhaps the most striki: onomic fact of our day is the effort by indus. trial and agricultural as well as by labor union leaders to restrain the production for the purposes of stabi h some the | tself many | to | result is that the | lizing the prices of the commodities produced. The truth is that industry in the United States could produce all the American people could use in from eight to nine months of the vear if plants operated to maximum capacity. The principle that is actuating in- dustry in thus curtailing production is uncontrolled, business has found that the market becomes highly un- stable. prices decline and profits ex- ceedingly precarious. Therefore, busi- ness has been forced to restrict pro- duction in self-defense. | Ruled by Trade Groups. | Question. What is the means by which this production Is regulated? When did the regulation hegin? Answer. Production in most of the larger industries of the country is regulated through trade assoclation: The trade assoclation as we now know it was largely the outgrowth of war experience. All the plants of the varfous industries were organized | into_associations for the purpose of co-ofdinating and stimulating indus- trial output. After the war they did not dissolve. They proved their use- fulness by gathering facts and figures covering market conditions, and in periods of industrial disorganization they have undoubtedly proved a stabllizing influence. Question. What do you think about this policy of restricted production? Is it a good thing? Does it hold a real trust menace for the American people? Answer. The American people in a sense are between an upper millstone of too much production and unstable prices and a nether milistone of too little production and unreasonable prices. If industries were to open up full blast there is no doubt that the immediate consequences would be to cause industrial pandemonium. There would be violent price fluctuations, business depression and unemploy- ment. Such would be the immediate consequence, But apart from such temporary crises—a real race is all the time go- ing on between man's powers of con- sumption and the whirlwind progress of production. To some it may seem foolish to imagine a_state of glutted production where to have to eat more would be uncomfortable, or to have to use several automobiles or wear seven suits during the week would be a nuisance. But the truth is that if our population continues to in- crease slowly and our powers of enor- mous production continue to increase s rapidly as they have in the past ew generations, I feel that it is quite possible to produce so much that con- imption would become a tyrant— stomachs would be impressed to save food from rotting, backs would be | commandeered to rescue unworn cloth- ing from moths, feet would be con- scripted to take shoes off of shelves and the human being would have real work on his hands to prevent con- | sumption capacity from lagging wastefully behind productive powers of industr Middle Course Sought. On the other hand, if industry should restrict produgtion generally ation would immediately suffer from scarcity. That would lead to vage attacks against the monopo- stic: restriction of production. | Trade assoctitions must, therefore, steer a careful course between the lla_of too little production and the aryidis of too much production. As' 1 was coming out of the office building where Dr. Moulton daily work, a sort of resume of his tory passed rapidiy through my mind throwing into high relief the,startling conclusions of the doctor. Many times in the hist of great nations have filled the stomachs of the few the masses have generally been little more than paupers at the table of aristocratic plenty catching eagerly at the bread crumbs of- excess that | was patronizingly thrown to them. | But the United States is the first ar ancient dream of a ‘“paradise of plenty for all” that has animated thinkers for centuries. While the wheels of industrial tofl in the other ot the globe are striving for " speed, ours alone are faced with the problem of surfeit and sur- plus. While others sweat in the grime of trying to get production to | cateh up with the urge of consump- | tion, we bask in the bliss of having lln put the check reins on the horses | of production for fear they will out- ‘Slri]\ the powers of the masses to con- sume, German Colonial Hopes Are Clashing With Avowed Projects of Mussolini (Continued from First Page.) Tt is the line of least resistance Meantime, as In the recent Abysin- nlan agreement with the British, she may pick up little trifles, minor con- cesstons which serve to please mo- mentarily. But after all, Ttallan co- lonial possessions ahout Abysinnia, Eritrea, Jubaland and the rest are of little importance. They can never be the foundation of a real empire. n this situation T is bound to stand forth as the constant opponent of any German colonial acquisitions. Tf there are he renunciations, if France or Britain seriously con- siders resigning colonfal territories a thing whi likely, the Italian claim will urged with every concelvable vio- lence. And in the matter of man- dates the Itallan veto will he con- tinuous, as ft would be adequate Obstacles Before German; One is bound to then, be see. that German hopes in the direction of a | restoration of the old colonial em- pire are unlikely to be realized in any present time, indeed in any time which one can estimate. Yet one Is face to face with the German ex- pectaticn, with the German that such restoration is not only Germany’s right. but that it is nec- essary to the moral rehabilitation of the country. Assume that Germany to the League of Natior ber, and every one ugrees that the nevitable consequence will be the formulation and presentation of Germany’s claim for colonfal terri- tories, for some mandate as a sign »f the moral