Evening Star Newspaper, October 10, 1926, Page 49

EDITOR SPEC NATIONAL PROBLEMS IAL PAGE 1AL FEATURES Part 2—14 Pages GIBBS SEES A DESPITE BI ch EDITORIAL SECTION ¢ Sundiy Stad IR EPOCH G ACCIDENTS Warns Nations Must Learn Peace With Coming of Foolproof Plane, Else Perish by New Power. BY SIR PHILIP GIBRBS. LONDON, October 9.—That terrible disaster of the French airplane fiving r England last Saturday, when the t and all passengers were Kkilled, is one more reminder that mankind 5az not fully achieved the clnquest of air. Following upon Capt. Fonck's tragic accident and the many fatal casualties in the British Royal Air Fore ince August last there have been 19 voung officers killad—it has | cast a shadow over that great victory achleved by Alan Cobham in his tri umphant flight to Australia and back. In his broadeast speech immediately after his arrival at Westminster, where vast crowds had assembled to cheer him. he disputed that there was anything clever in flying or any great risk in his adventure. Listening to that modest man, who had flown through monsoons and the foulest of wind and weather in tropical conditions, one might have been tempted to believe we may all take unto ourselves wings and fill the alr with crowded traffic. Then came that grisly stroke of fate which sent the French air mail to earth in & sheet of flame. Only on she previous Saturday I had flown over"he same stretch of count with my wife and son on our way back from Geneva. Curlously enough, we nearly came to grief very near the same spot. After fving for something like six hours with a sense of security which seemed complete on the part of my fellow passengers—though 1 con- fese to occasional remembrances of the law of gravity—I was suddenly aware that all was not well with our star- board engine. It was after we had crossed the Channel and werfy fiving over Kent on our way to Lonfon. Descent I Uncomfortable. “What's the matter with the en- gine.” 1 shouted into the ear of a friend of mine with a more chani €al knowledge than myself. *Broken valve,” he shouted back, and made a £loomy gesture with hoth thumbs, Other passengers hecame aware that something was wrong when our pllot headed back for the Channel and skirted the coast for 20 miles search- ing for a landing place. We were| 4.000 feet up. Presently we descended very rapidly and came uncomfortably close to tree tops and church steeples, 1 had a great desire to see a flat field and feel rolid ezrth below my boots. owever, the pilot was getting wire- less messages telling him to carry on and come home, as that broken valve was nothing serious. So we soared #gain with our starboard engine mak- Ang reports like a f-inch gun, and with an unpleasant suspicion fn my mind that it might catch fire. It didn't, or T shouldn't be writing this article, but our pilot had some foreboding, as he afterward confessed. That little personal experience is of no importance. The question has to be asked whether science Is sufficient- | 1y advanced for any sweeping progress | to be made at the present time in short and long distance fiying for civil usé, Tn spite of these recent disasters I am inclined to believe that during the next 10 years mankind will take to the air in a wav which will revolution- ize our present methods of transport and prepare a new phase of civilization and all its habits. British Safety Factor. Since air traffic on commercial lines ‘was established in England the British air service has had a fortunate and wonderful record. Since 1918 British transport flving has covered 4,500,000 miles with only four deaths to passen- gers! That is one death for something over each million miles. When one considers the number of lives lost In Iway travel. and especiallv on the French railways, which have had a very bad record lately in that respect, it must he admitted this is a very high standard of wafety There are countries in which fiying Is much safer than in Europe. with its _crowded population, Its Irregular surface, and its network of telegraph wires and other obstructlons. deserts.of Egypt and Asia are like great aerodromes. where a pilot in distress can land in perfect safety anywhere without danger of' crash- ing upon steeples or chimney tops or ® vil aviation in Australia_is alredd progressing rap'dly in order to link up with far distant places, which, un- til now, have heen inaccessible or too remote from easy communications with civilized life. £ood land ng places is one of the most vital elements of safety. Most accidents, 1 believe, occur in landing when a pilot has to come down quickly and is not sure of avold- | {ng_ houses and other obstacles. In such countries as England-and France there will have to be many more aero- dromes at frequent stages of an cross-country flight before that addi- tional means of safety is secure. The risk of fire. which is most terribl has been checked by the British im perial airways, which. under govern- ment inspection, carry their main pe- trol tanks away from the engines on the top planes, so that there Is a gap hetween them, preventing the main cause of fire. Fool-Proof Plane. There is an immense prize awaiting some Inventive gentus who will design a fool-proof aeroplane, but, however long we have to wait for that, it is| certain, in my mind, that nothing will check the progress of flight. It is considerably less than 20 years ago when I watched the first flights and marveled at the courage of the aviators. 