Evening Star Newspaper, September 12, 1926, Page 47

COMMISSIONERS TO GAIN BY UTILITIES’ WORK SHIFT More Time for Original Duties Will Be Possible When Begins to BY JERRY O'LEARY. HI District Commissioners, who for a number of years have had to split nong the duties of three gi hoards, will be able to losely on purely 5 ter the proposed rate Public Utilities Commission is created, probably during the coming Winter. he il to ereate a separate utilities board passed hoth House and Senate at the last session, hut the conference mendments was not ached until a few hours before ad md the enrollment clerks time to prepare the meas- nission 1o the President s adjourned. The bill tus, however, and eement on iournment did not hav for hafore Con, s not loxe its st Le enrolle s in Decembe %0 to the Presiden ri 1o 1913 the v of Distriet Cong forming the ordinary ) and city council. In that year 1gress enac the publie utilities st and stipulated thit the ity fathers should st the same time constitute themselves into o Public Utilities Com- mission for signature. 1 only ners, the per jons of a Zoning th heg Added. of orderly city w, the legl National Capital n and again pro- Tater danning tors, in 192 A Zoning Commiss| vided that the District Commissionel =hould serve that agency. Thus, for the past six years the eity lLeads have filled the three-sided role of mayors of the municipality, e perts on the intricate problems of ut ;’A regulation and authorities on zon- ng While the also establishment of a sepa- rd will leave the Com- as an added in that direc as issioners X, the reguirements m do not cut in on thelr work Lieads of the municipal governmen anything like the extent, of the U ties Commissic oning ¢ s are taken up only once a. month in that capacity the Commissione do not shoulder the full respohsibility, as in the case utility matters. on t oning Commission the city iieads have associated with them the wrehitect of the Capitol, David Lynn, and the director of public buildings public parks, Maj. U. S. t, Then there is the newly created ational Capital Park and Planning amission, whic ader aspects of city planning Bell as Co-ordinator. While it is true that Engineer Com- missioner Beil will remain on the new I"tilities Commission, with two civil mbers to be appointed by the Pr his duties will not be as exact it that 1 -omes law as they present. Now he utilities board and presiding of the Zoning Commission widition to running the score of gineering branches of the District covernment The thought in the minds of the Senate District committee M amend ing the new utilities measure to keep the engineer Commissioner on the new of the er their time | as soon as Congress | after which it will | o h will delve into the | is chairman | in | Separate Body Function. board was that there should be some connecting link between that agency | and the board of Commissioners. He | will be relieved of the administrative detail he now handles, but will be on | the new utilities board to bring about |co-ordination with the city govern- |ment on such questions as the use lof the public highways for utility purposes, which interlock with the municipal government. The two civilian members to be ap- pointed by the President under the |bil which will go to the Chief | Executive in December would devote full time to utility problems, and. at the same time, leave the two civilian Commissioners of the District regular duties as munleipal authorities. City’s Growth Ts Factor. The years during which the Com- missioners have had the added functions of publie utility and zoning | work have also been years in which |the municipality has experienced re- markably rapid growth. The constant |development of mnew residential | sections in all parts of the District | during and since the war hag muiti- plied municipal problems of the kind that call for the attention of the Board | of Commissioners. The need for school buildings, ex- tensive street paving programs, sewer, | water and other facilities essential in residential areas has mounted steadily, with this growth of the city and has been reflected in the volume of work devolving upon the Commissioners in their capacity as municipal heads. Tt is to these problems that they will be able to devote more time if, as now seems likely, the separate Utilities Commission comes into existence this Winter, It is understood that the estimates for the next fiscal year, just com- pleted, do not include provision for salaries for separate public utility new utilities measure has passed the | Senate and House, it wiil not be law {until the President signs it, and the ’ | budget authorities could not take cog- | nizance of it in its present status. May Insert Item Later. | District officlals believe, however, | that if the President signs the bill in | December it will still be possible to get the appropriation for salaries of | the two utility commissioners at the coming short session. The Engineer | Commissioner would serve as the third | member of the new commission with- out additional compensation. The two | utility commissioners to be appointed | would receive salaries of $7.500 each. In the last District appropriation act Congress provided for a people’s counsel for the Utilities Commission !at $3.500, but the new utilities meas- ure, if approved, would raise that of- fice also to $7,500. While utility rate cases have not s frequently in the past few | ars as they did during and imme- | Giately of the motor bus as a medium ansportation, both urban and inter- urban, has served to keep the Com- issioners busy in their role as a Utilities Commission. The city is now partially covered by a network of mo- | tor bus routes in addition to the rail ‘:‘er e, and there are many bus lines running into the District from nearby nd even from distant cities. | | towns FARMERS USE ELECTRIC STOVES AND OTHER DEVICES IN SWEDEN| Coal Scarce, While Water Is Abundant, Causing Ex- ive Development of Power—U. S. Is | ten Adopting Same Utility in Agriculture. BY DK. EDW Director, Scicnce One of the funniest things I saw in Sweden when I was over there:re- cently was