Evening Star Newspaper, October 17, 1926, Page 59

PERSONNEL REDUCTION . BY U. S. ADVANCES FAST Officials of Budget Director’s “Two Per Cent Club” Show Energetic ‘Cuts in. Rolls. BY WALTER R. McCALLUM. HE ‘“graceful, scientific and painless reduction” in Govern- ment personnel proposed by Gen. Herbert M. Lord at the last meeting of the Govern- ment business organization in June, with the full indorsement of President Coolidgs, is proceeding throughout the Federal service with the impetus gained by complete knowledge of a task that must be accomplished. The “thrift club of a new pattern” launched by the budget director- al ready has resulted in considerabl monetary saving to the Government and may, on the basis of unofficial figures, exceed the saving of $20,000,- 000 in salaries Gen. Lord hoped would be made for the fiscal year end- ing June 30, 1927. It has not been altogether painless &0 far, nor have the emploves who found their official heads chopped off regarded it as scientific or graceful. It has, however, achieved throughout the service the result aimed at—a re- duction of 2 per cent in salaries over the period since June 21, 1926. Not altogether new, Gen. Lord in- tended his thrift club—the per. cent club,” as it has been referred to—to go even farther along the road to Federal economy than the program of not filling Government vacancies inaugurated three years ago. Its clency has been proven, accordin® to several department heads, by the no- table reductions that have been made in Federal personnel since the club was inaugurated. 4,000 Drop Recorded. Although figures on the entire Fed- eral establishment have not been com- piled officially by the Civil rvice Commission since June 30 last, every indication points to a heavy reduction in personnel—reductions that by next December may bring the Government pay roll weil below the mark of 548,077 persons it reached at the close of the last calendar year. The figure on June 30 of this year is more than 4,000 below that for June 20, 1925, and by next June, granted the thrift club functions steadily through the remain- der of the fiscal year, should be con- siderably under the 560.705 figure of June 30 last. William . Deming, civil service commissioner, believes every bureau head and every adminis trative officer is giving hearty co-op- eration to the President and the budget director in their campaign to reduce the Federal patv roll Ten years ago the Government rolls reached the total of 438,057 in a vear which had no post-war obligations, smaller internal development than now and no hureaus which grew out of the war, such as exist today. Two years and a few months later, on Ar- mistice day, 1918, the Fed-ral estab lishment employed 917.760 persons, getting near the million mark, which some predict will b= reached within 25_years. Less than two vears later it been cut to 691,116, and on July 3 1921, had dropped to 397.482 never been helow the 500,000 mark since, the lowest point having been reached at the close of the calendar when 544,671 persons drew m the executive branches Addressing the business organig: tlon.on June 21 last, with every ad- ministrative officer in Washington in attendance. Gsn. Lord spoke follows: “Appreciating the difficulty vou ma have the coming vear and the vear following in keeping within the Presi- dent’s limitations on expenditures and estimates. the budgst director has been casting about for methods and means of assisting vou in solving what I know is going to prove a geal problem His first thought is per- sonnel, to which the President has called vour attention. This is always a fertile and legitimate field for sav- ing. Had 656,672 in 1918. ‘ “November 11, 1918—Armistice day —we had 656,672 employes in the Fed- \eral executive civil service, exclusive of the postal ser April 30, 1926, we had 246,419 people on the roll, a reduction of 410.253 emploves at an annual saving of $738.000,000. State- ments have been made and widely clrculated that we have today in the Federal executive civil service more employes than when President Cool- idge took office. “President Coolidge became Chiet Executive August 2, 1923. June 30, 1923, there-yere 262,709 people in the Federal executive cvil service, exclu- sive of the postal people. April 30, 1926, we had 246,419, a reduction of 16,290 during President Coolidge's ad- ministration. ““Nevertheless, we still have super- fluous employes on the Government pay roll. To help you meet the Presi- dent's requirements as to expendi- tures the coming year, it has been decided to apply a 2 per cent reduction to your force with the organization of the 2 per cent personnel club—a thrift club of a new patterh, designed to save not less than $20,000,000 in the next 12 months. This plan does not require the discharge of any -one from the Federal army of workers. 