vindication of Germany The allies took Germany's colonies »n the strength of the declaration that Germany was morally unfit to govern native races; the allegation was false and is now abandoned, but the slander can only be abolished when Germany has, by allled agree- ment, a new colonial possession. That is the basis of the German con- tention. But concomitant with the German demand is the Italian. which at al- most weekly intervals Mussolini proclaims. from the housetops. “Italy must expand. Italy must have colonles. TItaly is strong, watchful, ready. Italy will never consent that (Germany get territories while Ttaly is still empty handed.” There is the purden of the Italian contention. ts admitted in Septem- in itself, rather un- | belief | | And the least one can say is that | there is no mistaking the sincerity | and intensity of the Itallan feeling. | To give Germany any colonial terri- tory now would be to provoke an Ital- fan” explosion, and placating Germany would not he a profitable investment | if it were merely to fire Ttaly. | Refers to Philippines. The truth is, of course, that no | country is going to give up colonies {or mandates. One may see how steadily time runs against our long advertised purpose to retire from the Philippines and how unlikely in any time such retirement would be, if it | were simply to make way for another nation. Would we transfer our title to the Germans, for example? But on the other hand the German de- mand for some colonial territories is likely to be constant and the disap- pointment and anger over failure may easily become an important element in_German international policy. The German and the Ttallan aspira- tions seem likely _increasingly to throw Britain and France together; | for German colonial aspirations can | in reality only be realized at the ex- | pense of Britain, while all Itallan | hopes really break down in the face of the French North African estate. | Yet the possibility of Italian-German combination is slight, because both are equally eager to possess anything which may be available. | However, what is important now s | of | to note the colonial Germa and Ttaly. They are dail hecoming more conspicuous circum. stances in international affairs, they are hardly likely to diminish in any present time, since they have no | chance of being realized. They con- | stitute the bases of new intrigues, new jealousies, new collisions of policy and diplomacy, and it is not | impossible that they may eventually prove seeds of a new conflict. Even in the restricted fleld of German do- mestic politics no one can quite fore- see what will be the effect of the dis- appointment and llusionment aspirations | | that_entrance into the league will not hring the restoration of any part of the German colonial empire. Bought for White House. | President Monroe was wont to go to market and personally do the pur- lchasing for the White House during his tenure as Chief Executive. did his | the world | In the course of history | Nation to ever approach that | | which follow the ineviteble discovery | THE SUNDAY STAR, BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief sum- mary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended August 1 The British Empire.—There's no doubt that the advocates of a very considerable extension of operation of the principle of imperial preference will make a vigorous effort to obtain acceptance of their views at the im- perfal conference in October. These views are more and more being for- tifiled by the extension in number and height of the customs barriers against British products. Considering how dependent Spain has been on British markets for sundry Spanish products, the British are particularly exas- perated by the new Spanish zeal for protection, particularly in regard to coal and steel. If they go on treating us that V. say the champlons of imperial pref- erence, the obvious answer is to put our chief dependence on intraimperial trade. But no doubt the British gov- ernment will move cautiously in this matter pending the results of the coming international economic con- ference to be held under the auspices of the League of Natlons. According to Prof. Peake of Columbia, speaking at the Willlamstown Institute of Politics, between 1913 and 1923 Great Britain’s trade with China fell off from 48 per cent of China’s total for- eign trade to 39 per cent, whereas during the same period Japan's share increased 300 per cent, and that of the United States 400 per cent. The population of all Ireland in 1847 was about 8,000,000 (estimated). The census of 1911 showed 4,384,000. The excess of births over deaths dur- Ing the intermediate period was fair- ly satisfactory, the population de- crease being chiefly due to emigra- tion. In 1852, 190.000 persons eml. grated (the record), but thereafter emi- gration fell off gradually, the num- ber of emigrants in 1921 being about 14,000. The total number of emi- grants in the 70 vears, 1851-1921, was about 4,000,000. The present popula- tion of the entire country is estimated to be about 5,000,000, whereof perhaps 3,200,000 are residents of the Iree State. The Canadian parliamentary elec- tlon campaign is on briskly, not to say ferociously, with plentiful ex- change of amenitles. * ok ok X France.