1 waited one morning for Bleriot to cross the Channel, argl knew, when I saw his machine ahove the cliffs of Dover. that England was no longer an island and that world his- ¢ had begun a new chapter of des. It was only a little while before then that I had seen a man named Cody bring out a machine made by himself and son, with heavy struts and twisted web, and had laughed at him until one morning he set his en- gine going and wafted around an aerodome like a butterfly, with a petrol tank weighing halr a ton, until he crashed and lay bleeding under the machine, from which I helped haul | him out. During the war 1 saw day after day and year after vear the adventure of French and British airmen over ene- my lines and heard the drones of the | “Gotha's" double fuselage as it came to hurl bombs on our camps and cities. Sees Bright Future. Since then there "has been a pause. or at least the alr has heen less crowded. But now, with the economic recovery of Europe, every government is turning its attention to avlation for purposes of trade and traffic. The fu- ture of humanity i& in the air and 20 years will see many shining wings on far journeys hetween dawn and set- ting “sun. Of one thing I am certain. When aeroplanes are made as safe as mo- tor cars—which are not exactly safe-— humanity will be in greater danger than ever before in world history. For | they must either give up hatred. which. ts very difficult, or nations will destroy each other and the cities that lie beneath their flving squadrons. Every step forward in aviation is an. | other plea for peace, because conquest of the air means we must rise- above the morality of earth and men or per- 1sh by this new power which we have gained. For that reason I am not in a hurry to see that fool-proof aero- plane. (Conrieht. 1926.) PHYSICIAN WARNS IN TREATMENT RBY DR. WENDELL C. PHILLIPS, Former President American Medical Asso- ciation. The Internat Congress o Cancer Control just held at Lake Mo- honk for the purpose of considering -the prevention and cure of cancer from a practical standpoint. has gone far toward stabilizing the sub- ject of cancer, hoth for medical men and the laity. It has accomplished what no other meeting has heretofore. Tt called together the famous cancer experts from many countries in an effort to impress in language the fun- damental ground work of facts and | opinions upon which the collective ef- | fort now being made in the United States and other countries for the control of cancer should be continued and extended. | A conspicuous feature of the con- | ference was the absence of any ref-| erence to the viclous quackery | methods emploved by widely - adver- | tised “curealls” of every character. | The purpose of the congress seemed | to be to preach up the right, rather than to condemn the wrong. ! But the fact was stressed that the | cancer problem has reached a magni- tude greater than tuberculosis: that the general public and medical pro- fession must be aroused to fts vital tmportance. World Federation Urged. One resolution of the conference was the formation of an international federation with more frequent meet- inge to consider the cancer problem. The second resolution states that the present state of cancer knowledge is well enough established to furnish & sound working opinion concerning the Alagnosis and treatment of cancer suf ficlent to save many lives, providing this information fs carried properly into effect. The following were the most important points agreed upon: The eausation of cancer is not com- | pletely understood. but it may be ac- | cepted that for all practical purposes cancer ix not to be looked upon as contagious or infectious. Cancer ltself is not hereditary, al-| though a certain predisposition or | susceptibility to cancer is apparently transmissible through _inheritance. This does not signify that, because one's parent or parents, or other members of the family have suffered, from cancer, cancer will necessarily | appear in other persons of the same or succeeding generation ] | Advises Seeking Advice. Persons who have cancer must ap- | p'y to competent physicians at a suf- ficiently early stage in the disease in order to have a fair chance of cure. Thie applies to all forms of cancer. In some forms early treatment affords the only possibility of cure. Cancer ir some parts of the body | | | OF QUACKS OF CANCER CASE can be discovered in a very early stage, and if these cases are treated properly the prospect for a permanent cure is good. The public must ba taught the earliest danger signals of cancer which can be recognized by persons without a special knowledge of the subject, and induced to seek compe- tent medical attention when any of these indications are helieved to he present. Dentists can help in the control of cancer by informing themselves about the advance In the knowledge of the causes of cancer, especially with rela- tion to the irritations produced by im- perfect teeth and improperly fitting dental plates. Lists Reliable Treatment. The most rellable forms of treat- ment,. and, in fact, the only ones thus justified by experience and oh- servation, depend upon surgery, radlum and X-rays. One thing is definitely settled: i. e, that the greatest hope for cancer suf- ferers comes from early dlagnosis and immediate surgical removal, and all cancer tims are warned against highly advertised quackery methods of all types and against those who prey upon the credulity of these suf- ferers. When in doubt regarding any questionable cancer claims reliable in- formation can he secured by applving to the American Medical Association headquarters, 535 North Dearborn street, Chicago. (Conrmeht. 