the u sctrival cook- wes in forest Sweden is <hort on coal on wood and W Swedes are crow (rees v than they are utting them veverse of the pol- oy that pre u America. Conse ently they & wood bat ad The water fa he trees « it into turbin he es. but long to burn to with water fuster So ul Is dow than W oup, v turn nd with them grind wood into pulp and ship it over to \merica to be made into the news- vapers and silky stockings that are X0 conspicuous in our count Tlec- is cheap over theve. and be- they have an ingenious kind of e that keeps in the heat and the steam. so a_few watts will cook a lot of food, and it takes a ot of food to satisfy a Swede. About 43 per cent of the farms of Sweden are using electricity for light ing and light power. In the United ates “not more than 3 per vent ha farms are receiving electric cur- rent from power lines,” according to ; Tripp, chairman of the West- Ca of cowrse s the lead. with 4,000,000 he power hours of electric pow agriculture during the vear 1 8¢ per cent of that is employed in water. for irrigation. The 1ber of electric power consumers n of | -|of the bucksaw in the dev on farms in California i 126,915, Ohio has 17,000 farms suppl with rural electric service, and lowa and Pennsylvania have about 12,000 each. To read over the list of the appli tions of the current one would think that the electrical farmer hadn't any chores to do. and that his electrified stock were Jiving in the lap of lu I am skeptical, as one of my age 1t urally would be, about the moral eftect of all these new-fangled ways. Incan- descent lights in the pigpen! Electri {fans in the cattle hed! Ultraviole for hogs and hay! [s it good for young hens to be kept up all hours of | the night under the white lights, gad- |ding about and stuffing thefr crops with rich food! Can a thermostat al- together replace the maternal in- | stinet? | And what will be the effect on the {farmer and his family? Will he con- | tihue his commendable habit of early irising if he can milk a dozen cows lat a time by simply turning on the | uice? Will not the farmer’s wife lose | the well rounded arms that she devel- | oped by long hours at the churn and | the rosy complexion that she acquired | over the cookstove? Will the tungsten filament give that { well grounded education that we, or, anyhow, our forefathers, got by means |of the torch or tallow dip? Will the tennis racket adequately tike the place reporied us the muscles and the sense of duty? In t fshort, will those whose hardest labor | has been to pr a button or jerk a switch acquire those sterling qualities vh'ch have made us what we are? Alaskan Canneries Enrich White Men But Bring Real Misfortune to Indians Tndians of southeastern who facing problems, might ba helped by the de- of the Alaskan timber re by some other mnew in- in the opinion of Herbert W. curator of ethnology at the Museum., who recently re- spending some time in for the Bureau of hnole Alaskan fish canneries, which »gress and financial ain to tl man, have brought ard times to these Indfans “In the old days,” Mr. Krieger savs, “the Indians would put out their small nets at the mouth of a creek and cateh enough fish for their nilies o sell. Now, the canneries 1l tish traps far out at sea at where large quan tities of can be caught. Small stream: the Indians are re- served by Government either as fish hat. or for spawning ground, in safeguard the aalmon =upj Indians’ best understood occupation and his out standing source of food are therefore practically lost to him. He and his family have no choice but to work n the canneries or to eke out an existence working for other people.” T health is another difficulty Mch these Indians face, Mr. Krelger says. ““The natives of south- castern Alaska Lave been one of the «trongest Indian races known,” he explains. “They have always been sthietic, and they hardened thelr fants by the Spartan method of Alaska, are serious economic velopment gonrces or dustry, tu Americ The big mean p white mor ed 1 the heries order throwing them into the ocean each | morning. | “They lived in loosely built. and | consequently well ventilated houses made of split cedar slabs, with a fire- place in the center for the only heat- ing plant. They dressed in furs and |well made blankets and lived a | hardy, outdoor life. The weak soon | died off. “But now they have learned to built tight houses and wear lighter clothing. and they use stoves that eat up the air. The Bureau of Edu- cation tries to teach them sanitation, |but they are an easy prey to the white man's dfseases. Influenza and smallpox have almost wiped out en- | tire villages. Such diseases as tuber- culosis, catarrh and throat troubles !are prevalent.” Because of the.fact that their food | supply and Indian style of independ- | ence have been so affected, some of the most disgruntled natives are agi- | tating for the Government to take care of them as Indlans in the United States are provided for, Mr. Kreiger states. . Likes Jazz M—usic. Andre Messager, famous Frenah composer, loves American jazz. “Any real musician must,” he declares. “It brings us new rhythms, new har- monies, a new instrumentation and | awakens new sensations in us. 1| adore Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner. But this does not prevent me from liking jazz. too. It is really some- thing original.” commissioners because, although the | following the war, the advent | of | d | pment of | BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief sum- mary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended September 1 The British Empire.