Evening Star Newspaper, September 19, 1926, Page 47

EXTREME Cliques Work Fe\'erisilly f(;r Seats, But| NATIONALISM IN LEAGUE ELECTIONS Enthusiasm Marks Final Decision. Peace Chances Surer. BY SIR PHILIP GIBBS. HE election of the new Council by the Assembly of the League of Nations the past week at Geneva was a dramatic scene. not without excitement and %ome element of uncertainty For many days, and even until the moment of voting. there canvassing among the delegates of 19 nations on hehalf of their own claims or those of their allies and assoclates In the hotels of Geneva. In quiet res taurants on its dors of the assembly receptions national delegates were busy making out lists of the new council and promising their support to this nation or that. It until the morning of the election that everything had been arranged Iy groups of powers whose votes were pledged by private understandings. Outsiders like myself might make shrewd guesses at the result of the election, but all these political combi nations and fraternities kept their own secrets pretiy close. Every onme of those delegates of 49 nations was in his seat hefore President Nitchitch called upon them to register their votes and explained the methods of clection. There were to be four sepa rate votes. First they were asked (o Vote for nine non-permanent members of the eouncil. next they were asked to vote for three out of those nine who would he elected for three vears Then thet were asked to vote for three who wonld be elected for two vears. The remainder of thos would serve one vear. I’ they would be asked to vote for any power which. in their opinion e bhe made re-sligible after one t of office. thut is 1o say, specially ommended for re-eleciion after vears and in evening vt three System Held Compl It was all very complicated and ra ther absurd. but the delegates took it all very seriously. The assemblv il wa densely crowded, and fron v place in the second gallery I could ~ee discussion going on among com Peting nations. South American delegutes were especially excited and the representative of {‘uba Ing among his Latin leagues, who were points which they themselves ovy ative of 1 against their x and had sent 4 president ated. wits American Col- still arguing on had raised among rnight u revolted stem of arranged votes letter of protest to the of the assembly repudiat- Ing these private arzains between &roups of states which he believed Were contrary to liberty of election That letter was read out after the first result was declared. and svervhody agreed \with its there was not one among them w Was quite innocent of similar made to other groups. Briand of France and delegates had their list of and drled with all powers friendly to their polnt of view. Sir Austen Chamberlain_had 1alked over his list with both Briand and Siresemann At the last moment certain countries were amonz the doubtful cases. China for instance. wae one of them. bhe. cause, in spite of personal popu . of the delegate, Mr. l'hll'. l:\’L»'“; always greeted with friendly smiles he cannot be said to reprexent any settled form of government. (er Riftish delegates favored Porsia rath er than Chma for one of these coun il seats. Then his fellow votes cut there was Ireland. Fitzger ald had put forward a claim on be. half of Ireland cnly 48 hours hefore the clection and had not heen tn bed afterward hecause of passionate prop aganda on hehalf of eland’s rortance in world affal ' quence invaded a certain heer af Geneva., called Bavarem, Stresemann takes his drink long glasses of aceording to the theory men yprefer blondes, ticular brand of France, Herr amiable. dec) tion for the 1 im elo where after beer, ease pale that which beer is Stresemann his undving ree that par called in always affec Secreey Mere All the national and ambitions were ful eves in that assembly as the election took place. A cvnic might have said. “How these mations I each other,” but. not being cvnics I only smiled when 1 saw vir crouns getting together. whis their last instructions and sh lands vepeatedly with friendly ates or other mations I the What a lot of human nature 1= in the Leagur of Nations secret ballot, hut 1 Tan when I saw many delozat air voting papers and their ¢ nations 1o ather voter~ xS handing round thei he delegates of Ttaly were called to the fribune president’s seat o examine \oiing p. rs and to act as tellers One one the countries were called out in \iphabetical order and one by ihe delegates advanced fo the form and put their little <lip of n the ballot hox with ecrecy and mportan again in review each as it is represented in senibly of mations in single portraiis. Such s the long athlstic form of Mansen with his square shoulds i vow waist, the Orlental Perstan prince with astrakhan cap Stresemann’s German tvpe with shin inz bald head and stout little hody tightly huttoned in a frock coat: an Abyssintan, with his black wooly hair; the stooping fisure of Briand with his half-sad, halfironical smile Chamberlain, essentially and almos Lomically English, with his clean-cut face and characteristic eveglass: Somth Americans, with their smooth dark hair and Latin elegance. and etense. cliques, egotisme visible to watch- there It was hed «loud < <howi “hoice like schaonl helow Japan the o plat an air of One saw national ty this ther races from far outposts of civ- | flization Eight on First Ballot. There was a deep hush in the assem- My hall when the first results were 1ead out by the president. Only eight members had received sufficient ma ‘ority votes for election to the Coun 1 in this first ballot. They were o mbia. Poland, Chile, Salvador. Rel sium, Rumania. Holland and China On the second ballot Czechoslovakia was added to make up these nine non permanent seats. By subsequent vot vg Poland, Chile and Rumania were clected for three vears, and Colombia. hina and Holland for two vears. Po 4nd was the only power claiming the privilege of re-election after her three.vear term of office, and that rec ommendation was granted by 38 votes against & dissentients and 4 blank papers There were little scenes of emotion and enthusiagm among groups of dele cates when tha results were declared Mr. Chu. smiling from ear to ear <hook hands with evervbody within each The Cu 1 delegaie threw his rme around the representative of alvador and Kissed him heeks. Desmond erald urly hair and Irish eves, had onlv <cored 10 