—On Friday the measure providing for establishment of a sink- ing fund for amortization of the floating debt, recently passed by both houses by handsome majorities, was submitted to the National Assembly (i. e., the two houses of Parliament in Joint session at Versailles) for incor- poration in the constitution. It was so0 incorporated, the vote being 671 to 144, . Poincare was at his best in his ad- dress to the assembly on this occa- slon: and Polncare at his best fs very good indeed, o clear, loglcal and force- ful. Poincare's object in proposing in- corporation of the measure in the con- stitution was twofold—to protect it from Parliament, and, by furnishing a solemn guarantee to the bondholders that the state would not repudiate, to e public confidence. The Com- munists did their nastiest to destroy the solemnity of the proceedings. On_August 7, the bill authorizing the Bank of France to purchase gold and foreign currencies, “for defense of the franc and for fortification of the metal reserve of the bank'’; also authorizing the bank to issue notes to a total corresponding to the total of gold and forelgn currencies pur- chased, such emission to be independ- ent of the provisions of the act fiy ing the maximum limit of note ci culation; and, still more important, granting the minister of finance a) comprehensive power of decree for three months—this bill, previously passed by the chamber, 365 to 181, was passed by the Senate almost unanimously. The immediate legislative program of the government having been real- ized, on Wednesday Parliament ad- journed to October. Our information on this head is by no means perfectly authoritative, but apparently Poin- care, anticipating desperate sledding for the treasury and bank until the yield from the new taxation should be in full flourish, against the grain proposed to his colleagues of the cab- inet that the government ask Parlia- ment to ratify both the debt agree- ments without modification before going on vacation, so opening the door to foreign credits; and apparently the intransigents turned him down. At any rate, no such action was taken. Before adjourning, the chamber re- ferred the agreements to subcommis- sions for study and for report when Parliament should reassemble. There is, of course, the possibility of the reassembling of Parliament with a view to ratification, should the govérnment program of absolute self- help, no inflation, go “fluey”; should the franc go definitely to the bad again; should the effort to lower the cost of living, to adjust internal to external prices, fail; should the alter- native present itself unevadably of inilation or foreign credits. I eschew prediction, merely remarking that Poincare has a_bitter hard row to hoe. ' The. most striking development of the week was the publication of Clemenceau’s open letter to President Coolidge. Some are sure that it will operate powerfully against ratification of the debt ggreements by the French Parliament; some - hold the opposite views: still others (with whom 4 am inclined to agree) think it will operate about, equally in the two directions and not very powerfully in either. The infinite pathos of the appeal from the dying old man touches the heart of the world, but still more pathetic is the evidence, furnished by the in- coherence of the note and Its extr gant charges against the United States. that the intellect of the hero is in sad decline. Little offense has been taken in the country, because of the obviousness of the latter. It may be that the striking recession of the franc after its great appreciation was a reaction to the Clemenceau note; but I hesitate to draw that inference The franc stood at 2.95% cents on New York exchange on August 6. Tts subsequent career is interesting. Its quotation at closing August 7 was WASHINGTON, D. C., The Story the Week Has Told AUGUST 15, : August 9, 2 August 10, August 11, 2.70: August 12, 69; August 13, 2.7115. The highest point reached in the great rally was 3.08% on August 6. I cannot under- take to explain such behavior. o x o Italy.—A new Italo-Spanish treaty has just been concluded. It has not been published, but presumably the Fascist journals have been fully in- formed of its content, for they com- ment on it elaborately. By their account it provides for close collabora- tion between Italy and Spain respect- ing the Mediterranean, North Africa and South America. In due time a copy of the treaty must be registered with the league secretariat. However, one may admire Fascist journalism, one may be forgiven for suspecting a trifle of exaggeration. o ox Jugoslavia.—An Associated Press dispatch conveys the pleasing news that “a wave of prosperity i{s sweep- ing through the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Everybody is becoming prosperous. Agriculturally, industrially and financially, the coun- try i3 developing at a phenomenal rate. ' Popular bank deposits have in- creased fivefold within 18 months.” The current budget exhibits a hand- some surplus. 'The crop promise is splendid. Remarkable progress Is being made toward political and so. cial unity. The debt to the United States, of $63,850,000, has been fund- ed satisfactorlay to the government and people and negotiations are afoot looking to similar funding of the debts to Great Britain and France. Belgrade, in 1900 a modest town of only 70,000; now boasts a population of 225,000 and more than the begin- nings of metropolitan splendor. * ok % ok Poland.—It is claimed that Poland has suffered less than Germany from the commercial struggle between these two countries, which has stopped the exchange of Polish coal for German manufactured goods. It is even claimed that Poland will on the whole benefit from that war, for, compelled to seek new markets, she has found them; and the new markets may be found more desirable than the old. At any rate, whereas the Polish balance of trade during 1925 was unfavorable, the balance for the first six months of 1926 was favor- able in about the same proportion. The fact that the zloty has re- mained practically stationary for some three months tends to bear out the frequent assertion that Poland is straightening herself out financially. e The Fre: authorities at s in defending themselves against the insurrectos had been most solicitious to do the least possi- ble injury to the Ghutah, so-called, that great plain or oasis at the foot of anti-Lebanon on which