—The annual British Trades Union Congress was held at Bournemouth during the week. The general tone of the ut- terances was moderate, in marked contrast to the prevailing bolshevistic | tone of the speeches at Yast vear's congress. It is highly significant that a proposal in effect indorsifig the principle of the general strike was " rejected by an overwhelming majority. The home office refused to president of the All-Russian Council of Trades Unions, and his fellow Rfis- sian delegates to the congress. It will be remembered that M. Tomsky was the hero, so to speak, of last vear's congress, and the British home secretary is very much on his job. I recorded last week how the dele- gates’ conference of the miners federation authorized the mines exec- utive committee to “submit proposals for the setting up of a natlonal agree- ment for the coal mining industry and how the committee notified the government that they “stood ready fo enter negotiations for a mational agreement with a view to a redu tion in labor costs to meet the im: mediate necessities of*the industry. It is of significance that the delegates placed no limitation on the powers of the committee except in vegard of the method of wage agreement which must be national. As the committee in its communication to | the government said nothing about the length of the working day it seems a fair assumption that they lare no longer intransigent on that | fesue. But what is of chief signifl- cance 18 that, whereas in their over- ture of a fortnight previous the miners’ committee spoke of wage re- duetion only as a possibility, in this Jatest communication they seem to ake it for granted. 2 committee headed by Winston Churchill is conducting the govern- ment end of the coal mining con- troversy. On receipt of the note from the miners’ committee A Churchill invited the central com- mittee of the mining association (owners) to confer with the miners committee and his own committee on the basis of the miners’ proposal of otiation. P he owners' committee declined, would not discuss a national agree- ment with the miners’ representa- tives. Mr. Churchill hints at bring- ing pressure on the owners. It should be recalled that the Roval Coal Commission suggested a com- promise between the method of na- | tional agreement and that of district autonomy in wage determination. Apparently as_stiff a deadlock as ever; but really there are sundry good grounds for the belief that the end of the coal strike s not far off. The Canadian Progressive part | which represents a farmers' move- | ment, will not count for much in the coming elections to the Canadian House of Commons. The strength of that party has heen in the prairie anitobe, Saskatchewan 20 Pro- ; provinces of M admit to England M. Tomsky, the / / DAY. STAR, WASHINGTON gressive candidates for the 245 seats. The elections are to be held on Tues- day of this week. In the late House there were 116 Conservatives, headed by the present premier, Arthur Meighen, and 101 Liberals, headed by Willlam Lyon Mackenzie King. An end to the parliamentary dead- lock would seem to require that the winning party should have at least 130 seats. The Conservatives are appealing to the country chiefly on the promise of greater protection against United States products. The Liberals would make the chief issue of the status of Canada in the em- pire. They claim that Gov. Gen. Byng overode Dominion rights in refusing to accept the advice of the Liberal premier, Mr. King, to order a dissolution, whereas he shortly thereafter acoepted the advice in the same sense of Mr. King's successor, the Conservative Mr. eighen. It is claimed that an unfair advtange was thus given to the Conservatives through acquisition by them of the machinery of elections. EEE pain.—Spain is in a phase of ex- citement. On September 4 the govern- ment, with the King's approval, or- dered that a plebiscite be held on Sep- tember 11, 12 and 13 .on the ques- tion whether or not a national as- sembly shall be convened. Such, ac- cording to the dispatches at any rate, is the question being proposed to the people. Why such a - question, since it is doubtful if a majority of the Spanish people understand it? With some diffidence I offer the following solution of the puzzle. Evidently Primo de Rivera feels the need of a popular vote of confidence or what may be claimed as such; but, as I in- terpret, he would at the same time secure himself against disastrous con- sequences from an adverse vote. A vote in favor of convocation of a na- tional assembly (even though the ma- jority of the voters might have but the haziest notion of the character {of the body proposed) might plausibly be interpreted as a popular vote of confidence in him and his general scheme of policy. On the other hand, an adverse vote might be interpreted as simply condemning the proposal of a national assembly without reflection on Primo de Rivel general scheme of policy. What, then, is the charac- ter of the ‘“national assembly” pro- posed? But that is another story, too long for this paper. T cannot discover that the mutiny of the officers of the artilleryecorps of the Spanish Army had any other | basis than indignation at a degree pro- viding for partial substitution of the method of selection for that of senior- ity in the promotion of officers. They acted In accordance with pleasant centennial practice in the Spanish army, and prepared to mutiny. Mutiny having actually raised its head in several artillery garrisons on the 5th. a royal decree ordered mar- tial law throughout the realm, all ar- tillery officers were placed in arrest and the preliminaries instituted for the proper court-martial trials. In only one instance was resistance made to arrest; this resulting in the deaths of one artillery officer and three en- listed men. The other arms proved loval and detachments of them and of the admirable civil guards made the arrests. Martial law lasted only D. C. SEPTEMBER 12, 1926—PART 2. 72 hours. A typical little Iberian flur- ry, you might say; not of much ac- count. But, there are many to tell us that Primo de Rivera has completely lost his hold on the army and that the quick suppression of the mutiny was due neither to his own promptness and skill nor to the loyal zeal of the army at large nor to any cause other than the personal intervention of the King. It is asserted that the King made promises to the malcontents which nullify Primo de Rivera's dis- ciplinary intentions. If this be true the addition is scarcely necessary that the dictator’s authority over the army is fatally undermined and that to all practical purposes ‘“the day of his destiny’s over” though his eviction from power may be mercifully eased. * ok kX Greece.