votes, but was quite pleased with his advertisement Herr Strese v had voted for nd and all enemies with the syalence eariy Chiistian fors ninety Timee nine The new neon, and even cverybody else 4n swerving allexiance on Pa he Atz ted med un nohlest Council to the was active | lakeside. in the corri. | was not | pledge: n house | zentle- | hoth | with, his p | ideal of the League sf Nations. | again cvnics may smile. This oratory In( Idealism is so easy after all. and that election was not free. from hu- | man weakness and national egotism What ahout disarmament. asks pub. lic opinion. What about all those na tional injustices which cry out to heaven for redress? How soon Is Stresemann going to show his hand jor his cloven hoof? That cvni |cism is as easy as oratory. It 1= | cheaper and less useful. The League is not divorced from human nature. ations do not abandon their national nbitions in becoming members of it Progress toward' peace and interna- | tional law is slow and difficult. But this League. during its present ses- | sfon, had shown real loyalty to its | best ideals. and I am certain that its new Council ‘will act in all cases as peacemaker and arbitrator as far as lits powers go. They do not go as {far as the wishes of an impatient | world, but gradually they are strength ening. and in my opinion they are the only safeguard of European peace and the only stronghold of an interna. tional spirit which is beginning 1o reach across the frontiers of hostility, intolerance and stupidity still form ing strong barriers in the minds of | nations. The spirit of conciliation voiced by RBriand of France and Stresemann of Germany during~the week should do much immediately to take fear out | of the hearts of France and Germany and to break tlown that mutual sus- picion and distrust which have so con- stantly obstructed peacaful progress and ordinary common sense in the re- laticns hetween these two natlons. England. as chief guarantor of the arno pact has strained public opin ion among her own people by under- taking to give full military assistance 1o either France or Germany should oue of them be wantonly attacked by the other. That is to say, if war breaks out again between these two former enemies Great Britain will be involved in it immediately on one side or the other, and that is a frightful thought to her after all loxt forever in the last war. | But making that terrific pledge | and taking that risk, it is likely that fear, which is the father of cruelty and the mother of war, will be thrust out of the imagination of French and German folk. They may get ahead now to constructive work, free from dark terrqrs-and popular passion. It ix the first fruit of Germany's ad- mittance to the League of Nation Lecause the Locarno pact could only be ratified after that event. It Is a concrete fact, carrying out the spirit of those emotional speeches ¢ Briand and Stresemann last hefore the Assembly of the League. Stresemann Gives Views. I saw Dr. Stresemann, and he gave me his views on this Locarno treaty which is now in operation. ed the deep suspicion which was aroused hoth in England and France | when the first German memorandum was e ing those mu- tual guarantees bhody asked “What does it reagy mean? Who it directed aga Public opinion was filled wih distrust, and rance four months to nd cer. Even then French res s proved her on. me spirit was shown in pre. “minary conversations at Locarno, and there was no faith or confidence {in world opinion that such a pact could be possible or sincere. This deep-rooted fear was now overcome at | by | said Dr. Stresemann, not legal clauses, but by the firm resolve f political leaders to have faith in each other. A new form of diplom; old diplomatic tradition public opinion in each country has heen converted to these new ideas. After great political opposition the overwhelming majority of the German people stand behind this policy which is now merged in the spirit of the leazue of Nations, intend to ro-operate. pirit That Counts. B Stresemann hopes for the de. velopment of this faith and under <tanding and pointed out that it is the ~pirit hehind the League of Nations not the letter of its law which akes advance possible. It was not much what Briand said in his bril fiani speech which was important but ihe mere fact that public opinion in bix own country allowed him to make such speech significance of my said Dr. Stresemann 1al words but the public Germany enabling me to =spress those ideals.” Referring to one i caused some uneasiness in England and other countries, Dr. Stresemann denied with great emphasie that the economle agreement between Germany and France, just completed. was in any way directed against Great FEritain or contains any hidden men: ace. It was, he said ssitated by he treaty i . which gave | German i Lorraine to Prance. French and German econo- mists and manufacturers had been pace-makers for politicians and Indus trial co-operation would help to break down political boundaries. These statements by Dr. Stresemann were, T am certain, perfectly sincere. But of course they leave unsaid vari ous outstanding problems which very soon must test all these emotional sentiments <poken bv German and French delegates. Will France, for instance, evacu, the Rhineland” succeeded Gradually League and v own tter which has in o The pact of Locarno will be meaning- | less if that is not done. hecause mili tary occupation is now incompatible with these mutual guarantees safe- uarding French and German tie German public opinio: Stresemann admitted to me vient for immediate results of this kind. and in_my judgment France. ieven under Poincare. will make a gesture of concession in that way and fwithdraw her troops. Like most other as D is impa- Once | that was | Speaking | with considerable emotion, he recall- | tron. | observers of the | THE/ SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON. D. C. The Story the Week Has Tol BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following mary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended September 18: The British Empire.