Damascus is situated. The Rivers Barada and Awaj (the Abanah and Pharpar, lucid streams of Milton) rising in the Anti- Lebanon, spread fan-wise over the plain and feed one of the most re. markable systems of irrigation in the world; so that the Ghutah is almost fabulously fertile: producing orchards, 1926—PART 2. gardens, vineyards, and fields wheat, barley, maize, hemp, etc. such _richness and beauty that y true Damascene is convinced that Para- dise itself can be no better than a replica thereof. Well, to be brief, the insurrectos have profited greatly by that French solicitude. But a re- cent report declares that the French high command, seeing no other w. of ‘“cleaning,” have at last devast ated the Ghutah. L United Stated of America the followimg from a repor by the Federal Trade Commission: The national wealth at the end of 1925 was about $350,000,000,000. The yearly increase is about 16 per cent as against 15 per cent for the in- crease in_ population. About -1 per cent of the population own about 59 per cent of the wealth, about 13 per cent of the population own over 90 per cent of the wealth. Eight com- panies control three-fourths of the an- thracite coal reserves, two companies more than one-half of the iron ore reserves. s It would seem that there are about 1,600,000 acres in the Philippines ca- pable of a total annual production of 600,000,000 pounds of rubber, or about three-fourths of the annual rubber consumption in the United States. e Miscellaneous.—The Belgian franc, as usual, has been acting sympathet- ically with the French fran On Au- gust 6 closing it stood at 2.78% on New York Exchange. Then it rose to 2.83%, after subsiding to 2.69 at Au- gust 12 closing. ‘The German trade ministry’s report for July indicates appreciable recovery in trade and industry. The governments of Greece, Jugo- slavia and Rumania have sent a col- lective note to the Bulgarian govern- ment. protesting against the alleged activitles of Comitadjls operating, so the charge goes, under the direction of the Macedonian revolutionary commit- tee from Bulgaria across the borders of Greek and Serbian Macedonia and of the Dobrudja (Rumania). The busi- ness is the very Balkanism of the Balkans, and a really satisfactory so- lution seems to await the next Ice Age. 1 shall remark no further than to say that Bulgaria is by no means solely to blame. It is reported that similar Franco- Rumanian and Franco-Jugoslav trea- ties, of much the same complexion as either the Franco-Polish treaty or the Franco-Czechoslovak _treaty (reports differ as to which of these treaties is the more nearly resembled) have been initialed and will soon be con- summated. The total net principal of the debt of the Russian government to the Government of the United States is $192.601,207. As of date of November 15, 1925, the total of the debt, princi- pal and interest, is $260,991,401. The Russian government is indebted in the principal sum of $75.000,000 for two loans floated during the war by J. P. Morgan & Co. and a syndicate headed by the National City Bank of New York City. ,The total value of property of Americans confiscated by the Soviet government is estimated at about $400,000,000. RAILROADS ARE BY W. R. McCALLUM. Intent on cari g out the orders of Congress and the Interstate Com merce Commission that the personal | safety factor must be the beacon light guiding American railroading, the carriers of the United States are mov- ing unswervingly toward complete equipment of all the important pas- senger lines in the United States with the only known mechanical contriv- ance that will act as a sure preven- tive against disastrous and calamitous accident. Train-control or train-stop purely automatic devices, which work without the will or guiding hand of an engineer or fireman, replacing the fallible human factor, will be installed on all the large passenger lines of the Nation even sooner than Congress and the commission have anticipated if the rafiroads maintain the same rate of installation over the next few years that they have established since they swung in behind the law four years ago. ®Tust when that Utopia of travel without accident, that day when all passenger trains and locomotive divi- sfons will be fully equipped with an automatic train control or train stop. is an open question which even the minds of the most forward-looking railroad men and observers at the In- terstate Commerce Commission can- not predict. But that it will come within two or three decades seems cer- tain in the light of the rapid strides taken even within the last year by the carrfers, and particularly the rail- roads of the East. New York Central Leads. One of these, the New York Cen- tral, has moved far ahead of its great Eastern competitors, the Pennsyl- vania and the Baltimore and Ohlo, and has made truly amazing strides forward in train-control and train- stop installation. Some of the equip- ment of the New York Central is of the most advanced and modern type, such as the three-speed combination train-control and train-stop device, at once the most efficient and most ex- pensive anti-accident device. Out of more than 12,000 miles of track now equipped with train-con- trol devices under the twin orders of the commission issued in June, 192 and January, 1924, the New Yor Central has such devices on nine full locomotive divisions covering 2,739 miles of track, more than one-sixth of the total track mileage covered by all the installations on all railroads in the United States. One thousand four hundred and ninety-eight New York Central locomotives have been equipped with train-control devices, which control the operation and stop of a heavy train independently of the guiding band of the engineer or fireman. Others Close Behind. Yet the New York Central. even though it has made the finest record of any road in the