—Another affair in Greece. It seems that Ex-Dictator Pangalos had organized a speclal body of troops called Republican Guards, in two so-called corps, each about 500 strong, for his personal protection. Having decided to disband these corps, Gen. Kondyles, the new Greek premier, so notifled their com- manders.” who thereupon withdrew their commands to the outskirts of Athens and took up a threatening at- titude. Gen. Kondyles sent officers to demand surrender, but this was re- fused and instead the two corps marched upon Athens, intending a counter coup. They were met by reg- ular troops and a brisk fight in the streets followed, which resulted in the defeat and surrender of the mutineers. The casualties were nu- merous, including civilians. * & ok ok China.~There have been extraor- dinary developments in China during the past week. but I shall give them only the briefest motice, postponing more adequate treatment. For as I see it, to make clear the significance of any happening in China you must sketch in & good. deal of background, and T lack space here for such an operation. For remember that China proper is of the size and population of the IZuropean peninsula: of an equal geographical varlety and (what is too little considered) of an equal racial variety. A large part of that penin- sula is now involved in a civil con- flict, and our news thereof {s meager, vague and tainted with propaganda. T remark, touching only the high spots; that Marshal Wu Pel Fu has been badly beaten by the commander of the south China forces, Gen. Chang Kai Shek, who has captured that exceedingly important group of citles on _the Yangtse, Hankow, Wuchang and Hanyang, the last-named contain- ing the chief arsenal of China; that apparently (though it is not clear) Wu Pei Fu, having saved a considerable part of his army, has withdrawn it to the interfor of the Province of Honan; that apparently (though this is not clear) Gen. Sun Chuan Feng, super- tuchun of the five “lower Yangtse provinces, has declared war on Chang Kai Shek, ordering him to retire from his (Sun’s) bailiwick and from Hupeh and Hunan provinces, that is to aban- don his conquests; that British ves- sels have bloodily clashed with Chi-| nese vessels and shore batterfes per-| taining to Wu Pei Fu's forces, and' that British naval vessels in the Pearl The Story the Week Has Told River, by treating the Canton strikers as pirates, have further exacerbated the relations between Hongkong and the Cantonese government; that (the latest news) American destroyers on the Yangtse near Hankow have been sniped on, two American sailors being wounded, and finally, and most im- portant, that the sundry outrages per- petrated by all and sundry Chinese belligerents, irrespective of their do- mestic affillations, against the West- ern powers and Japan have aroused the latter to the point that armed in- tervention by some of those powers seems a strong possibility. I will not yet say ‘“probability.” ERE I United States of America.—Henry Augustin Beers, author and emeritus professor of English literature at Yale, is dead at the age of 79. He was. not very well known outside the Yale family, but he desepved and de- serves to be. Indeed, it seems a rea- sonable prediction that his name will enjoy the immortality achieved by some few others creators, like him, of just one or two perfect or nearl fect brief things. For his poem, “The Dying Pantheist to the Priest,” is in the category of nearly perfect things: and almost as much may be said of a delicate psychological prose study in that little book called “The Way of Yale,” which will surely be cherish- ed by Yale men, in perpetuum. That charming man, Beers, the professor, so learned without pedantry, so humorous in a quiet way, so tolerant, courteous and considerate, peculiarly endeared himself to 46 classes of Yale students, * * k% % The League of Nations.—On Mon- day the seventh session of. the League Assembly opened at Geneva. On Wednesday the assembly unanimously voted Germany's admission to the League, at the same time providing that she alone should be added to the permanent membership of the council, but providing also for creation of three new “seml-permanent” seats of three-year tenure, the holders there to be eligible for re-election by a t thirds vote of the assembly. On Fri- day the Germans took their seats—an epochal event. Notice of the circum- stances of that event, of the reasons for the creation of the semi-per- manent seats (relating in chief to Spain and Poland), and of sundry other League matters of great inter- est and importance must be post- poned. : * % ok % Miscellaneous.—It_is semi-offictally reported that an effort will be made toward the end of this month to stabilize the Belgian franc. On Triday Georges Michel, a_baker of Paris, established a new English Channel swimming record of 11 hours 5 minutes, beating Herr Vierkotter's record by an hour and a half and Miss Ederle’s by more than three hour: The Italian government announces inauguration of a drastic currency deflation program. It is by no meas the least important of Mussolini's undertakings to date: bold and of genuine, however sober, splendor, in contrast to the false glitter of some of his other enterprises. I awalt clearer information concern- ing the details of the proposed ma- chinery of deflation. | And Alberta. There are only BY JULIUS H. BARNES President International Chamber Comme:ce. Great Britain, our great mother country across the ocean, has come upon o time of great stress and trial. We who know Britain kngw that this | will be solved and solved right. But lis it not due to the fact that the | gospel of sound industrial relations had not vet found its firm establish- Vice of ment in public and official opinion in| Europe? . hree vears ago the American dele wtion to the International Chamber of Commerce proposed a declaration of principles on which the production of the world could be mair | especially a sound decla industrial relations which must main- | tain throughout industry. There was much telephoning to the