1t does provide, however, for a grace- ful, scientific and painless reduction in personnel. I know your response will be enthusiastic, joyful and effective. “The number of vacancies in the Federal executive civil service filled annually by original appointments is about 9 per cent of the total employes. It is proposed during 1927 (the pres. ent fiscal year) to omit filling such number of these vacancies as will re- sult in saving at least 2 per cent of the total salary cost. “This means that for every $100 you have for such salaries $2 at least will be converted into the surplus fund of the Treasury., No employe need be discharged fof the sole purpose of effecting this reduction. Details gov- erning this plan, which has the ap- proval of the President’ will be an- nounced later. I might say in pass- ing that you are not necessarily lim- ited to 2 per cent in this personnel re- duction. Tt will be interesting to note at the end of the year who wins the hiue ribbon for greatest percentage of reduction in this friendly and profit- able? contest. Here, again, the ques- tion of administration—good, bad and indifferent—comes into the picture.” Respone Has Been Prompt. From Maine to Alaska and from Florida to California the message has spread. And the response has been prompt. Administrative officer. Washington who direct the aff; the great army of Federal workers say the net reduction will aggregate more than 2 per cent by th> close of the current fiscal yvear, unless s unusual situation comes up t for heavy additions to the Federal pay roll. The situation has been exemplified in the case of the Federal establish- ments in Washington, where the cen- 1 are concentrated and here orders become demands. For here, in the faca of expansion of some departments, there has been during August a reduction of 165 in the num- ber of emploves, and fizures for Sep- tember are said to he even more en- couraging to those who would reduce the pay roll s s for August 31, the latest available, show that there were 60,270 Government em- ployes here on that date, against 60,- 811 on June 30, 1926, an indication of the way the wind has blown since Armistice day, when \Washington housed more than 100,000 Government oner Deming explains that Congress sometimes unloads some un- usually heavy job on the Federal es- tablishment that retards the work of reducing the force, but that even in the face of tempor: retardations the reduction goes on, steadily and re- lentle In most cases and most departments it has proceeded exactly in the way Gen. Lord suggested, sim- ply by not filling ositions when va- cancies occur. In some it has come about through actual separation from the force of some Kederal office hold- ers whose efficiency has been found wanting, or through partial termina- tion of the work on which they have been engaged. But, all in all, the offl- cers of the 2 per cent club—Gen. Lord’s mew thrift club—have been functioning well, and personnel offi- cers predict remarkable slashes in the pay roll when next June rolls around. TRIPP FORESEES ELECTRICITY CREATING RURAL INDUSTRIES Apprehends Coming of Reduced Rent and Taxes by Change and Improved Living for Employes in Garden Communities. BY GUY E. TRIPP. Chalrman. Board of Directors. Westinghouse ectric. The eight industrial workers who came from England to Investigate “what the methods are that enable the American workmen to enjoy a bet- ter standard of living than any other working people in the world” found the answer to their problem in the very first plant they entered. They there saw men working “as the direc- tors of machinery instead of the slaves of human muscle.” Said a member of the mission, a practical foundryman, after watching a man making molds with the aid of power-driven ma- chinery: “In England a man doing the same job would work twice as hard, do half as much and earn half as much.” It has taken Europe many years to realize the immense gain in production that American industry has secured through the use of electric power, but she is now fully alive to the situation, and we look for rapid electrical de- velopments over there. In the meantime American progress 1s showing no signs of halting. Network Spreads Out. The first electric light and power plants were naturally located in con- gested districts, where a ready marl] for their services was assured. quickly each system spread to the ex treme limits of its community, but until recent vears power lines rarely passed outside these limits because the relatively small demands of thinly- populated districts made the construc- tion of lines through them unprof- itable. Thus the full benefits of elec- tricity were for the most part be- stowed upon populous centers, there- by Intensifying the centralizing ten- dencies of steam power. Today, however, the United States s becoming covered with a great net- work of electric power lines. There &are now in existence over 100.000 miles of high-voitage transmission lines, an@ this mileage is increasing rapidly. Power 1s, of course, essential to in- dustry, and in the past, manufactur- ing enterprises have tended to con- centrate at points which offered, along with