country in train- vance of other roads, for the carriers as a body have swung well into line with the Intent of Congress that the raflroads must use every known means to prevent accidents. It has been at times a bitter pill to swallow—this installation of train-control devices— and the railroads have repeatedly pro- tested against carrying out of the or- ders of the commission, but the latter body has gone ahead carrying out the mandate of Congress, and even though it has granted relief in the form of extensions of time to numer- ous roads, has proceeded calmly on its path toward the ultimate goal. Man times the commission has been crit: cized by those who have not under- stood the urgencies of finance the railroads have had to meet to carry out the commission's orders. Yet in the face of adverse thought both the carriers and their supervisory body have moved serenely along toward SAFETY-STOP INSTALLATIONS Automatic Train-Control Systems Being Put Into Use Much Faster Than Ordered by Commission. New York Central Takes Lead. control installation, is not far in ad- | comiission’s first order of June, 19 INCREASING path of ultimate freedom from véntable accident Publicity and more publicity has aided the commission in its work of enforcing on the railroads the neces. sity for train-control and train-stop installations. And the roads have seen the light, for even though the cost of such devices is heav d in some cases an almost unbearable bur den, damage suits cost much more and the resulting unfavorable pub- licity is even worse. Accident Emphasizes Need. “This accident again forcefully calls attention to the need of an automatic train-control appliance which will canuse a trainy to be brought to a s in case an ef fails to obey the stop ind! automatie block signal. quate automatic train control system been line, this accident prevented Ominous words, when couched in the formal language of an Interstate Commerce Commission report, the im- personal finding of a group of highly trained technical men who have no ax to grind, no thought of recom. pense, except to protect the traveling public. Yet these words conclude nearly every one of the accident re- ports of the commisslon. They oc- curred only. the other day in that exact language when the commission found that a dead hand probably guided the Cincinnati Limited on the night of June 16 when it crashed at 50 miles an hour into the rear coaches of the stalled Washington Express near Gray station, 50 miles east of Pittsburgh. Sixteen lives were snuffed out as the twin engines of the | Cincinnati Limited plowed through the steel cars of the Washington train. Traln stop and control installations are the newest and probably the most expensive developments of modern railroading. Commission officials re- call the time required to equip the major raiflroads with block signal systems, steel cars, etc., and predict that train control in its entirety will| come faster and farther than did the block signal systems which have pre- vented many a disastrous accident. More Improvements Needed. “Railroading is a comparatively voung art,” they say, “and even though it has reached a remarkable state of efficiency in a relatively short space of time, the way is still open for greater improvements that will bring added safety to the traveling public.” Eighteen complete installations of a train-control or train-stop system, covering many hundreds of miles of track on scores of locomotive divi- slons, have met the exacting require- ments of commission inspectors and received final approval of the rall reg- ulatory body. Ten other roads, mak- ing 28 in all, have completed install tions on at least one locomotive divi- | slon, meeting the requirements of lhf‘ fon of an Had an ade stop or train In use on this would have been The Association of Ruilway Execu. tives, in closer touch than the com- mission, says that on July 1 train- control devices were either in actual operation or under construction on | 7,503 miles of the 7.770 miles,of track affected by the first installation order of the commission, which required work to be completed by January 1, 1925, on 45 railroads. A second or- der requiring installations to be made on a second locomotive division by February 1, 1926, finds construction work now under way on 4,602 miles of track, a total of more than 12,000 miles. There is some discrepancy be- tween the two figures, but the com- mission deals only with completed in- stallations, while the railroads con- | sider those which have made a begin- ning of the work. Thirty-four rail- roads, covering 5.841 miles of track, have the work entirely completed, ex- | wraps purchased abroad were being | of such cases are caused by the mis- | chants encourage the idea that there | U. S. IN SPECIAL DRIVE TO STOP Deliberate and Careless Evasion of Customs Duties to Be Met by Encouraging Informers—Many Tourists Deluded Abroad. BY HARDEN (OLFAX. A special drive to tighten up the loophales through which dutiable mer- chandise from foreign countries is en terinz the United States without the formality of payment of customs tariff is being planned by the Treasury De- partment, with the possibility” that the results may help lighten the bur- den of Federal taxpayers by swelling Uncle Sam's surplus. Special instructions have been is- sued the customs force regarding re- turning tourists. Others, of broader scope and aimed at deliberate at temps to defraud the Government, are being drafted and will o out soon. These include realignment of the spe cial ageney personnel and closer co- operation with thousands of potential | informers. xperts have stated that. in one way or another, Uncle Sam is losing about $40,000,000 a year that he should be receiving at the customs ports. Much of this money is lost through unintentional undervaluation of mer- chandise. The customs