capitals of 1urope, and much discus- sion of the effect on the strong labor | organizations of IKurope, but the | declaration was promulgated as the | accepted, unanimous opinion of busi- | ness since the world began, that there were four simple essentials which must come into play if production is to be maintained and the living stand- ards of people advanced. Labor-Saving Devices. First. the adoption of inventions and labor-saving devices which en- large production. Second, the abolition of artificial restrictions on effort or output. | Third, relatlve wage compensation, | by which a worker is stimulated, be- cause it represents the value of his | product; and Fourth, the superiority | ownership and operation ownership and operation. Could you analyze those four re- quirements into the situation which exists today in Britain and find a so- lution? You could. In the American labor mévement last Summer occurred a most epoch-making incident, when the American Federation of Labor dJeclared, in formal session, that the value of a day’s work was its value in production. They abandoned the old world concept of 11 hours before the bench, and all the claims of a living wage as_the basis for a man’s re- turn, and announced that not hours, but results, were the measure of the value of a man's work. A great for- ward step was taken in industrial re- lations in this country, and ome which is clearly along the road marked out three vears ago by the gathered busi- ness opinfon of the world. | New Philosophy of Work. | We believe that we have a right to speak on this subject. We believe our claims that we have here in this most fortunate laboratory of the new country developed a new philosophy of labor, or work, of production, are justified and maintained when we see British missions of manufacturers, British missions of trade unionists coming to America to study the amazing living level of the American worker. We believe it is a justification which will enable us to speak with all the strength of conviction that has grown within us by the demonstrated his- tory of these last vears, that the se- curity of the individual home rests upon the living standards of the peo- ple; that the living standards of the people rest upon the earning power of the people; that the earning power of the people rests, not in hours de- voted to labor, but in the effectivene: of that labor, and that we have learned here in this new some methods which we can advantage lay before the considera- tion of the rest of the world. ‘When we see this magic method of earning power through production developing at such a mpid pace as. ‘for instance, in the single case of & of private over state ned, and | tion of the/ laboratory . with | ENGLAND ADVISED TO ADOPT NEW PRODUCTIVE PROCESSES ;Use of Labor-Saving Devices, Maximum Output Per Man and Pay Corresponding to Work Done Declared Need of Mother Country. w England shoe industry, in eight years has lowered the amount of work required to make a pair of shoes from 102 mfinutes to 54 minutes, it as if every wol i that sin; industry had been in this time to produce two pairs of shoes where he produced one pair be. fore in the same time. We know inevitably that under the free flow of competition through the v controlled industry, the worker will more: the invest- ment of capital in the facility will get more, and the consumer will have + lower price on that product. 'That is the charmed method by which liv- ing standards are advanced (Copyright. 1926.) which | Collecting War Debts From Europe {Interchange of Visits b | | BY BLANCH FENTON SCHADER. Author and Student of French Affairs. | Among many dlscouraging fea- tures, many disheartening events in the relations of our country and France, there is one that stands out as a heacon. Could we see and know personally the French boys$ who are now, and have been since the 15th of July, on an expedition of discovery and acquaintance in our country we | should feel more at ease and know {that, with the future in the hands of the youth of France and America, all's | well. | These boys, can hovs of their own age, the high school age, have gone info our great West as part and, no doubt, the Declared Unsound Policy for America (Continued from “irst Page.) son for adding to this burden the other which may result from Euro- pean animosity, accompanicd by Eu- ropean repudiation? * ok ok x War debts are, in my judgment. bad debts, from which we cannot collect, but in attempting to collect may get & varlety of unpleasant and even dan- gerous things. However much I may personally sympathize with French feelings or be moved by British argu- ments in the controversy, it is not for French or British reasons that I advo- cate cancellation, but simply and wholly for American reasons. It might even be arguable that we could afford to endure European hatred and hostility if we were going to get the money. But those \Who believe we are going to get the money—that is, those among the informed—are preclous few. And there is no such animal in Europe. We are getting signed contracts now because Europe wishes new loans and our administration insists that con- tracts shall precede loans. But along with the signed contracts we are get- ting a preliminary warning as to how Europe Teels, although, apart from England, no nation is paying us any- thing of real importance. We might fatrly ask the cancella- tion of German reparations, pari passu, because we are intimately con- cerned with the German market, where we sell largely, and quite as much interested in preventing Ger- many, under the pressure of repara- tions, from building up an industrial machine and making combinations which will further hamper our own export trade and lead to new inva- sions of our domestic market. But more than that we cannot hope to get. | EE O The notion that we can use debts to enforce disarmament, to obtain all sorts of political objectives, is merest moonshine, because the European debtors do not take the debts seri- ously endaigh to be willing to make these concessions. Perhaps they ought to. perhaps their whole course is immoral, perhaps we have