other advantages, opportunities for securing abundant supplies of either fuel or reliable electric power. Under extensive superpower develop- ment, however, power will be widely distributed and industries will be free, as far as power considerations are concerned, to locate, roughly speak- ing, almost anywhere. ‘There ere, as a matter of fact, many ressing reagons for the removal of g’ndundu out of congested districts. Rent and taxes can be reduced, living conditfons for employes can be im- proved, discipline can be better main- talned with less hardship to the indi- vidual and raw materials can often be secured more readily. Given, therefore, economic pressure to decentralize, and the means for its accomplishment_which exist in super- power, automoblles and standardiz- atlon, the ultimate result appears to be inevitable. Garden Community Coming. To the industrial worker decentral- ization should prove a godsend. The i factory town, with all that it implies, will be replaced by the garden com- munity. The cost of living, housing and transportation, which now cuts so deeply into his income, will be greatly reduced, and a new occupation—agri- culture—will be opened to any mem- ber of his family with taste and apti- tude in that direction. On the other hand. industrial opportunities will not he reduced, for with a car or motor cycle freedom of movement to seek employment will be great. must not be understood to be prophesying a millenium when troubles will be no more. Far from (it. The new era will bring plenty of troubles of its own, but at least they will be somewhat different from those that have afflicted us. and they will be tempered by greater material wel- fare. (Copyright. 1926.) o University of Leyden Again Fetes Americans For the second time the University of Leyden has organized an American students' week under auspices of the Netherlands American Foundation and Union of American Students in west- ern Europe. A party of about 60 graduates of Yale and Princeton uni- versities was received recently at Leyden town hall in the presence of Richard M. Tobin, United States Min- ister at The Hague. The first experi- ment with the student week, two years ago, was a striking success, and it is intended to make the Netherlands American week an annual event. The morning hours are devoted to study, while during the afternoon the Ameri- can guests are entertained. Among the lecturers are Prof. Einthoven, to whom last year the Nobel prize was awarded for his invention of the string d Prof. Lorents, Note: This fs the second of a series of important interviews with nationally known business men and tax students in a discussion of the tax question. BY WILLIS J. BALLINGER. ITe —T\HE Federal Government is boasting about its tax cuts and pointing to the rise in taxes in States and cities. But it all comes down to a question of what you are getting for your money. Measure the cost of the Federal Gov- ernment by the benefits derived by the ordinary citizen, and that cost, in spite of the boasted re- ductlons, is still outr&geounly high. The cost of local govern- ment when weighed by the tremendous and varled serv- ices which it is giving Is hot oppressive. My opinion is that the real tax oppressor of the American people is the Na- tional and not the ELI SEEBIRT. State or local government.” This was the answer of Eli See- | birt of South Bend, Ind. to my | query as to who is our worst tax oppressor. ~ William Fortune, a great business man and a great student of taxes, had told me that the local governments were riot- ing in extravagance and could cut a billion out of their budgets quick- ly and without missing it. T sub- mitted that proposition to Eli See- birt because he is not only a busl- ness man who has just completed a term of service as president of | his Chamber of Commerce but he has also seen the problem from the inside as mayor of South Bend— also, let me add, because he has written and spoken widely and know- ingly on this subject. * k Xk ok 1 called his attention to President Coolidge’s criticism of local extrava- gance “Perhaps my opinion is colored by my local point of view,” he an- swered. “The President, who is the leading advocate of the opposite view, -doubtless sees the matter from his National viewpoint. He is responsi- ble for National expenditures. There- fore he minimizes its burdens to us and emphasizes its benefits. If he BY HENRY W. BUN HE following is a brief sum- mary of the most important events of the world for the seven days ended Octo- ber 16: The British Empire.