1926.) L . Germa.u;y Wins Tr;de From British Strike Germans are deriving what profit v can from the British coal strike. German miners have collected money for the British strikers, but they are working longer hours and for lower wages than those of the miners. They are producing more coal than at any former time since the World War. The surplus product is going to markets along the North Sea, the Baltic and to Italy, markets in which the British once were supreme. So great is the demand that the Ger- mane are using all the rail and ! water lines leading from the Ruhr to the coast. The Germans feel pretty well intrenched in their new markets, and expect to hold most of them after the Rritish strike is over. France needs 20,000,000 tons of coal a year more than it produces. In April Germany produced 7.760,000 tons, and in June, 9.210,000. June, 1913, the production 9.590,0M tons—not much more than present-day production. \ The | vooping into hedzes and hay stacks. The problem of | British | In |lower cost of government than an- was | other State with an equal number of WASHINGTON, NGTE—This is the first of a series of imporiant inierviews in which nasionully knowen “bunincss men discuss the ques- tion of tar »eduction BY WILLIS J. ;ALI.I.\'GER. UR State and local govern- ments are more than $11,- 000.000.000 in debt. Their in- debtedness has grown 1,000 H per cent in 36 vears, and not once inithat time has a single nickel been taken off this indebtedness. Our State and local governments have had 136 years of triumphant incebtedness without a singie attempt at retrench- ! ment. e Today the intereSt charge alone on the indebtedness of our State and local governments is $500,000,000 an- nually. Between 1919 and 1924 the Fed- eral Government saved the taxpay ers $33,000,000, | . hut State 2nd lo- cal governments devoured this re- ! lief b v increas- | ing their taxa ! tion $879,100,00 | burned yp the say | ings of “the Fed- i S eral Government e and added $544,- | 000,000 more to the xpayers’ inirdens. This was the statement of William Fortune, noted American business man, whose unselfish services as a | citizen was recently commended by | President Coolidge “as an example to inspire others to a similar interest in public welfare.” The statement was ! made in reply to my question as to | which is the greatest tax nppressor— | the Federal, State or the city xovern- | ments. William Fortune. * K ok ok As 1 came ot of the maznificent I building of the United States (hamber of Commerce at Washington, lencath whose marble walls experts are busy | massing facts, I took a fleeting glance iat Mr, Fortune. You, would pick him {out of a crowd at once as a man of i distinction and power. ' His stature ! has the proportions of the athlete in | the days when foot ball wis an ussur- lance of hospital attention. His replies came sizzling fast to my questions. Out of a capacious memory he drew upon complicated facts und figures with the utmost ease. He was merely retreading a very familiar pathway, {and 1 felt like a touris: who wanted |to be taken through tax'and and had found a very sure-footed guide. “You see.” continued Mr. Fortune, “the Federal Governmen: has taken hold of its taxation sclentifically. It has budgeted its appropriations. It has reduced taxes. 1t has a burean of efficiency that has ferreted out mil- | lions ot dollars of administrative | waste. It has whittled away the siag- gering indebtedness of the war at the I rate of nearly a billion dollars a year. And the response of the State and Iocal governments to Federal tax econ- omy Is to spend more and more vach vear and to go on adding billions to | their indebtedness. In 1323 and 1924 |alone our State and local govern. ments added $2422.755,526. The in- terest alone on this increased indebted- I ness a vear will be more than we will get from all our war debtors, ubout whose payment the American people {are so much exelted. 