law and justice and right all on our side—but none of these things helps, because we can’t get the money and are never going to be able to get the money while such money as wé get on ac- count will be balanced by lost trade and overbalanced by international hatred. In a word, I do not favor cancella- tion of debts primarily because can- cellation would be good for Europe, but because an)"oth\-r course will, in my judgment, be bad for the United States. We have got hold of a red-hot poker—it may be our poker—we may have every right to it; but I do not believe it is worth while to burn our hands to hold a poker which has no great value at best. In the last analysis, our debt polic; or the sentiment which is back of it, has its origin in anger with Europe, in the feeling that Kurope has misled us, that it is seeking to cheat us. It is the direct outcropping of the old in- feriority complex in the face of Fu- rope. It is the disclosure of a determi- nation to show Europe that there are at least limits to the extent we can be fooled, cajoled or bluffed. All of which | is perfectly human, but does not neces- sarily stimulate sound business judg- ment. After all, a bad debt is any debt the cost of collection of which is greater than the face value, and the situation 1s further intensified when one of the costs of collection of a dead horse is the loss of present and prospective new business. I belleve in the cancel- lation of the debts purely as a busi- ness matter and becadse I regard them as bad debts—bad in the sense of being uncollectible, bad because ‘I believe every attempt at collection in- volves new losses. Bad, ahove all, be- cause I believe they may form the basis of a new European coalition against the United States which would be equally unpleasant in South Amer- ica and in Asia. (Cobyrixht. 1826.) ool “Witches” Are Slain Often in Phillipines In the Province of Cadiz, Philippine Islands, an old woman and her son and daughter have been murdered in cold blood, the criminals believing them to be witches casting a spell on a sick child. In this province the Catholic Church has but recently blessed and canonized an image of the virgin, to which the people at- tribute miraculous powers, after Rome received a solemn report of miracles performed by the image. The people, however, continue their belief in evil as well as holy spells. They ascribe to Beelzebub the evil Delieve the agents of hell. Hardly a week passes when some persons, and often whole families are not ikilled |as witches. The victims are usually | deformed or crippled persons, or the deaf and dumb—any one appearing | physically ~ peculiar. thave been arrested. with a group of Ameri- | o icing I spells and often kill neighbors they | FRENCH BOYS TOURING AMERICA CONSIDERED ENVOYS OF PEACE Youth of Two Nations Praised as Remover of Misunderstandings. Won Trip by Historical Oration of a Their particular the American is to learn most Important single section historical expedition. interest, fostered b Good-Will Association, about the land in the discovery of | which men of France took such a big part. The boys worked for the distinction which s theirs as winners of an ovatorical competition. They learned about “The French Pioneers in America,” and with their intelli- gence and informatign wrote thelr orations and won the prize. Names in Native Tong ¢ are members of a gre ty statesmen, historiar engineers, railroad officials and edito of mational reputation. sponsc the governors of the six Northwestern States, and known as the Columbia River Historical Ixpedition. All along the way they will meet evidence of the work of such men as Father Marquette, discoverer of the upper Mississippl; La Salle of Rlouen, Du Lhut, whose name survives in Duluth; Pierre de Varennes, Nicolet of Cherbourg, Radisson of St. Malo and the Verendrye brothers, who first saw the Rocky Mountains. They will see monuments dedicated, will hear unnumbered tales of the early days and their trials, will assist in celebrations like the parade of old Red River ox-carts at Grand Forks and will recognize in many Indian names the influence of their own language. There were the Coeur Th @'Alenes, the Peu d'Oreilles and the | Nez Perces, whose own chief Joseph was the last of the red men to make a determined stand half a century ago against the white man’s invasion. In the Mississippi River, the Rockles, | the plains and the cities with remi- niscent names there jvill be fof the Erench boys a sense of belong- Ing. ' Was it not, indeed, their fatheers who helped bring this land into being, men of France who penetrated the dense wilderness in the spirit of- ad- venture, the love of a struggle for new worlds to which we today owe our very existence? ‘Will Take Data Home. Back home these French boys will g0 loaded with experience filled with the knowledge of the country across the sea of which their people know only too little. They will tell all they have seen. American boys, winners of the con- test and participants in the great historical expedition, will disperse to thelf homes eariched by their ex- perfence, anxious to spread their ad- miration for the nation represented by the boys they have come to know and respect. In the circles reached by these boys on both sides, limited at first but widening, will grow and prosper a mutual understanding that cannot fail to make future relations easier. It is the fact of the youth of these international emissaries, the young spirit that will make itself felt, and therein, when it grows as it will— therein lies the solution of everything that may confuse and distress us now. France of today, the youthful France, will know America, young America, and they will understand each other. Following over the tralls of pio- neers in a romantic period of American history they are themselves pioneers in a perlod of French and Ameri- can history not a whit less important. The time needs the influence they can exert. Their word will count, they will be heard as authorities, as those who know that of which they speak. May their education bear fruit, guided by the intelligence that has won it. e Records