—Recently 1 cited some statistics concerning the population of Ireland, which showed a substantial increase in that popula tion since 1911. The new census of the Free State, however, shows a de- | crease in the 26 counties constituting | that State of about 167,000, or 5.3 per cent. There having been a slight increase in the population of northern Ireland. the decrease for the entire Island since 1911 is about 161,000. The ave- |rage emigration 1901-10 from the counties now constituting the Free State was about 26,000 vearly; since 1910 it has been about 27,000. The present total population of Ireland is about 4,200,000 (Free State, 2,973,000 Northern Ireland, 1,256,000), the smallest in 150 vears. The expecta- tion that an_increase in the popula- tion of the Free State would follow at once upon its establishment has been falsified. The Liberals were victorious in the Canadian elections held on Tuesday. The new House of Commons will be made up as follows (except for two constituencies still to be heard from): Liberals, 118; Conservatives, 90; Lib- erdls-Progressives, 11; United Farm- ers of Alberta, 11; Progressives, §: Labor, 3: Independents, 2. The total of seats is 245, and 120 is regarded as a working majority. Though the Liberals lack somewhat of even a bare majority. they are confident of enough definite support from the smaller groups to give them control. The new Parliament, its predecessor, includes just one woman, who was re-elected. * o ox % France.—With the happy Gallic in- stinct of dramatic propriety, the French government timed to coincide precisely with the admission of Ger- many to the League of Nations an nouncement of a program of drastic cuts in the army and navy establish. ments. The chief items thereof (to be gradually put into effect) are: Re. tirement of 3,900 officers. reduction of | the cavalry army by 17,000 men, rais. ing of the minimum conscription age from 20 to 21, reduction of the term of compulsory service from 18 months to one year, and abandonment by the services of a considerable number of barracks, training grounds, naval vards, etc., which will be rented to the public. ok Spain. — It is officially announced that about 6,000,000 votes were i in the plebiscite of September 11, and 13, the population of Spain’ be- ing about 21,000,000; in view of Span- ish conditions, a tremendous poll. Every Spanish person of 18 years or over and of either sex was invited to cast a ballot indicating approval | of Primo de Rivera's work and of his proposal to convene a national as- sembly. To be sure, the government { had not clearly indicated the kind of body_contemplated under the name of “National Assembly”: to be sure also, the machinery of the plebiscite Union, the new party of pledged I is a brief sum-|alty to the dictator and his program. To be sure, moreover, the priests jare of his enthusiastic following, a was intrusted solely to the Patriotic | walls, consideration of potency. The above and other considerations of like sort might seem to give a good deal of color to the widely voiced charge that the plebiscite business was a pure effort of gullification and camouflage. But, though a little unhappy about the business, I incline to go with those who assert that the dictator was sincere in promising fair condi- tions of voting and no coercion, and that the promise was carried out as honestly as might be in the teeth of a vile established tradition, that the official total is genuine, and that it indicates that the dictator has a com- fortable majority behind him. The coupling of the appem for approval of the idea of # National Assembly with the appeal for general approval of the dictator's record of achieve- mert seems rather awkward, but per- haps only seems, for really it was an effective way of conveying to the people the assurance that the dictator intended evolution of representative government. If you trust Primo de Rivera, you may say that it was typical of the man’'s honesty that he was not specific as to the precise character of the representation con- templated, because he wished to be free in the matter and not to falsify expectations. In dealing with Spain one is con- strained to express opinions, to set forth inferences, or else be mostly silent, so little do we get in the way of perfectly authenticated facts from that fascinating country. The plan of receiving ballots ap- proving the dictator, and no votes contrary, was a little shocking-at first eve, but only, perhaps, because of its novelty. = * ok oK % arkey.—Perhaps the spiciest item of news from Geneva is to the effect that the Angora government has been communicating with the governments of the powers represented on the League Council with a view to the possibility of Turkey's entrance into the League on condition of her oc- cupying a Council seat as the repre- sentative of Islam. Some of the gentlemen at Geneva are sald to be squeamish about such a proposition because of the recent executions of S0 many of Mustapha Kemal's enemies of the Committee of Union and Prog- ress, after trial by a so-called tribunal of independence, to be sure, but these gentlemen seem to regard the court as a political one, and the executions as “judicial murders.” On the other hand, it is urged that what Turkey needs is the “Post-Locarno mind. and that she cannot be expected to acquire that if excluded from Geneva. One wonders what Ibn Saud, Sultan of Nejd, thinks of the Ghazl's idea, whether or no it fits in with the project of which he is the chief pro- moter, namely, that of a league of Islam. * ok ok X China.—There has not been much fighting in the middle Yangtze region during the past week. Apparently Wu Pei Fu has the remnant of his defeated army concentrated some- where in southern Honan, except for a detachment which still holds out in famous Wuchang of the mighty against continuous desperate EP;I;I})IBER efforts of the Cantonese Jforces to storm the town. The position of this detachment, isolated south of the river, is not an enviable one. There have been several defenses of towns of Saragossa; here is another. perhaps. One could wish to know of how large a force Wu Pei Fu still dispose: Some reports (which I incline to cred- it) attribute Wu's recent reve the treachery of subordinates. Lin. up at Mukden for help, but ap- {parently in vain. There is, however, a rumor (scarcely more authentic) that the Tuchun of Shantung (a henchman of Chang Tso Lin) is about to send him a big reinforcement. , Presumably he is concerting plans with Gen. Sun Chuan Feng. supe: tuchun of the five “lower Yangtze | provinces, who recently declared war {upon the Cantonese. but his feeling toward that hero can scarcely be one of deep affection, seeing