1 * X kX “In 1921 the Federal tax collector took $41.08 from every man, woman and child in the Nation. In 1924 this same collector would nave taken cnly 27.77. Between 1921 and 1924 the Federal Government lightened the burden of Federal taxation $13.3] for | every man, woman and child in the | country. “In 1921, however, the State and |local tax collector took $36.47 trom levery man, woman and child in the { Nation. But in 1924 the same collec- tors took $43.22, or hetween 3921 and 1924 the State and local governmsnts increased the tax burden of every I man, woman and child in the country $6.7 “‘Between 1921 and 1924 the Federal Government lightened the tax burden on every American breadwinner— those gainfully employed, those who do the productive work of the Nation, from street cleaners to bank presi- dents—$37.92. Every street car con- ductor, every mechanic, every doctor, every nurse, every clerk was bene- fited on the whole $37.92 by the tax economy of the Federal Government. I But 1n"1924 State and local govern- ments were taking out of the pockets of every American bread earner $14.98 more a year than they did in 1921, * * %k % “Every American family is indebt- ed to the Federal Government since the armistice. The Federal Govern. ment reduced its levies on every American family hetween 1921 and 1924 to the extent of $59.83. In 1921 the Federal Government was taking $178.91 from every American family In 1924 it was taking only $119. The State and local governments wer taking $26.31 more from every Ameri. | can family in 1924 than they did in 1921, Since the armistice the Federal Government has’ lightened its levies upon every man, woman and child in the country, upon every American breadwinner, upon every family in the Nation. It has added to the prosperity {of all these groups. “Rut since the armistice State and local governments have been assault- ing the prosperity of every man, woman and child in the country by taking more and more out of their incomes for taxation. Is there any doubt as to who is our chief tax op- pressor? “For instance, here is the city of iOmaha, Nebr., with a population of { about 210,000. Here, also, is the city |6 Akron, Ohio, of about the same size, with a population of 208,000. Yet the cost of the fire department in one was over twice what it was for the other in a certain vear. The people of Omaha were taxed $3.76 per capita for their fire department in 1923, while the people of Akron were taxed only $1.76 for theirs. How do we account for this difference in cost between I cities of equal population? * % x x “Why did the police department in St. Louis, with a population of 821,543 in 1923, cost only $4.31 per capita, while in Boston, with approximately the same population, the per capita cost was $5.36? “Why in 1923 did the police depart- ment in Seattle, Wash., cost only $3.40 per capita, while in Jersey City, with almost exactly the same number of people as Seattle, the cost was $6.97, or over 100 per cent greater? “Why in 1923 was the cost of city government in Portland only $1.14 | per capita, while in Denver, Colo., with approximately the same popula- tion, the cost was $3.34, or nearly 200 per cent greater? i “If one State can have a much isn't there a suspiclon of people, Why should two cities of waste? D. C, SUNDAY equal population have a difference in the cost per capita of their police or fire department amounting to 100 per cent? “No wonder that Bahson, noted statistical expert, said in 1922 about State and local taxation: "Taxation as it is being carried on in every ecity in every State is devouring the hest en- | ergies, the best enthusiasm, the hest achievements of the American husi- ness man. In 1822 State and local governments were taking 65 per cent of the net profits of agricultural cor- porations. 45 per cent of -the net profits of mining and quarrying and 28 per cent of the net profits of trans- portation utilities! The chains that were being forged on initiative and enterprice by such tax rates are obviou: BEREE “What Is the cause of our State and local tax oppression?” I interjected. “Our country is infested by too many independent taxing units,” Mr. Fortune replied. “Because of this in- dependence among so many taxing units there is no way to control their waste. The only way this waste can be controlled—the only way we can get States and local governments to cut down on expenditures and begin paying up on their indebtedness is to bring some unity into our chaotic State and local tax systems. “For instance, after the survey of natfonal taxation in America leaves the Federal Government with its uniform system of taxation, with its model budget arrangement and its facilities to eliminate tax waste, one finds 43 States all taxing independent- Iy of one another. Then come thou sands of counties with the power to tax. Then thousands of cities. Finally many cities are broken up into in- dependent school or drainage or highway or other districts, all invested with the power of independent tax- E had invited some friends to spend’ the evening with us: and when they arrived, he was with them. Rather short, and almost bald he w. and his hand, when he offered it, was soft and ladylike. Alto- gether, he seemed to me about as insignificant a bit of human- ity as | had recently encountered. | rather resented the fact that he had come along to destroy the balance of the party; and for some time we quite ignored him in the conversation. Then, out of common politeness, we addressed some question to him about the recent war. And an amazing thing took place. The little man spoke up with an amount of information and a calm confidence that were tonishing. We led him on from point to point; and always he answered modestly, but with facts that gripped our interest. From that moment the conversation of the evening centered about him. “Who is he? | asked my friend in a whisper as they