force is en tirely too small to handle adequately the vast volume of fmports which are flooding into the country. Examina- tions necessarily must be hasty under ordinary conditions. Congress voted $17,500,000 for collection of the cus- toms during the present fiscal vear. Last year, with a somewhat smaller appropriation, customs receipts were nearly $5%0,000,000—the highest in the history of the country. It has been estimated that for every additional $1,000,000 appropriated for the pur- pose, $10,000,000 additional in revenue can be collected. But while doing the best possible under the circumstances to see that proper valuations are assessed against declared imports, the Treasury is pre- paring to fire a few special shots at the modern smugglers. Two Reasons for Drive. There {s a dual reason, of course, why attention should be paid the mer- chandise smuggler. Uncle Sam is in- terested not only In collecting the cus- toms tax fixed by law on imported goods, but furthermore he is interested in protecting honest merchants against the competition of the smuggler. As a matter of fact, smuggling does not exist in some lines commonly sup- posed to be subject to it—that is, to any great extent. Furriers of the country recently became aroused over reports that many fur coats and entered by returning tourists without payment of duty. It was discovered, however, that the customs service every year detects hundreds of cases where citizens purchasing furs abroad have not declared them for duty on returning to the country, and collects what is due. More than 99 per cent taken impression that it is permis- sible to purchase abroad and to bring | in without payment of duty articles! of wearing apparel which have actual- | ly been worn by the owner. Actually | the lawful limit of such duty-free en- tries is $100. Certain foreign mer- is no limit. Some furs are smuggled into the country and sold here to innocent pur- | chasers. Many of them are detected later—and then the innocent pur- chaser finds that Uncle Sam claims the fur; that he or she is subject to a fine and that the fur can be retained | only by paying the Government its | —_— i cept possibly the completion of the! installation of apparatus on some loco- motives, according to the railway ex- ecutives. Here again there is a dif- | ference between the railroad figures | and the figures of the commission, ex- plainable by the fact that the roads do not report to the commission work completed until it is in fact finished and ready for test. value, plus the duty, ph penalty the clrcumstances appear to warrant. Such “bargains” prove tre- mendously costly in the end. That's a sad feature of this smug gling business—It {s seldom that the real culprit is discovered, or can be reached, but in hundreds of cases each year the innocent purchasers suffer. The several thousand cases detected each year are going to be multiplied, if the Treasury’s plans are as fruitfui as it is hoped they will prove to be. Besides the several thousand customs employes at the ports, Uncle Sam has a specfal secret service force of ahout 200 men to ferret out customs frauds—about 30 of them. known as special agents, being stationed abroad But the most valuable tips in many cases come from private sources. in-| terested in_ protecting themselves agalnst unfair competition. Such informers are entitled to 25 per cent | of the penalties assessed. In a single case last year, involving jewel- ry, the penalty exceeded $150.000 and the informers received $38.000. This Informal secret service guard- Ing the customs includes thousands of merchants in all parts of the country many of whom never clalm any re. ward when they turn up a live case. Without disclosing any secrets, it Is sound advice that you buy your imported “bargains” only from a re- liable, established dealer. whatever s | Teetotaler Example Disappointing to Drys Italfans are not exactly prohibition- ists. When a commission of Ameri- can ‘“pussyfoots” reached the charm- ing little hill town of (ienzano they were almost in despair to find a man who did not drink. The hearty lads of the village, stalwart, bronzed chaps of, say 50-odd years, all said that they had nothing to bless but their white wine. ‘It was “Molto buono. Deli- zloso!" The commissioners turned their eves away in anguish; they must find a man who hated that' wine. They did—a fine lad of some 70 Summers. “T hate it.” he said. * My fine health is due to the fact that 1| drink nothing but water.” The com- mission told him to put that in writ- | ing, they followed him to his home, | they sat’ him down before paper and ink and the commissioner’s photog- rapher prepafed to take chest meas- ures and photographs. “Say,” advised the head commissioner, “‘that wine is the devil, it destroys the frame, it weakens the mind. Your magnificent health is due—" A tremendous noise broke out In the teetotaler's home. There was the smashing of glass— and a huge figure strode into the room. He smiled and put out a great hand. His chest was bronzed, his eve clear, when he laughed the room shook with happiness. “Gentlemen,” sald the teetotaler, “this is my father. You must excuse him— he's always like this when he’s drunk.” The com mission returned to America. . Irish Tongue. Tria]w in Tor Under the Free State's constitution the Irish language is equally with English _ the legal language, and acts of Parliament are bilingual. Oc- casionally in the law courts some Irish is used in the course of the proceed- ings, but neither the bench, the bar nor the litigants are as yet capable of using Irish as freely as English. | However, a case has just been heard | in which, for the first time, the Irish| language was exclusively used. The chief justice who heard the case FINGERPRINTING ALIENS ~URGED BY NAVAL EXPERT J. W. Taylor, Whorl.dentified Victims of S-51, Tells