that had Sun, his one-time lieutenant, gone to his help, several weeks ago, Gen. Chang Kai Shek, the southern commander. would not now, in all probability, be occupying his (Wu's) capital, but rather would be in pellmell flight back to the Pearl River. However, despite that bitter mem o Wu *is probably Sun’s plans for turning the tables on Chang Kai Shek. That gentlemanis a long way—some 600 miles, in fact— from home, and the report goes that Sun has dispatched an expedition to cut his line of communications at Changsha; obviously the thing to do. One hears vaguely of contact made between advance troops of Sun and Chang. We are told that Chang Kai Shek's program is somewhat as follows: Sun Chuan Feng to be thrashed and Wu Pel Fu finished off: Nanking, Sun's capital, to be made. as of old, th capital of China, displacing Peking: southern and central China having been consolidated, the great work to be completed by crushing the opposi- tion in northern China and the stamp- ing out, the utter deracination, of tuchunism. pseudo feudalism, mili- tarism—all the isms that disrupt and torment China. Chang Kai Shek. we are urged to believe, is not a bolshe- vist, not a red, only a rather radical | democrat. It sounds well enough, tiis pro gram; as, in fact, do most programs. But the record of the South China Re public is not such as to justify enthu- siasm for the idea of dominance of China by the Cantonese element. Any- way, Chang will have to catch his hare before he can skin it. He has vet 10 come to grips with Sun Chuan Feng, reputed a redoubtable fellow. The world will watch the second phase of the struggle in the Yangtze Val- ley with great interest. The commission on extraterritorial- ity has completed its labors, and has submitted to the nine governments represented thereon a_unanimous re port. Of what nature? * Kk x United States of America.—How are the mighty fallen! The tennis singles championship of the United States has gone to a Frenchman. There is noth- ing_more fantastic in tennis annals than the reversal of form by which in Chinese history to rank with that| but the information is not vouchsafed. , ses 10| He ap- | peals-to his nominal ally. Chang Tso | co-ordinating | 19. 1926—PART 2 so easily disposed only a few ! helmed. in | the French stars, of in the Davis Cup play day later utterly over turn, their conquerors. Tilden was vanquished : {in the greatest of the matches; John- ! ston fell before Borotra, leaving Boro- ! tra and La Coste (who had beaten | Cochet) to fight it out for the crown. It is 23 vears now since a foreigner | namely. Hugh L..Doherty of England, | last wore it. by Cochet * oE Ok K | 'he League of Nations.—The idea of increasing the non-permanent mem- bership of the League Council by the addition of three ‘‘semi-permanent’ seats arose frome the desire to con-; liate Spain, Poland and Brazil. dis appointed of their hopes of permanent seats. Of the three only Poland would be conciliated. Brazil and Spain re- signing from the Lehgue. As scarcely any one could be found approving “in principle”” increase of the number of non-permanent seats, the natural in ference from the fact that in the final settlement of the vexatious controver- sy, despite the vesignations of Spain and Brazil, three semi-permanent seats were added, is that it was tac- itly understocd that two of those seats were there for the taking b: Spain and Brazil when or if they should come to a better mind. And this inference is horne out by the fact that of the three states elected by the Assembly to fill the “‘semi-per manent” seats only one (Poland) was given full “semi-permanent” status By full semi-permanent status, I un- derstand tenure of a Council seag for three vears. with eligibility to re-elec- tion on and on to doomsday by a two- thirds vote of the Assembly. Thus, unless you misbehave _dreadfull vou're a permanent member in fact though not in name. You perform the elegant feat of eating vour cake without_ getting it On Thursday the Asserably distrib uted the non-permanent seats as follows: Poland. Chile and Rumania. elected for three vears (only Poland, however, heing declared re-eligible); Colombia, Holland and China, for two years; Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Salvador for one year. Speaking strictly by the card, there are now on the Council five per- manent members, one semi-perma- nent member and eight non-perma COMPULSORY BY WILLIAM ULLMAN Compufsory insurance. or its equiv alent, as a means of reducing traffic accidents is nearing its first thorough test. As the time nears for the applica tion of the Massachusetts law, which embodies the principle that has been deali_with vigorously as an abstrac tion in virtually every State. the eves of motorists, safety advocates and officials are focused upon the potential results to be achieved. For many vears In their groping for a solution of the hafing problem of safety on the highway. thinkers in all walks of life have turned over in their minds the idea that accidents could e reduced or their effects less- ened If every driver were forced to carry protection for the victim of his possible carelessness. The middle of the compulsory in- surance road has been virtually un- trod in all the consideration of fts principle. Probably no topic relating to safety has been more productive of flaming dehate g One found inevitably that the man ;1o whom he broached the subject in even casual conversation was elther vigorously for or against it—not merely willing (o wait and see how it worked out in actual practice Repulsive to Many Owners. To the average motorist it has been a repulsive thought—another legisia tive effort to compel conformity. Furthermore, if he were forced to carry liability insurance, it meant an addition to his motor‘ng bill that, in many cases, seemed to f(orecast the doom of one of his greatest pleasures. ilis distaste for such a prospect is easily susceptible of comprehension Naturally, he resisted with all powers of articulation. State legislatures and municipal law-making bodies in all parts of the country have toyed with compulsory insurance bills for several vears. They found. however,( that bringing the idea too much to'the fore held a defi his nent members. Geneva gossip indicates the strong probability of formation of a general Balkan compact in the near future. The Council has approved a project which contemplates amelioration