pre- pared to go. And he answered: “Why, don't you know? That is Jones, one of the greatest chemists in this country. The Government sent for him when war was declared, and he probably knows much about the real inside h tory of the conflict as any man in the United States.” | only hoped, as bade "him good night, d, from my earlier att tude, how very insignificant and unworthy of attention | had con- sidered him. Once upon a time an efficiency expert boasted to me that a gin- 1 that he had not Trusting First Impressions BY BRUCE BARTON. (Cofiyright, 1926) MORNIN G, OCTOBER 10, 1926. ation. Suppose the States should he- come economical. There nve still thousands of counties and cities that could go on wasting tax money. Sup- pose States and cities reformed. That leaves the counties and independent districts of citles to waste if they | choose. As fast as one gap would be stopped up there would he others open. The problem is how to devi a system that will check up on States. countles, cities, city districts all at once and leave no loopholes for tix waste. ‘or instance, in Cook County. I there are 28 independent taxing unit each one scrambling for a share of the taxpayer's income. * X K ok “Our first problem. therefore, is too many independent taxing units. We must devise a system that will super- vise all of these units at the same time and cut out waste in all of them at the same time. And the way a good deal of the present waste will be eliminated is in reorganizing our State and city governments. In many cases the executive branches of our States and cities are completely dis- organized. The governor has no con- trol over administrative departments and the mayor no control over city administrative departments. Th means that each administrative de. partment of State or city asks inde- pendently for its annual appropri- ation. A budget system is impossible. Each department lobhies on its own | hehalf and there is no way to compel | all the departments of the State or the city to draw up a common hudget. which would save enormously. ““Under present conditions State and city governments are so disorganized that waste is inevitable. Gov. Chris- tiansen said last year in Minnesota that the increasing burdens of State taxation was te he attributed to a ‘system in which 92 agencies have an gle glance was eneugh to form his judgment of a man. No mat- ter what the circumstances of the meeting, he said, he could rely upon hi the men he me Perhaps he was right; but | doubt it. Would he, | wonder, have recognized in the shabby little lieutenant named Bona- parte, wandering the streets of « Paris, the Man of Destiny who was to conquer Europe? If he had stood on the side- walk of PI delphia when a crude lad walked by with a’loaf of bread under each arm, would he have seen beneath that rough attire the philosopher and states- man Franklin? What about U. S. Grant, the middle-aged failure, delivering wood in St. Louis—unkempt, un- shaven, regarded by his neigh- bors as a ne'er-do-well? God sends great souls into the world clothed oftentimes in cu ous attire. And one mi much goodfellowship who thinks that from what men seem to be he can determine offhand what they are. Along a country road in Pales- tine a group of tired men walked one afternoon toward sundown. “Go ahead to the next village,’ 8 their leader, “and see if there we may find a place to sleep.” After a little time they re- turned to say that the village would not receive them. They trusted .their first im- pression; it was a group of weary fishermen whom they supposed they had refused. And so they lost for them- elves and their village forever the opportunity to entertain Him' and His disciples, | one time there were no less than 32 | pendent auditing commission,! which | issuance of State and city bonds and | | kept tabs on all indebtedness so as to | | such a board, would have been added | incentive to spend money and no one has the power to compel retrench- ment.' Minnesota reduced her 92 agencies down to 13 and compelled | them to draw up a budget. Illinois last vear cut down her independent | agencies by 100, Charles Evans| Hughes recently reported after in- vestigation_that New York could re- duce her 150 independent agencjes to 16. Everywhere in our States there is opportifnity to eliminate tax lobby- ing departments and to bring them together with a common budget with enormouts saving resulting. And this all applies to our cities. The fact that taxing units are independent and un- supervised tends o make them grow | vearly at the takpavers' expense. An | independent taxing unit, just the same as an independent bureau, tends to grow from the incentive of self-impor- | tance. Our State and city taxing units have their governments so badly organized that waste is inevitable. Added to the fault of too much inde- pendence and had governmental organ- ization is the influence of war extrava- gance and the dehaunch of peace pros- perity which are contributing to tax argies in our State and local govern- ments.” ok ok ok “Well, how did our State and lm’al gevernments become so independent of one another—how did our State and city governments become so dis- organized?” T asked. “To prevent political abuse the peo- | ple decentralized State and local gov- ernment. And it hasn't prevented | political abuse. If the old-fashioned | political abuse of bosses like Tweed has disappeared, a new kind of abuse has sprung up—the abuse of irrespon- sibility. As the mayor of Baltimore City put it: ‘The millions in losses which American cities once pald t the Tweeds and their party henchmen in graft and outright robbery were no greater and no more burdensome than the millions they now pay through plain inefficiency and waste in munici- pal government.’ " ““Then you think we must get rid of this decentralization in our State and local governments?" “It is the only way out. The Fed- eral Government was once just as badly decentralized as our State and local governments. In Congress at independent committees appropriating money for the Nation and about 28 independent committees engaged in raising revenue for the Nation. Every- thing was in a state of chaos. In the executive hranch of the Government cabinet departments each lobbied sep- arately before Congress for independ- ent appropriations. There was no common budget. Today we have a budget. No department goes to Con- gress. It goes to the national budget officer, who has the power to give each department what his experts think is reasonable. Today Congress has one committee on appropriations and one of ways and means for rais- ing money. In addition, the Federal| Government has a Bureau of EM.| ciency daily hammering away at ad- ministrative waste, * X x X “We must follow the same scheme of co-operation that we find in the | Federal Government. The subdivisions | of the State—the counties, citles and | city districts—and the State itself, for that matter, must have their financial programs supervised by an independ- ent agency. That is what is done in Indiana. There was set up an Inde- had the power to budget the appro- priation of State departments—power to review the financial appropriations of counties and cities and to slash them if in the opinion of the experts | of this auditing commission appropri- | tions were deemed wasteful or un- necessary. This board supervised the | check its increase. From 1921 to 1924 | this board has saved the taxpayers of Indiana millions of dollars. The board | in that time reviegyed 316 tax levies and ordered reductions in 216. The reductions aggregated more than $7,000.000. In this same period bond issues totaling $45.358.205 were ap- pealed to the board for approval. The hoard passed $26.944.743 and rejected $18.413.462, which, if we had not had to the indebtedness of the State. Indiana is only one of 43 States. “Think of what has been demon- strated can be saved if we reorganize the governments of our cities. Re- member what Mayor Jackson did in Baltimore. He appointed a commis- sion. of buainess men to devise ways (Continued on Fourth Page.) ’ And | !lost ground, came to hold the balance HORSEPOWER NEW GOAL OF REPUBLICAN GERMANY Monarchist Dream of World Power by Force of Arms Yields to Idea of Industrial BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. ERLIN.—Last week 1 tried (u‘ set-‘forth in some detail the | .great moral and material | transformation _ which < taken place in Germany constitutes perhaps the most success- | ful post-war readjustment in Europe. In Germany as nowhere else in Eu rope you have the same sense that often follows a great thundershower which washes the air and the country clean and leaves after it a great sense of calm. There Is a new Germany: it has come back far and Is comdng back much further. It has surmounted its domestic difficulties and it no longer looks upon its foreign situation with despair or even with sullen re- sentment. Now what is the inner situation politically of this new Ger- many, what is the situation which, owing to the muitiplicity of parties and confusion of issues, is so difficult to understand abroad? The key to domestic politics in Ger- many, now and for a long time to come, can be ‘ound in the fact that Germany is now perhaps 90 per cent republican, (that is to say. 80 per cent of the people either accept the re- public because they Hke it or because they realize that it has come to stay). but, on the question of what kind of republic it shall he—progressive or re- actionary as we would say, Left or Right as the European savs—there is something like an even break. Revolutign by Radicals. The revolution was made by the Communists, by the anarchists, by the extreme reds and in it there was instinct the spirit of Moscow. But. almost at the outset, the reins were snatched from the hands of the reds by the Social Democrats: that is to say, by the more conservative and rane elements in the republican and anti-monarchist camp. Control ac- tually passed from the revolutionists to the reformers, to the republicans, almost at once. The men and women who made the volution were shot or dispersed. ut there followed the men and the political parties who made the repub. lic. These were first the Social Democrats, who are the great body of radical but utterly orderly and con- stitutional voters, members of labor unions, workers. corresponding mark edly with the British Labor party second, the Catholics, the Center party, made up both of workingmen and a considerahle