—1 noted last week that the delegates’ conference of the coal miners passed a resolution in favor of withdrawing the safety men from the pits. At the same time they passed a resolution advocating an embargo on transportation of foreign coal, and another proposing an ap- peal to the Trades Union Congress to levy contributions in support of the miners on all the other unionized workers of the realm. The proposal to withdraw the safety men from the pits had a sur- prising immediate reaction. The safety men’s union let it be known that they would obey no such order. The proposal of an embargo on transpor- tation of foreign coal was icily re- ceived by the unions concerned and it has been made clear that, whatever their willingness, the brother workers have exhausted their capacity to help the miners. The proposal to with- draw the safety men from the pits was referred to a vote by the body of the miners. It is officlally reported that the vote was favorable, but it should be noted that the dubious method of a show of hands instead of the secret ballot was employed. It seems highly improbable that the safety men will back down from their position, and certain it is that the vicious andgstupid move for the with- drawal of the safety men has des- perately prejudiced the miners’ cause. That question of help for the miners was hotly discussed at the Labor Party conference held at Mar- gate during the week. Mr. Thomas, | head of the railwaymen, pointed out that 45,000 rallwaymen are out of work, and 200,000 more working only three days a week: and Mr. Tillett, head of the transport workers, stated that §0,000 transport workers are un- employed and 100,000 more underem- ployed, and that his union had con- tributed 500,000 pounds to the miners, and is 1,000,000 pounds in debt. Ob- viously, no help for miners froni these quarters. The drift back to work of the miners continues on an important scale; some 60,000 in the period Octo- ber 4-9. The Margate delegates discussed uneasily the latest report of the Board of Trade, which shows September ex- ports less than those of September, 1925, by more than 10,000,000 pounds; imports greater by 3,800,000 pounds. Ramsey MacDonald ~addressed the conference in warm advocacy of na- tionalization of the mines and a res- olution in that sense was passed. Not the least important of the pro- ceedings of the week was a conference in London between British and Ger- | man captains of trade and industry. Even the subjects of discussion have been kept secret; but presumably the | chief subject was the question of the |attitude of the British fron and steel | producers toward the new west Eu- ropean iron and.steel trust, whether |the British producers should join the SCHoALS RBOADS again were mayor of Northampton or the governor of his State and was required to meet the increasing de- mands of local government, he might have a different opinion, A “Compare the services of the Fed- eral Government and, of the local governments. Just look about you. You cannot turn in any direction in which you do not see evidences of the services the cities are performing for you. But you must wander about a long time Mefore you come into contact with the Federal Government. The benefits it confers upon the av- erage citizen are of the most illusory, indirect and intangible character. Those conferred by the local gov- ernment are of the most intimate, direct and tangible character. Of course’ you see the letter carrier every day. But, remember, you do not get his services in return for your taxes. You must pay out in stamps for everything he does for vou. But what of your city? It polices your streets and protects vour homes; it guards them against fir it builds and operates schools for your children; it constructs and maintains highways and streets at an enormous expense; it guards your health; it supplles parks and Ii- braries; it supervises your street rallways and your puBlic utilities; it collects your garbage and rules your traffic and regulates your buildings; builds and maintains wharves and docks, hospitals for your sick, asylums for your young and prisons for your wayward. At every hour | of the day the city is giving back to i you in some service a return for the taxes it collects. * * * “And yet in spite of all this the cities collect very little more than thesNational Government does. Take my own city of South Bend, which is a typical American community of 100,000 people. Last year we pald in State, city and county taxes $4,200,000. That means that our lo- cal government, comprehending all the useful anc essential things I have named, cost our people just $42 a year aplece. That is less than it costs to belong to most first-class clubs. But the Natlonal Government, with its re- mote and highly ‘illusory benefits, cost us $35 each.” “How do you account for the fact that since 1890 the expenditures of State and local governments have steadily mounted?” he was asked. “Not once have they ever been lower for a succeeding vear. The Federal Government has managed to retrench. For instance compare the cost of the Federal Government in 1919, 1921, 1923, 1924 and note the progessive re- duction of expenditure. “Those who find comfort in the shrinking of National expenditures from the war peak should weigh the Belfast, in Ulster, with a population of about 500,000, boasts the largest shipyard, the largest rope works, the largest linen factory, the largest to- bacco factory and the largest dis- in the world. With a population of 1,125,000 in New Zealand, there are over 24,000,000 sheep, the export of mutton largely accountthg for the national income. The United States, with a population of over 110,000,000, boasts only about 27,000,000 sheep. The area of New Zea- land, with its two great islands, North Island and South Island, is about 103,- 000 square miles as against about 121,000 square miles for Great Britain and Ireland combined. During the last five years, the av- erage Canadlan production per acre sowed in wheat was 15.5 bushels, as against 18.3 for the United States. 