show that 20 years ago In England 35 per cent of the working The eriminals | girls were anemic, while today 5 per centare, o \ 4 DY | S orvey issued the statement. as it did | port of sixty-two million, our total| 3 LATIN AMERICANS FAVOR U. S. ADMISSION TO COURT Uruguayan and Venezuelan Delegates at Conference Urge Acceptance of Reservations. HETHER the United States eventually joins the World Court or is barred on the terms embodled in the five reservations, one phase of the.conference in Geneva, held by 38 nations, members of the tribunal, to consider the reservations, has given special satisfaction in those circles here interested in the relations of the United States with Latin America. Twice during the conference distin- guished South American delegates rose to the defense of the United States. Not only did they defend the motives of the United States in fram- ing the reservations, but they implied or stated outright highly gratifying opinions of the effect American mem- bership would have in strengthening the court and the cause of adjudica- tion of international disputes. Senor Buero of Uruguay was the first of the two speakers recorded in dispatches as having taken part in the debates among Latin American delegates. He made it plain he was not concerned so much as some othew speakers with the technical aspect of the reservations, but, to quote the dispatches, “favored a general policy of giving the most favorable solution to the wishes of the United States.” Uruguay on Council. Inasmuch as Uruguay is a member of the council of the League of Na- tions, and therefore has a more direct interest in the reservations than na- tions not represented on the council, the willingness of its delegates to ac- cept the reservations has all the more significance. The conference Was arguing whether the United States should have the right to veto a re- quest by the council for advisory opinions In which the United States has or claims an Interest. Senor Buero evidently did not construe this reservation, as some other delegates did, as being a move on the part of the’ United States to win a privileged position, but simply equality with members of the couneil, and he was agreeable to granting the United States such equality. The next day of the conference, when the reservations had been under fire again, a second South American delegate rose to champion the posi- tion of the United Stites in the person of Senor Zumeta of Venezuela. He is recorded in the dispatches as insisting that the conference should omit no endeavar to make the United States’ adherence to the court an accom- plished fact. Then he added this tribute: “Assume, if you must, that accept- ance (of the reservations) accords the ited States some privilege. -But let us not forget the high moral and political significance of the adherence of the most powerful democracy the world has ever seen.” ificance of Tribute. These two outspoken pleas for American membership on American terms, entirely voluntary and unher- alded, constitute one of the most sig- nificant tributes to the policy of the United States in cultivating friendship with Latin America that has been re- corded in years. The patient effort of successive administrations to prove the good will of the United States to- ward Latin Ameri 1s seen by ob- servers here as bearing fruit in this reflected cordiality. There is still further evidence of in creasing friendship in the fact that Uruguay had notifled the Department’ of State in Washington prior to the Geneva. conference that the reserva tlons were acceptable to her, and Cib: also had given similar approval. Th other Latin Amerlcan nations appar ently were awaiting the conference to which all court members were in vited, before sending Washington their individual replies. It cannot be s now whether all Latin American ng tions will accept the reservations, bus this is not considered as minimizing the concrete display of neighborliness cited, nor did the dispatches recdrd any Latin American delegates as op- posing the reservations. About the time the main conference in Geneva adjourned and left th reservations In the hands of a sm committee, President Coolidge let be known at his Summer home t he was confident the reservati would be found acceptable, and then he made a pronouncement about the fifth reservation of a significanc which no doubt did not pass unnoticed in Geneva. IHe said the reservations were not intended to give the United States any epeclal privileges, bul equality with members of the council in the matter of advisory opinions This answered in an auth tive way those delegates In the conference who expressed fear or lack of understand ing of the motives underlying the reservations. Senor Zumeta was reac to accept the reservations even they did accord the United some privilege, but he soon had the President’s statement that such was not the American intention. Members of Court. The Latin American nations iem- bers of the World Court, besides Cuba, Uruguay and Venezuela, are Bolivia, Rrazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay and Salvador. Under the reservations, any one of these 13 na tions could prevent American adher ence to the court, as could any other of the 48 nations in the court. The fact that the United States in the last fiscal year sold twice as mucl! merchandise to South America a8 1922 is believed to be due not only to increased purchasing power in that area, but in some degree to the better relations existing politically betwe the Uniteq States and {ts southern nelghbors. . The scrupulous respect the United States has had for the sovereignty of the Latin American countries, the re peated declarations by Presiden Coolidge and his predecessors thai the United States does not covet ans of their territory and will not inter fere in purely domestic affairs appar ently are winning confldence in what Senor Zumeta graciously described as “the most powerful democracy the world has ever seen.” no diplomatic secret that some leaders in these smaller nations have at times feared the United States. The fact that the spokesman of one of them is able to