How to Beat Immigra- tion Law BY DREW PEARSON. AKING the fingerprint records of every immigrant entering the United States, and even- tually of every citizen of the United States, is advocated by J. W. Taylor, fingerprint expert of the United States Navy, who has the fingerprint records of 1,300,000 naval men in his files, and who has just completed the most difficult task of identifying the victims of the Lake Denmark explosion and the sinking of the submarine S-51. “It will be impossible for th try to enforce its immigration laws,” Mr. Taylor stated in explaining his theory, “until we use fingerprinting. Passports are not an adequate pro- tection. They can be altered or dupli- cated. But fingerprints are infallible. No two men of the several billlons so far born into this world have ever had the same fingerprints—not even twins who are identical in every other way. Fingerprinting would be espe- clally valuable in putting a stop to the flood of Chinese who are being smuggled in across the Mexican bor- der from Cuba and from Orlental steamers when they dock. To the American eye, all Orfentals look glike and passport pictures are deceivifg.” Public Education Necessary. Most people, Mr. Taylor belfeves, are afraid of having their fingerprints re- corded, because of the popular belief that it brands them as criminal. On the contrary, every citizen of Argen- tina is fingerprinted, chiefly as a mat- ter of protection to himself. Its great- est value, Mr. Taylor states, is in lo- cating lost persons and those suffering from aphasia. Forty thousand un- known dead are buried in the United States every vear who might be iden- tified were fingerprinting made uni- versal. The Navy has required every re- cruit to be fingerprinted since 1907, and this system has proved invalu- able for identification during time of war, in detecting crimes within the Navy and in keeping up the morale of the enlisted ranks. Frequently, Mr. Tavior explained, fugitives from the law enlist in the Navy. However, the police of the country are in constant touth with the identification section, and when such a man enlists he is identified by his fingerprints and turned over to the police. At present Mr. Taylor is perfect- ing a new system of identification by the teeth, which he used successfully on the victims at Lake Denmark and in the §:51. By this system it will be a simple matter to settle the recent controversy as to whether or not the body found in Norway Is that of Lord Kitchener. Mr. Taylor is presuppos- ing, of course, that the British gov- ernment has the record of the famous war lord's teeth. If so, it would re- auire about five minutes to determine once and for all, without the slightest danger of error, whether the body is that of Kitchener. Certain missing teeth certain gold Evasion. flllngs and other forms of fillings give an infallible check on identity and the only thing required to make it as efficient as fingerprinting is the working out of an algebraic form: by which the peculiarities of each s of teeth may be quickly recorded. Mr Taylor has discovered no less than five milllon combinations of the teeth. The identification of the Lake Den mark and S-51 victims by their t required one to two hou per victing as compared to three to five minutes to identify the nine men taken out of the S-51 at Newport just after the: drowned and their fingerprint were still recognizable. Under tie new system Mr. Taylor hopes to mak. identification of teeth equally efficient The vast file of fingerprints now ir possession of the Army and Nuavy has justified the time and troubls necessary to keep it, on scores of occasions, by preventing imposters from posing as men who have died or disappeared. One c which A Taylor recalled was of Arthur Frazier, who was killed in France and whose body was buried at his home in South Dakota. Some time later his mother picked up a news paper and saw the picture of Mexican who was suffering from aphasia and claimed him as her son His name was Lopez and he also claimed that she was his mother. It took a jury trial to straightem t question out. One hundred thirty-eight witnesses were The mother swore on the stand that Lopez was Arthur and that he had never been at all.Finally Mr. Taylor was called from Washington. He took a fin print record of Lopez and compared it to that of Arthur . The were not the same. This settied ti; case for the ju Used in Examinations. Fingerprinting is now bein by the Government and the New York in order to stealing of examination those taking eivil nations. This is form of theft by wh an examination and to some one else for the averag of $100. It was impossible to det mine whether the man who taok the examination was the real candidate until recently, when he wis quired to place his thumb print the bottom of the paper. Fingerprinting was f the Chinese, as far | B.C. They discovered it quite dentally through their ancient art of fingerpainting. Later the Chines used fingerprinting to idertify tives and beneficiaries of wills. instance, when a Chinese had pleted his will he gathered his im mediate relatives around him and each placed his thumb print upon the will. " Later when he died no one who had not recorded his fingerpring on the will conld share in the estate (Copyright. 