13.3 for Argentina, 11.9 for British India and 11.7 for Australia. Can- ada's average last year was 19.2, as against only 12.9 for the United States. The prediction is heard that within 10 years Canada’s annual wheat production will be 8,000,000,000 bushels. * ok ok K France.—The offices and honors whereof Phillipe Berthelot was de- prived (or from the exercise of which he was suspended) by a disciplinary court appointed by Poincare (during his premiership terminated in 1924) to consider Berthelot’s action with ref- erence to the Industrial Bank of China, were restored to Berthelot some months ago. The restoration was equivalent to a revival of the findings and the verdict of the court. Berthelot is again a life member of the council of state and permanent secretary general of the department of foreign affairs; i. e., he has re- sumed the chief direction of the inter- national relations of France. Berthe- Iot is a champlon of the League of Nations and is peculiarly persona grata at the Court of St. James, It is probable that his knowledge of in- ternational affairs is unequaled in the world; his experience in that fleld is scarcely rivaled: his abilities are very great. His restoration was a business of high importance. One wonders whether his restored importance has suffered any impairment through Poincare's return to power. Tt is well at times to look behind the scenes. Edouard Herriot has re- signed the leadership of the radical Soclalist party, the representation of which constitutes the largest party group in the Parllament. Poincare has presented to the fi- nance commissions of Senate’ and chamber his 1927 budget, balanced. It calls for an expenditure of approxi- mately 40,000,000,000 francs. * ok kX Germany.—At last the Prussian Diet has made a property settlement with William of Doorn. In the debate PLAYGROUNDS 5 lie s ’.‘ q[‘(? A / fact that local government was in a valley instead of on a peak of spend- ing during the war. During the war local needs were in every instance sur- rendered and postponed to the de- mands of the Federal Government. It was almost unpatriotic for a com- munity to build a schoolhouse. Every- thing was subordinated to building war material. The money that might have gone into local néeds and im- provements was poured into the river of gold flowing to Washington. Now that the flow of this stream has been stayed and local communities are at- tempting to supply school seats for their children, and passable roads for their automobiles, and to do in one year what under normal conditions would have been done in two or three years, they are charged by Federal propagandists with a reckless disre- gard of the taxpayer’s pocketbook. * K % % “Furthermore it was only natural for the Federal Government to re- trench after the war. Many war-time bureaus went out of business and are steadily going out of business now. All of this cuts down expenditure au- tomatically. No credit should be given for Federal tax reduction. It doesn’t always mean real economy. All it means is the cessation of war- time bureaus and commissions that have wound up their work. That would happen without any efforts being . made toward Federal econ- omy." “Then you think, Mr. Seebirt, “that the cause of rising expenditures for State and local governments is due to their efforts to catch up with the years that they were forced to sus- pend their improvements on accoumt of the war?"” “Yes, but there is also another powerful reason. New needs are press- ing upon lgcal governments in a big- ger way than upon the Nation. The highway system, which we had ten or fifteen years ago was reasonably adequate to meet: our uses then. It was for the age of pedestrianism and the cart and buggy. In those days roads were progressively and inexpen- sively developed during a century. But due to the general use of auto- mobiles by almost every man, woman and child in America during the last decade, local government has been required to build an entirely new sys- tem of highways. The cost of this alone has been staggering. Yet such a system was indispensable to the demands of a new social order. * kK % “Reflect upon the change in senti- ment toward education. Education today, a noted educator has said, ‘is our religion.' There has been a tre- mendous change in the minds of the people as to what is sufficient in bulld- ings and equipment for our schools. The physical property of our educa- counter-proposal that ‘“The Hohen- zollern estates become the property of unemployed pensioners and those who have lost eVerything through in- flation.” Progress under the great French schemes of commercial development in the air is said to be sadly hampered by lack of funds; whereas, the neces- sary capital seems to be forthcoming for the corresponding German proj- ects, in particular.those of the Luf- thansa, said to be the greatest air traffic concern in the world. The lat- ter has in operation, I understand, a Berlin-Angora service and contem- plates Berlin-Peking and Berlin-Cadiz services, Some say that it is proposed to ex- tend the latter via the Canaries to South America. * ok ok ok Ttaly.