of the condition of 120,000 refugees in Bulgaria through expenditure (pre- sumably under League auspices) of the proceeds of a $12,000.000 loan to be floated under league auspices. One supposes a League refugee settlement commission like that which has done such splendid work on hehalf of the refugees in Greece. Despite the admitted fact that the commission appointed to prepare the way for a disarmament conference has up to date arrived nowhere and indeed would seem to have regressed rather than progressed, M. Boncou president of that commission. holds out hope that the conference may properly be held next Spring, due preparation made and prospects rosy. You ask how that may be and are told, “The post-Locarno mind." BY ARTHUR CAPPER, Senator from Kansas. | The American farmer is entitled to | | an American price for what he sells|ment o But he won't | Call it subsidy or tariff, as you please. in the United States. get it while the farm industry is with- Ii’RESENT TARIFF IS INADEQUATE uneasiness and | Kansas Senator Urges Higher Duty on Meat Prod- ucts, Hides and Grain to Make Income Cor- respond to Buying Prices. nomic footing with the rest of the | United States sometimes accuse me of making an effort to have the Govern- subsidize the farm industry. All T am asking for agriculture, and lout that full measure of protection |All Western farmers are asking, is a | {tries American farmer must accept | which =0 long has been afforded with-|Status of economic equality with gen- out question to other American indus. | ral business, Until it gets this protection the |cause the low exchange values the | farmers’ crops have made it impos- T am asking this be- f the {world price for his erop in the home|Sible for the American farmer, with Icompetition of cheap forecign with which then | mayket, and meet on American soil the | his increased overhead, to continue on farm | the old basis an labor and cheap foreign land when-|becomes necessar longer. Therefore, it for national wel- aver he is unlucky enough to produce |fare to do all that may fairly be done a crop which exceeds home needs. i The tariff enables the { manufacturer to sell his products be- | hind the American tariff wall at Amer ican ‘prices. The American farmer, | producing, as he nearly always does. | surplus, is compelled much of the |time to sell his wheat and meat on [the basis of prices fixed in Europe. | What he buys from Europe is on the American basis. but he is often com | pelled to sell his whole product on {the European basis. | There is pienty of evidence that the 'Number Glzently Exceeds Those Among Immigrants, | |tariff does not protect the American | farmer fully. nor adequately, nor as well as it protects the American man ufacturer. In the Minneapolis market the price of wheat is seldom more than half the duty above the price at Winnipeg, Canada. At this moment | being shipped to the Tnited States: it is even being sold in every important |town in Kansas in competition with [ beef tufned out by our Kansas pack- {ing houses. Every time a big ship- ment of Danish butter veaches New York, prices for butterfat fall off a cent or two in Kansas. The tariff paid on foreign butter and eggs alone last year was $40,000,000. Big Duties Collected. Duties were collected last vear on $696.608,000 worth of foreign agricul- tural products shipped to the United States: on manufactures and non-farm products for £560,140,000 worth. There should be a higher tarlff on meat products. There should be a tariff on hides for the henefit of the hard-pressed cattle men. And to further rectify the unequal economic should he a reduction in a few over- protected manufactured articles—no- tably aluminu What the Western farmer demands for agriculture is a plan to make the protective svstem and the | If American agriculture were assured status of American agriculture there ! actually work as applied to the farm. | llarge quantities of Argentine beef are! League of Nations trained in skepti. |of that measure of protection we reg-| m by ten vears' history, I find my self constantly doubting the sincerity of national delegates, constantly filled with suspicion lest beneath their fair sounding words there should be pri vate reservations, plots and national ombinations to thwart solemn pledges and public agreements. There are times when all this ideal fism in Geneva seems out of touch {with national ambitions, passions. | racial urges and stresses. Yet I must confess that these doubts are rebuked. |but not stified. when one sees sitting round the same table men like Bern | storfl and Paul Boncour, whose na than 10 vears ago and who now { port each other in finding some meth od of preventing future wars Is there a new spirit at work in this world o of ours at last, or is it wmerely an illusion which will be dis pelled one day by frightful realities?|turers with an effective tariff. But have 500,000 ‘“reading” illiterates. for. | our skepticism is ex. within the forces he state ) beiieve that vated and that wman nature and cantrol of mavi nan be re abandonment of war. (Copvrizht 1.3“ i panship were fighting to the death less | sup- | “he limits | |ularly afford to general industry there |could be no question about i perity. Most farmers believe the American protective system. by making a high standard of living possible {high wages. has given them the best| | consuming home market in the world. And they would not change that. They | would not remove the actual protec- {tive ratios of the tariff. Yet. the pro- to put his industry on equal footing ‘American | With other American industries. (Copyright. 