1901 ) nd called witness P Kkilled used ate o prevent marks v service exami her a unique h one man tak sells his g e com DRAMATIZING CRIMINAL FOUND MAIN CAUSE OF LAWLESSNESS Modern Attitude Toward Him Creates Atmosphere of False Heroics, Says Lawyer—( ‘ompares Sitvs tion Now With BY CHARLES A. BOSTON, Distinguished Lawyer, The stories of violent and erafty ime which fill our daily new to believe that the chief business of our civilization is the cultivation of crimi- nality. The moving pictures would Suggest the same thought to him. The atmosphere thus created has its highest development in those daily pictorfals. If these do not create vopular heroes out of prominent and atrocious offenders, they certainly create the impression that the crimi nal is the nofmal man, and that the man who dwells in peace and good will is exceptional and not a part of our ovdinary life. Why should not this have a deep psychological effect? The enormous output of tales and pictures of crime obscures the particular crime and cre. ates merely n criminal atmosphere, which we feel surrounds us. This, however, affords a gratification and stimulation of a human instinct and appetite which appears to be peren- nial. That same instinct demanded and furnished a market for such sto ries a century and more ago. Crime Century Ago. T have in my library “a new pocket dictionary of the lives of upward of 100 criminal characters, recording the adventures of the most notorions mad- ern public offenders against the laws of England,” with several portraits. This volume was published in 1811, but there is a marked difference be. tween the offenses which it coversand many of the present day, and there is also a most noticeable difference in the tone of treatment. Today the offender becomes a hero as soon as he certainly passes into the hands of the law. The penolo- Rist begins his reform and the psy- chiatrist begins his mental treatment, to present him to society at a later date with a notable lack of success. Not 80 a century or more ago. The criminal was left some spiritual ad- viser and later to his God, while his capital punishment was food for a curlous crowd with few amusements. A typical extract from many de. scriptions 1s calculated to awe the greedy devourer of the pocket dic- tionary. On Monday morning at a very early hour every avenue lead- ing to the Old Bailey was crowded by persons all eager and anxious to wit- 100 Years Ago. i ness the last happy man. T me out of was perfectly most completely moments of this o wretched delingie wate: his demenn, m and he appeared resigned to his fate he seemed to attend with mmeh ear nestness and fervor to the admoni tions of the clergyman. He s murderer. No Moralizing Today. There s a substantial contrast he tween that permanent record, with anctimonions air of condemnation always picturing the con tions o religion. the plicht of the ity of the mnlti inevitable upon Nt ¢ “tion e g pres iy ontpnt any sanctimoniousness, or izing, or any indicati or_deserts To that audience the account wis mysterfous, awesome and in deg suggestive of an avenging fate lecting a debt to soc tety and a_ warning to the impr while now the raw material is shovel ed out without amy intimation de slgned to discourage or dissusde others. While the large majority of th offenders in the pocket dictior were persons who committed crime of emotion and impulse through vi lence, there was a ortmeat of crimes of design, incinding forger: swindling, robbery, bur W tha like. But it is notable that the g, sters among them operated on Blak Heath and Hounslow th, and not, as now, in the most prominent thor oughfares of cities, patrolled by then sands of armed policemen. withont 1y morn 1 of retributio Sees Criminal Glorified. In England, in the by my pocket diction; the domi nant punishment was upon the gl lows. We, however, maintain in our prisons schools of crime, where our enemies of soclety appear to be edy cated to greater achievements. While T am_incompetent. perhaps and certainly e not the opportn’ nity to give more profound study te the period which [ have cur mentioned, T think it offe a f) " fleld for further investi ation. ”i::.‘l result it may be that we should very radically remodel our handling of the problem of crime. (Coprright, wered 1026, Bones of Florida Camel Are S_tudied By Capital Man to A camel that lived in Florida a mil- lion years ago, more or less, and that is different from any other branch of the camel tribe, is at last about to be christened. This nameless orphan was discovered at Melbourne, Fla., recently by Dr. J. W. Gidley, curator of vertebrate paleontology of the Na- tional Museum. Dr. Gidley is now engaged in study- |ing the teeth and leg bones of the ancent beast, with a view to describ- ing and naming it. The bones indicate that the Florida camel had long slender legs and should have been & fast runner, he concludes. Tt was a little smaller than the Old World camels and a lit- | tle larger than the guanacos of South | America. Presence of this desert ani- mal in Florida is taken by Dr. Gldley as an indication that Florida may have been more dry and desertlike, in patches at least. than today, hut there is a chance, he adds, that this | may not have been the case, as some- proved himself a fluent Irish speak- er, though he had acquired the lan- mt‘h‘ and did net know it In his youth, times one genus of an animal family adapts itself to conditions entirely dif- ferent from those to which the family 1s accustomed. Establish Its Name The new genus of ancient American camel is being compared with fossil bones of other better known kinds by the paleontologist. There have been a number of k'nds of camels in this country as far back as the eocene period of geological time, which means 40,000,000 yvears or even longer 880 aceording to recent estimates of the earth's history Some of the prehistorlc specimens had long legs and some had short legs, Dr. Gldley says. Some had long necks and some short. Some were like the Old World camels, but bigger, and some were like strange little colts, no larger than a big, long-legged dog. £ e e Training a Child. . How to teach children is a problem whose difficulties are expressed by glish author Dr. J. A. Had- field, in the terse statement: “The three main principles in the training of children are to make them do what one wants, to let them do what they lifke and to make them like what they do.” » n