see a “high moral signiticance” in_ the support the United States offers to give to !h; World Court is interpreted as showinZ that this fear is being dissipated, and is seen as one more proof of the solidarity of the Pan-American Union. Of Vast Resources BY RICHARD HOADLEY TINGLEY. | The mountains of Colorado, Ttah, Wyoming, Nevada and other Western States contain immense deposits of oil chales from which enough oil can be extracted to fill our requirements for centurfes, Mining engineers have | known this all along, but so long as| there was thought to be plenty of oil | to be had from wells, nobody { mueh heed to these shales. When the United States Geological a short time ago, that there remained | in this country only about nine and a half billion batrels of petroleum in the | ground ‘‘recoverable by current pro-| duction methods.” attention at once | became riveted to this source of sup- ply. People began to figure, and here are some of the figures, avallable to any one who reads the daily news- papers. Ever since 1916 we have consumed more petroleum than our wells have produced, making up the deficiency with imports largely from Mexico. In 1916 we produced three hundred and one million barrels and consumed three hundred and nineteen million. In constantly increasing quantity from approximately seven fitty-seven million barrels and an im- yearly demand, therefore, being eight hundred and nineteen million barrels. | Use Likely to Increase. It isn’t necessary to call in a pro- fessor of mathematics to help us figure that out. If the United States geol- ogists are right, our oil well supply, recoverable by methods,” will be all gone in less than 12 years! That isn’t the worst of it. It is unthinkable that we are going to curtail our use of ofl so long as there is any to be had. If past experience 1s of any value, we may expect to in- crease gather than diminish it. ‘Well-oil men scoff at the thought of an oil shortage. They say the fig- ures of the Geological Survey are “bunk,” and declare that by eco- Out in Dozen Years. | there will be' no danger vear to yvear, 1925 saw a production of | hundred and | 4v current production | OIL SHALES IN WEST MAY SOLVE GASOLINE PROBLEM OF FUTURE | Cost of Production Bars Extensive Utilization Now —Wells May Play i ning new of 1 and by the discovery of P short of oil. The extraction of oil from shales in this country is in an experimental stage, though European countries Scotland and Esthonia. not —have solved the problem. the oil & dustry having been successfully lished long ago. Unlike the oil from wells which is pumped direct from the ground ready to be re shales must f be wmined crushed. then retorted and refined heet in No American pre vel devised whereby t e’ done successful price competition with well ofl. though all through Colorado and Utah experimental work in retorting fostered by the United States Burcau of Mines, which has imported an e perienced shale oil engineer from Scot Jand to show the way, iS now in progress. As long as the cost of producins shale ofl is higher than that of ob tatning ofl from wells, and as long as well oil lasts or can be imported in sufficient quantity, the huge shale | mountains of the West will contint« to hold their treasure in reserve. The estion is one of simple economic As long as there is plenty of “gas to be had at every turn in the road the careless motor car driver will pa. but little attention supply. When, some fine wakes up to the fact that he must pay & great deal more for his “juice he may become interested in those Western mountains. Although oildom scoffs at the idea of a shortage and dec the esti mates of the geologists, their actions speak louder than their words. There is scarcely a large ofl concern in the world (including the United States for it is a heavy consumer) that has not taken the precaution to supply itself with large shale oil holdings where quiet experiments are heing conducted in methods of extraction The ol is there, they know. How to get it economically is their proh nomics, the application of improved methods of production and refining lem—and the problem is being rapidiv | solved. (Copyright. 1026 ) The story of how an Ttalian laborer, seated on a box eating his lunch in plating plant, made a lasting contr! bution to his employer and to sci- ence 'is toid by Dr. William Blum, chemist of the United States Bureau of Standards and president of the American Electrochemical Soclety. ‘Officials of the company in ques- tion, makers of phonograph records, upon noting a marked increase in the hardness of the copper ‘disks from which phonograph records are stamp- ed, subsequently semt samples of the plating bath for anaiysis, which re- vealed that organic matter was present. At a complete loss to explain the presence of any foreign matter in thelr electrolytes used for depositing cop- per electrically, a careful inquiry de- veloped the fact that an Italian labor- er had playfully flipped a piece of cheese at a fellow worker, the cheese missing its mark and falling into the Laborer’s Bad Aim With Pie== of Cheese Turned Into Contribution to Science cheese, which material they, there fore, have continued to add to their solutions. The increased hardness of the copper allows a considerable ing, because more records can stamped in molten wax from harder disks. Police Are Disarmed. Zurich has given a prictical demon stration in disarmament while the representatives of 20 npations have been trying to agree on a plan for calling a disarmament conference two years hence. Because the local pol interfered in the carpenters’ s the Communist Deputies introduced an order in council stripping the police of their sabers. The chief of the finest, who had the right of debate, added that sabers were useless, but that his men should be the tank where the metallic disks con- taining phonographic records were being deposited. ~The phonograph compapy found that the hardening ef- fect was due to the casein in the carry black jacks, By a vote of 38 to 42 the couneil decided that the police should be armed with no other weapons than | white gloves and & whistle,