—Mussolint has taken over the command of the Fascist Militia. In approving this new assumption of power, the grand council of the Fas- cist party bestowed upon the Duce the title of “generalissimo.” He was, we are told, forced pérsonally to take in hand the militia by its alarming the state of indiscipline, “savage” section hgving erupted again and even nxre violently than hitherto, taking “reprisals,” bloody results, with carabineers and with moderates of their own party; in other words, freely indulging their bent for lawlessness and murder. If the situation is as serious as cer- tain dispatches represent, Mussolini even clashing with has a Job on his hands. The grand council has voted abolition of the electoral system within the Fascist party. Hitherto the party officials be- low the provincial secretaries have been elected, hereafter they will be appointed by the latter. The pro- vinclal secretarles are appointed by the secretary general of the party, and the latter is Mussolini's ap- po(;lte& lease note that besides the - miership, Mussolini now holds ptll‘lee portfolios of war, the navy and dero- nautics. He requires little more to become as absolute an autocrat as ever lived. Apparently the system of Fascismo cannot be kept going on any other basis. It is a point worth noticing. (I notice a statement to the press by a member of the gov- ernment giving the lie direct to the reports of fresh outrages by the “Sav- ages” and generally sorry conditions in the Fascist militia, but the fact that Mussolini, already so heavily burdened, should assume personal command of the militia, displacing Gen. Gonzaga, would seem at least to make forgivable the suspiclon that “all is not sweet, all is not sound. * China.—The capture of Wuchan; by South China forces was lmpomni on the government bill the Communist representatives cut up rough as never since it consolidates Cha Kai Sheks position in the H.l.nko':‘reginn before. Indeed, the Diet sittings com- pared with a Donnybrook fair about (Hupeh Province) and released an im- portant number of troops for defense as the latter with a Sunday school of his main line of communications— picnic. The settlement is a compro- Hankow to Canton—and for opera- mise and was approved in advance by the ex-Kaiser. Under it, I under- tions in Kiangsi Province against Sun ‘huan Feng, super Tuchun of the five stand, the Hohenzollerns receive 20,- Lower Yangtse” provinces. 000,000 gold marks (some reports say It is reported that Sun has suffered 15,000,000) and are allowed to retain trust, and if not, by what amicable arrangements cut-throat competition could be averted. Lord Oxford and Asquith (Herbert Asquith) bas resigned the leadership of the Liberal party. considerable landed property: quite reverses, that his troops are deserting to the enemy, that treason in his great city, Shanghai, threatens his Russian- enough to keep the wolf from the door, but a good deal than their trained officers from th original claims. The Cemmunists’ of- fered a not altogether: unreasonable ¥ 14 Military Academy and his ‘WMDOQW from-ths Pearl River; but you never s 72 3 LIBRARIES JYANG PeLICE. il (20 flfi i ¥ ) tional system of 25 years ago is being replaced with expensive and modern kinds. The people are demanding new schools and highways and they are willing to pay for them. They are getting almost 100 cents of value for every dollar expended. They do not realize any such return from Federal expenditure. “I am never worried when bare fig- ures are put before me showing how much more State and local govern- ments are spending and how much less the Federal Government is spend- ing. We must get back of the figures. What fs local tax money being spent for? That's the nub of the inquiry. It is useless to take astronomical fig- ures of the expenditures of local gov- ernment without seeing what this money is being spent for. If that is done, it will be seen that it is going for direct benefits that the people are demanding of their State and local governments. The State and local governments may spend more than the Federal Government, but that is explained by the fact that they give most service to the people.’ * ok Kk “Think of how the indebtedness of the cities and States has been de- nounced. Their total indebtedness is around $11,500,000,000. While this is being done by Federal propagandists the fact that the Federal Government is in debt $20,000,000,000 is hardly mentioned—the second largest debt in the world and charged up to the weal- thiest natifon in the world for expend- itures that have given the people the most doubtful benefits. For in- stance, in South Bend the funded in- debtedness of the city for both civil and school corporations was $51.50 per capita (1925), and at the same time the national debt was approximately $200 per capita for every person liv- ing in South Bend and elsewhere. When some one tells you that State and local expenditures and indebted- ness are rising you ask them, ‘Rising for what?' If they are rising for more schoolhouses, better roads and such tangible benefits as these, and the people of our State and local govern- ments want such services, can there really be any extravagance? Of course, 1 agree that we must attack waste and unnecessary expenditure both at home and away from home. Local governments are not spotless in their expenditures. Of course, they waste some. But what I am after are the Federal propagandists who pic- ture local governments as the spend- thrifts under the nose of Coolidge economy. The truth is that for real benefits recelved the Federal Govern- ment is the spendthrift under the nose of serviceable local governments.” S ‘“Have you anything further to say about Federal Government than the (Continued on Fifteenth Page.) The Story the Week Has Told can tell what the morrow ma; in China. i The sufferings of the native civilian vopulation of Wu Chang during the siege were very terrible, but the mis- slonaries seem to have fared well. The South China government has lifted the boycott against Hongkong. * ok %k % United States of America.—There was a great deal to interest eco- nomic and political-philosophers in the proceedings of the Forty-sixth An- nual Convention of the American Fed- eration of Labor, held at Detroit dur- Ing the past week. The Sesquicentennial Exposition is 3 financial faflure. On October 7, the total attendance had been less than 5,000,000, as against an expected 25,- 000,000. Twenty-one millions attended the Chicago World's Fair and 40,000, 000 the Paris Exposition of 1920. Nearly 19.700.000 motor vehicles were registered in the United States in the first six months of this year, an increase of 10.8 per cent over the total for the corresponding period of 1925. . August Heckscher, recently return- ed from a trip to Europe devoted to study of housing conditions there, especially in London and Berlin, has published a plan which calls for demolition of all the “old law” tene- ment houses of the lower East Side of New! York City, their replacement by model apartment bujldings, and management of the new buildings by the city authorities. Half the capital for the enterprise would be jointly furnished by the city and State, and the rest by 500 philanthropists (§500,000 each). The plan proposed makes no pretense .of being ideal; the beehive mode of life at its best being a very far cry from the ideal. Most agree that the ideal arrange- ment presupposes decentralization of industry. No doubt that is coming but it will take a long time, and meanwhile it is intolerable to any decent mind that the lower east side tenements, which are breeding places of disease, crime, squalor and degradation should be allowed to stand. Many will object to the city manage- ment, but is it not a sufficient answer to point to the London County Council? Indeed as to the more serious of the problems attaching to such a project as Mr. Heckscher's, the New York authorities need do no more than take leavesout of the pain- fully compiled book of experience of that so admirable body, the,London County Council. It is unlikely that Mr. Heckscher’'s plan will be adopted as it, stands but hope is justified that its publication will give a strong impetus to the movement for amelio- ration of housing conditins in New York, which, as regards the great mass of the people, are so disgraceful.s * ok ok % Notes.—I noted last week that Jugo- slavia had started a navy with a 3,000-ton cruiser fresh from her builders at Wilhelmshaven. One now hears of negotiations for purchase by Jugoslavia of the entire Belgian navy, which however, consists solely of minor craft, mostly former German destroyers. Sailing ships now constitute only. 3% per cent of the ocean tonnage of the world, as against over 8 per nt- in 1914. Of the z. existing tennage States owns about half. MRS. WILSON SEE§ ONE OF 14 POINTS AT WORK Operation of Policy of Self-Determina- tion Interests Late President’s ,Widow,‘ wr on European Tour. BY WILLIAM RUFUS_SCOTT. RS. WOODROW WILSON, ‘who is returning tomorrow on the Leviathan from her second 1 pligrimage to the League of Nations meet- ing in Geneva, Switzerland, took occa- sion while in Europe to see for her- self just how one of President Wilson’s famous “Fourteen Points” for settling the