1926.1 BY MATTHEW WOLL. Vice President American Federation of abor. The American Federation of Labor has taken a clear-cut stand for de- mocracy in indust Work used to be with hand tools by men who worked largely alone or in very small groups. Today it is with power and machinery and large masses of men toil together in plants made possible by tremendous aggregations of cap: With this epochal change in the manner of doing work came an equal Iy great change in the location of the battleground of freedom through democratic action. Political freedom, | once the ultimate goal, no longer 3,000,000 NATIVE-BORN IN U. S. ARE CLASSED AS ILLITERATES the Reason Being Blamed Chiefly on School Conditions of 20 BY CORA WILSON STEWART, Director of the National Crusade Against Tiliteracy. When told there are 5.000,000 ilit- 2rates in the United States the average American is inclined to believe they are among the immigrants. It is dif- cult to realize that flliteracy 1s mainly among the native-born. The fmmi- grants contribute only 1,700,000 to this number and the rest, more than 3,000,000, are native-botn, who have heen ' listed as illiterates by the Fed. eral Government. It is those born under the American flag that give to the United States, where literacy concerned, the low rank of tenth place among the nations of the world. How this happened is not difficult to explain. It was not an occurrence of vesterday or of the past decade. bhut of 20 to 50 years ago, when the most of these men and women were hoys and girls under 10 years of age. Schools in those days were not so accessible and efficlent as they are today. Compulsory attendance laws in some of the States are of recent tariff | enactment and these have always been laws that were not difficult to evade. | As a result, some of these men and vomen In their childhood, with a child’s lack of wisdom and aided and pros. |abetted by parents. failed to take ad- vantage of thelr opportunity and re- mained out of school. The large ma- jority of them were forcibly kept at through | home by their parents or guardians and put to work when the period of infancy had passed. Then there are sections of the country where pioneer conditions a quarter or half centu ago made education practically impos. | tective system is at bottom one of the | Sible_and certain Illiterates 30 to 60 chief causes of that economic inequal-| Yéars of age can offer that as their ity with which American agriculture | €xcuse. has had to grapple in a gradually los- ing struggle for the last 25 vears. | \ Farmer Not Protected. and fostered American labor with lhf leight-hour law and restricted immi |gration; the railroads with the Esch | Cummins act. the bankers with Our protective system has protected | tem. many who learned to read a | higher | Federal Reserve system. the manufac-| farmer is A husiness. industry rare z00d | the American fconomic. nor with any other gettine his prope: tional income, and nnot_cure this. Decriers of all legislation tending to put the farming industry on an eco- .7 equality He iz not of the na- c I Paradoxical_as it may seem. one- tenth of the Nation's illiterates were made in the schools. Through no fault of the teachers. but of the sys. nd spell in the old-fashioned school were not taught to write. These dropped out of school before reaching the grade where in those days ting was introduced. Thus we ngt on anlaccording to the Federau Census Bu- veau. “illiteracy is the inability to write.”" As writing is one of the imitative find it comparatively easy .t master These reading illiterates have an easy road to literacy. Private lessons in to 50 Years Ago. penmanship or an old-fashioned writ- | ing school would remove them quickly from the illiterate class. The forelgn-born _illiterates start with a handicap. They have a new language to master whilé learning to read and to write. The native-born have the distinct advantage of being English-speaking. all save certain tribes of American Indians, which mount up to only a few thousands. Some persons erroneously clase all the forelgn-born who do not read, write and speak English as {lliterates. English is a marvelous language, but it 18 not the only language of literacy. The Greek and the Itallan and the German scholars in this country who have not mastered written English can hardly be put into the illiterate class either by dogmatic opinion or | by freakish legislation. Americans ‘would not appreciate be. ing called illiterate when in Italy or France simply because their educa- Italian or of French. If the native-born illiterates alone were taught to read and write, {llit- eracy In the United States would be reduced to 1 and a fraction percent- jage and the Nation would mount up the scale to a place near the top. | (Capyright. 1926.) Dutch Public Opinion Roused by River Pact i | i Dutch public opinion is demanding that Foreign Minister H. A. V-n' | Karnebeek submit to Parliament for | _ratification the Belgo-Dutch treaty ! with regard to the administration of !the Scheldt River. The agreement, which was signed by Van Karnebeek and Paul Hymans, former minister of . foreign affairs, is strongly opposed in Holland. as it places Rolterdam at a disadvantage. restoring 1o . the status of a naval port and prohib- !iting the anchoring of ships in the | waterway, even in cases of collision. Counter-demands have been sug- gested In the case of the Moerdvk- | Antwerp Canal. the digging and up- | keep of which should he defrayed by | Belgium. That country. however, it ~rop vears|studies. even the most primitive peaple ' is argued, should have no part in il defense in times of war unless its claims for such are justified By the League of Nations. College-bred | tion had mot included the mastery of | Antwerp | LABOR WANTS HOOVER TO CALL INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY PARLEY Political. Action to Eliminate Hs of Workshops' Declared Dangerous—Woll Sees Solution In Avoiding Autocratic Extremes. meets every need. There are distinet needs which it does not even touch. The autocrat who can hoss 5.000 employes who have no voice destroys freedom for those men: for them there is little meaning in democracy. European Trend Noted. Labor in Europe has turned to the state and to the machinery of polities for the righting of almost all econom. ic and social ills. The state does not and cannot cure the ills of industry | which is outside of its scope of action, It political government is to control and make the rules for industry, then | the state must become u towering. | bureaucratic institution, with fts | hand on every man's shoulder and its nose in every man's doorway. American ‘labor flinches from that and sets its face against it. Vet in-| dustry uncurbed by some restraining | hand will go as far as possible toward | | oppression. American lahor turns toward more democracy, instead of toward less. It demands democracy. where the center | of moderntiife is found—in the work | places. It is just being discovered | zenerally that ~American labor has taken this position and the fact is | creating something of a sensation, | for which labor is thankful. The American Federation of Labor. | by “unanimous official action, has