fraction of upper- class people. A third element was upplied by the Democratic party which was a party made up of the | enlightened hourgeolse, of progressive | business interests. In this combination, which was | known as the Weimar bloc, hecause it made the constitution at Weimar. the Socialists were the dominating factor In mumbers and all else. and Friederich Ebert. their leader, be. came the first President of the re. | public. At its outset. then, the Ger- man Republic was horn of red revo. lution and thereafter dominated by the most radical of the great parties. It was thus suspected from the out- set. not merely by the svmpathizers of the old regime, but by big business, which saw vast perils in sweeping so- cial legislation, and expensive and fll- concelved theories. Lost Ground at First. In its first stages, right down to the death of Ebert nearly two years ago. the republic on the whole grew politically weaker, not because the monarchists gained ground, but be- | cause the country itself was far more conservative than the parties which had made the republic and continued | to control it. At the same time the | continued misfortunes abroad. the oc-| cupation of the Ruhr and the repeated humiliations of the people, along with the miseries of -inflation, contributed further to diminish the prestige and weaken the support of the republic. Tn this period the Social Democrats ost control first and then the whole Weimar bloc_falled to elect a ma- | jority of the Reichstag. In 1923 after | the Ruhr the republic had sunk to a very low level. There was a degree of danger that there might he an ex- plosion on the one hand coming from the communists or on the other from the monarchists, and the Kapp putsch was more than a hint of what might happen. The actual salvation of Germany came through the decision of German business and finance to take a hand in the game. German big business was in itself represented in German polities by a_strong party. the Peo ple’s party, which, as the Weimar bloc of power hetween the monarchists on the one side and the republicans on the other. Big husiness saw that Ger- many would be ruined if a restoration were attempted, because all foreign loans, capital, confidence, would be abolished and new French occupations might take place. Policy of Big Business. Thus big *husiness, which was for- tunat® enough to have the only great political figure In republican Germany, namely Gustav Stresemann, resolved to take a -hand on a carefully con cefved basis. It would join the Re publicans in making peace abroad, in a policy of tulfiliment, which was pres- ently to be expressed in the Dawes plan, and in a policy of conciliation, which was to culminate Iin Locarno. But in doing this it would undertake to establish a new constellation in German politics: that is to say, it would seek to draw to itself the aid of those who were Interested that Germany should have a conservative government, but realized that it must be a conservattive republican govern- ment. From that moment onward all the real movement in German politics has been expressed in the struggle on the | one hand of the parties of the old Wei- mar bloc to ereate a radical majority, which should rule, and of the People's party to create a new conservative | bloc, which should dominate. Both ef- | forts have measurably failed, because | the actuil strength of the two forces 1s almost equal. Moreover, Stresemann, adroit politi- clan as he Is—and he is besides a statesman—has encountered all forms of opposition. A very large part of the monarchists, the nationalists, refused to accept the Dawes plan, the party, as a whole, has rejected Locarno. On the other hand, the Social Democrats have rushed into the project for the expropriation of the property of the| prince, which has offended all elements who believe in the maintenance of the | principle of private property. | | situation toda | where they Actually Germany has been governed by a minority made up of three mod- erate or Bourgeols parties, the Peo- ple’s, the Cathelis® and the Demo- Victory. combination to pas crats, now making a with the Soclal Demoacrats the Dawes plan and adopt Locarno, wow making combination with the Monarchists to check radical and even dangerous legislation. That is the Marx. who is chan- cellor, represents the Cathalic party, but he happens to be the single polte ticlan who s At the moment nl too inacceptable both to the radie and the reactionary. But while this battle has heen péw ceeding the whele situation has beem changing. The issue of republic versuf monarchy has totally vanished ba cause wise men have perceived that the republic has been steadily srows ing stronger, that it could only he upset by a great upheaval which would be fatal at home and disastrous abroad. Not at any one moment, not by any one move, but nevertheless steadily and in the end completel the struggle has changed from one between Republican and Monarchist to another hetwéen the two concep- tions, radical and conservative, for the control of the republic accepted by both And now we have come to the rather flluminating point where the Nationallsts, the Monarchists are at least ready {n abandon the fight. They are prepared—and their leaders