asked the Secretary of Commerce to summon a representative national conference to “consider the elimina tion of difficulties preventing con- structive organization in the indus. tr Need of Organization. Manifestly, there cannot be demos racy without organization. Ever group that renders service in indu: try ought to be organized, as labor 1s largely organized, as emplovers are In large part organized, as trade associations are sometimes found. Tt is labor's conviction thal organized functional groups will find their wa Lo the raising of a structure of demo- cratic self-control and self-govern- ment. Mistakes will be made, but that alwavs happens. Much law for has been made by industry Democratic methods in in- dustry are not by any means entirely | in the realm of fancy. There has been a_considerable developm®nt in that direction. What labor wants and deems nec- essary now is a general recognition of the soundness of the philosophy of democracy in industry, a general con sclousness of the rightness of the idea and of the necessity for its purposed | development. In other words, the itime has come to stop letting human i ireedom in industry be a matter of blind groping. with hit or miss luck {The time has come to understand | what is needed. what ought to be | done and why, and to set about the {doing of it. Would Avoid Extremes. The shadow of disaster that falls over so much of Europe should hasten us in our efforts. The extremes of reaction and of communism plunge madly forward in the same dicta- torlal direction, neither having any use for democracy. It is the good fortune of America that its masses helieve in democracy. That is no doubt hecause democracy still means much in America. | "But unless it is carried on into the great field of industry it must inevit- | ably mean less and less. with a cons |quent lessening of regard for its i sacredness on the part of the people. Freedom must g0 where the people live their lives, or it is not freedom. | The conference which the Secretary of Commerce has heen asked tn call may well be one of the great -epoch maikers of our time. Labor believes it will be se. Politically made law | i A nite prospect of relegation to the po litical background for the lawmaker with the temerity to defy the ballot power of the motorist. As a result, compulsory insurance has remained pretty much of an an- noying abstraction to be dealt with by those who had no political fortune to lose by defending the principle. Massachusetts was the first 8 change this picture. Her Leg took the bull by the horns and, as a result, next January 1 will see every motorist buying insurance or street car tokens. Law Has Optional Features. The Massachusetts law has its op- tional features. If the car owner ob- jects to a straight insurance policy ne may give bond or deposit cash or se- curities. The protection covers only personal injuries and only those which happen on Massachusetts highways. Vehicles on private property are not required to carry insurance. Liability insurance as now written generally gives protection the vehicle may he and includes in surance to cover property damage. On the eve of its trial of ebligatory protection. the Bay State is attracting the attention of all motordom by showing a reduced hjghway fatality toll in spite of greater motor vehicle registration than ever before. In the seven months of the State's fiscal year, from December 1 to July 1. a decrease of 18 is shown in fatalities caused by motor vehicles. The fisures represent a drop of 5 per cent. while automobiles registered are 9 per cent greater than ever before. This, says Frank A. Goodwin, reg istrar of motor vehicles, is traceable to the educational campaign conducted to fit the motor car owner for the new garb he will wear when the insurance law hecomes effective. AMr. Goodwin unhesitatingly predicts that the State's present showing, good as it is, will be improved greatly » vear hence, when every meotorist is carrying protection. Mr. Goodwin {8 convinced that the regardless of where | INSURANCE ‘ FOR AUTOISTS FACES TEST iMassachnsetts Plan Will Cut Ac(,idents.‘ Proponents Declare, While Motorists Fear High Cost. | chief argument advanced against en« | forced insurance—that it will ‘maké’ | drivers more careless—is baseleps and. | will be proved =o once the Ray State | applies its new statute. The next | vear. he savs, will show a 25 per cenf | reduction in the number of accidents. | His argument. simply, 18 this: Drivers will reallze that to get and | retain insurance their records must be reasonably good. «‘omeequent! they are now, exercising greater care. to see that nothing in the form of anq mccident rises to make an insurance * company too skeptical of them as risks. Underwriters, starting upon a ven- ture that is in some respects naw, will\ he more cautious in issuing policies to applicants who have bsen involved in . accidents, and such persons may find it hard to comply with the law. This is the point which Mr. Goodwin believes no driver can miss—that the man whose record is such that he can- not get insurance cannot get permis- slon to drive a vehicle on the high- ways of Massachusetts. | { High Cost Foreseen. ‘The burden that Massachusetts ma ~ torists will hear from a financial~ standpoint seems rather staggeringat « first glance. It is estimated by the State Insurance Commission, which, Is working on this phase of the new law, that it will cost trom $20,000,000 10 $40,000.000 to register the autome biles in the State next year. The rate question. still to be solved, is one that tched with particularly keen in t. irst estimates place the cost at om $30 to $60 for each car, largely because of the great number of com paratively unknown resks that the fn-'~ surance companies must assume. An- peal to the courts by the motorist who regards the rates as excessive is pro vided in the hill as passed by the State Legislature. ‘The cost to motor owners Is the res| . pinch of the law. automobile deale: argue. The expensé, while apparent|y not great, will have the effect of driv ing from 100.000 to 150,000 cars off. the road, they say. Thousands of cars are being used on Massachusetts roads for which their owners paid small™ sums. These will be unable to raise the money necessary to assure them of remaining in the ranks of motor dom Industry Watching Closely. This phase of the Bay State regul: . tion is one that is