have given clear statement of the fact— to enter government on the basis of acceptance of the republic and of what it has accomplished. notably the Dawes plan and Locarno. Actual- Iy they are prepared to become the great conservative party in a Re publican State rather than to remain the great anti-Republican party. Plan Conservative Maneuver. over and Germany in the league—and the Nationalists by sfily opposition have tied their hands until this moment is passed- the world is likely to see the National- ists enter the government and join in a combination with the People Party, the Catholics and the Demo- crats with the express purpose of mak- ing the German republic a thoroughly conservative thing. There is a natural basis for such a combination because most of the influential Nationalists are large land owners, they belong to a class which in all questions of national economy and soclal organization are at one with big husiness and with finance. The Nationalists are a party of prop- erty and what is actually happening is that the parties of property In Germany are steadily moving toward Once Locarno A basis of combination which shall control the republic and direct its course in conformity with the ideas of business, finance and property Rut no sich combination was possl- blé =0 long as the Nationalists openly or secretly refuse to accept the re- | public as final and worked or planned |to work for the ‘restoration of the |emplre. It requires vears .and vast efforts and the actual progress of eventd to convince the monarchist that the monarchy could not he re. stored, but that. if they continue to refuse to accept the srepublic and declined to share-in its control. it might be transformed into a danger- ous and extremely radical republic. I think one may say quite fairly that today the situation in Germany is that the republic is passing. it it has not passed already, into the con- trol of the elements in Germany which roughly correspond to thoss which make up the Republican party in the United States Part Hindenburg Plays. It is true that the elements which make up the radical opposition in Gar- many are far more extreme than the Democrats of the United States and the analogy is'not so good although it is absurd to think even of the Social Democrat as a Bolshevist. But by and large the evolition which has taken place in German political life has heen in the direction of the formation of a conservative Republican party, includ- ing the old Monarchist party, which shall not alone resist radical pro- grams and policies, but shall alse little by Httle seek to reinforce the ma- chinery of the republic to make it more stable In the estimate of the things which contrtbuted to bring ahout the great transformation it would he impossible to overlook the part of Hindenburg, which was perhaps decisive. His elec- tion was the last passionate and not unintelfigent effort of the monarchists to counteract the current which thay felt correctly was running against them and toward the republic. But thought to conquer the republic by the magic of the name of the old soldier. in fact, the republic conquered Hindenburg. Once the simple and utterly straight- forward old man took his oath of o fice, it became clear that he had taken it in the spirit in which he swore as a boy to support his Emperor. Ha asked only to be shown the pathway of duty resulting from his pledge. The Republican constitution was his law. When he took his oath of office, v he swore to maintain the constitution, the psychological effect within Ger. many was astonishing. These who would have assailed the republic wera silenced because the president was their man, but their man has become the most loyal of Republicans, Wrong View Outside Germany. We ‘outside of Germany thought that the coming of Hindenburg meant the doom of the republic and that he was entering the breach at the head of the army of reaction, but in fact he took his position as a defender of the republic, he accepted his oath of offica as serious, and as final. And once it hecame clear that Hindenburg was cer. tain to prove as good a Republican jas the Soclalist Ebert whom he suc- ceeded. then there was no longer any doubting fact that the last monarchist coup had fafled and that the game was " up. Today there is not much important political legislation pending. Thers are no great problems of domestic or foreign relations to be dealt with. The Dawes plan has disposed of repara- tions, Locarno of foreign political is- sues. All German effort must certain. 1y be directed at seeking to hasten the evacuation of the Rhineland, and there will he disappointment and bit- terness if this does not succeed. As a consequence of this rather condition it may be that the present state of balance hetween powers, the form of compromise by which a mod. erate cabinet is tolerated, may con. tinue for weeks or exen months. On the other hand. after Geneva a new combination hetween the Rou geois parties and the Nationalista may follow fairly quickly. But in either case Stresemann will remain tne gomi. nating figure, and the policies ot con- ciliation and association, which Strese. mann_ has . triumphantly carried through, will prevail. ‘Since rek (Contin: on Third Page)