being watched with the keenest Interest by the automobii~ Industry. If the expense of acquiring * obligatory protection is so great as to reduce the registration of motor cars in one State by a large number, wha' will happen if other State legislature: follow the example of Massachusetis It is a certainty that the automobile , industry would not sit with folded hands while it saw its market being swept away by a tide of such legisla- tion—at least until it has heen pro that a law of this kind had real value _ in protecting human life. Connecticut has a law somewhat akin to that of her neighbor. It re auires compulsory insurance, but oni: in the case of those who have heen convicted of infraction of the motor vehicle laws involving accidents. The {act became effective last January 1 | and has heen involled so far against B | 2,000 motorists Motor Vehicle Commissioner Stoe-'* ckel of the Nutmeg States declares the law has proved liself an invaluable weapon against the careless driver At the same time, he Intimates that the scope of the regulation may he broadened at the next session of the- Legislature. The broad State provisions or the Ba: law are unmatched by any other. ‘They may prove the panacea for America’s highway ills. Again, they may not They are at least the first of their kind and the eves of the Nation are<" upon them. The old question that has been argued so hotley 1s about to ha answered—one way or another. tConvright. 1926.) INDIANS ARE FOU BY F. L. HOFFMAN, Insurance Statiatician If the American people can he made to understand the present situation of the American Indian. they will not permit it to continue until the “Van ishing American” hecomes a literary allusion. His problems are primarily those of health conservation and of adequate protection against the evel present menace of white aggression. As far as the latter problem is con. cerned, the Indian has heen exploited from the time the country was set tled, and he will be exploited as long as he survives and has property that amounts to somet But we come to his medical needs. there the Government has assumed the re sponsibility and this obligation should fulfill. It has just heen my privilege to cover a thousand miles or less of the Indfan country of New Mexico and Arizona. There is much to be seen that may be accepted as gratifying evidence of economic progress. though the want of water is apparent every where. Pueblos that 10 years a0 knew not a window or door are now in most cases well lighted and venti tated i Farming Has Improved. Farming has improved. some 1ia- chinery is in use. -and some real money is being made. Sheep and goat herding has of recent substantial return while providing/an admirable opportunity for employ- ment suitable to the Indian's roam ing nature, About progress in health conserva- tion. however, there is another storv to tell sunshine, pulmonary tuherculosis pre- valls to an alarming degree among the Indian population I have gone over more than a thousand death cer. State hoard of health and so not ex aggerate when I say that the situation At the present time is one of incredi ble apathy and neglect. Probably not more than one-fourth of the certificates bear the signature of a physician. Possibly three-fourths | of the Pueblo Indians die without | | —— e fumbdes where The poltical it touches government industry. lacks the ly. Industry knows itself. It must have self-government if it is to grow. If it does not have self-government, if it does not see its own need and work out its own salvation, we shall have eventually a state bureaucracy and a state tyranny which every over of freedom will wish te avert hat is why labor has taken its posi tion for democracy in industiy—t {among the machines. (€ 20, I when | it vears paid a | Regardless of a weather of | tificatee on file with the New Mexico | competence to govern industry wise. | ND NEGLECTED ON SIDE OF HEALTH DIRECTION Death Rate Declared Abnormally High for Infants and Adults—Government Urged to Give Heed to “Vanisk ng American.” | medical attendance. In ane puehln | Jemez, nearly all the death cergifi cates are signed by the field matron bearing the inscription “no physician.” On the Zuni 1eservation there ha heen a half dozen changes in doctors during the last ten years apd the prevailing death rate from all canse: is approximately 36 per 1.000. or three | times the normal for the country at large. At present the reservation i thout a physician. without.a hos pital, and without a fleld nurse. Sueh medical services as are avaflable are provided by o nurse furnished by the Fastern Association of Indians, a pri vate philanthropic organization On the Navajo reservation, which contains what is probably the. finest ta | physical type of Indians surviving | conditions have somewhat improved But the needs of some 20,000 Fidians are far from being met and the ma. Jority die without medical attepdance Infant Mortality High. For all this the Indian pave in ., suffering and early death. Fecundity | 18 high, but infant mortality is enor mous. Next to tuberculosis and the waste of infant life, the greatest proi- lem is trachoma. No “campaigns’ of spasmodic character against the * ase do much good. The aiftiction = | recurs with fnsidions suddenness Old age is rare. If in spite of these ,. conditions he is holding his own it is because on the whole the Indians of the Southwest are by nature a fine * physical tvpe and by habit a fine - moral type, P To the Intelligent observer, ever, the present situation s tr the extreme. (Caps w how agleto * ot ool ht . Filipinos Are Buying .- n More Than They Sf‘ll"* Circulation of currency in the Philip- pines is shrinking. indlcating redueed '* exportations and vield of produets. For the present the islands are buying * more than they rell. To get gold with which to pay for imports and to place money where there is some demand for it, the banks exchange pesos at the insular treasury for dollar credits on New York. The pesos are thus retired from circulation. Under the gold-standard law there is free sale of exchange at the nominal rate of seven. eighths of 1 per cent. When the report . trade is brisk. banks that vequire gold , to cover fmports buy dollar paper at a slight premium or’ diseount and pesa credits for the <ellers of 3old. This proce<: does not reduce circula . tion, since pesos are not sent to the treasury vaults. = - 1928 ) a .