World War had worked out. The point referred to was the one declaring the right of “self-determina- tion” to be inherent in every race or nationality to choose its own form of government or to declde where_fits allegiance shall be placed. Mrs. Wil- son traveled through the Balkans, visiting some of the nations created under the theory bf self-determina- tion. It was on this trip that she first met Queen Marle of Rumania, who also is arriving on the Leviathan to- morrow. Since Rumania more than doubled its area under the peace treaty, on the claim that the territory added was, by racial allegiance, properly Rumanian, it was natural that Queen Marfe should feel grateful to the American President who championed the general idea, and to be glad to meet his wido In Rumania the political affiliations of the President are not considered any more than in Czechoslovakia, also visited by Mrs. Wilson, in expressing appreciation of the aid given by the United States. Six New States Created. A glance at a map of Europe in 1914, when the war began, and then at a map of Europe as it was re- drawn in 1919 at the peace confer- ence, will show what “self-determina- tion” did to boundary line Six brand-new sovereign states, Czecho- slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Esthonia and Finland, were created. Serbla was greatly enlarged and re- named Jugoslavia, and Rumania, as stated, more than doubled its size. The Irish Free State probably should be included in the list, because it is evident that an immense impetus was given to the nationalistic move< ment in Ireland by the self-dtitermb nation slogan. Outside of ‘Europe much ferment has resulted from the same {dea, including the 'P]llllpplne Islands, where Gov. Gen. W 0od ha had an aggressive independence cam- paign to meet ever since he assumed the post. And in China the great powers are faced by identically the same problem. Mrs. Wilson doubtless was most in- terested in Czechoslovakia, where, in its capital city, Prague, she was_re- ceived by Presldent Masaryk. Her interest here was intensified by the fact that President Masaryk is well remembered in Washington before and after the United States entered the war, and because he is credited with having done much to convince President Wilson that the Austro- Hungarian Empire could be broken up and detached from Germany by just this self-determination polic: Son of Coachman. The role of the then Prof. Masaryk in the-larger strategy of the war was one of the most striking of any per- sonality made prominent in that pe- riod. Rising from the station of a son of a coachman to that of a learned professor, widely noted author and (to the monarchists) a dreaded polivth‘.al leader, Masaryk saw in the World War the great opportunity for the Czechs and closely allied peoples, then subject to Austria-Hungary, to re- gain the sovereignty lost in past cen- turies. He escaped a death sentence decreed by the Hapsburg regime at Vienna, and in 1916 entered Russia, where he organized the Czechs and other Slavic prisoners captured by the Russians from the Austro-Hungarian armies and turned them against the t owers. ce%}::“e‘z(cellent record these troops made for the allies (Russia then not having turned Bolshevistic) (‘H“*d Masaryk to see that his work lay 1n Washington, London and Paris; that is to say, he perceived that thousands upon thousands of Auntrh-HungarIar! troops were fighting only because they cere compelled to, and that if the {dea got abrond that the allies would grant them self-determination in the peace settlement they would or turn upon their starting a backfire on principal ally. Comes to America. Masaryk came to the United States in 1917 and soon Washington and the other allled capitals were lnmulng propaganda along that line, witl President Wilson's speeches holding out hope of self-government to long- oppressed peoples. The result is now history. Just as Masaryk believed, the effect in the conglomeration of nationalities composing the Austro- Hungarian empire was immediate and decisive. The disintegration became so accelerated that Austria-Hungary sued for peace before Germany did, and signed an armistice a week fore Germany did. The break-up of Austria-Hungary unquestionably con- tributed greatly to German real tion of defeat. It was interesting that Masaryk should have received word of his elec- tion as President of Czechoslovakia while he was stfil in the United States, in 1918. As soon as conditions permitted he went to Prague and or- ganized the government along lines involving many American ideas. His knowledge of the United States dates much+further back, however, as he came here in 1878 and married an American girl, whom he had met first in his student days in Europe. He is now 76 years old and directs a country of 54,877 square miles, or about the size of Illinois, and with a population of 13,613,172. Czeghoslovakia Fas been the most stable of the new coun- tries in Europe under his guidance. Sees 100 Years of Peace. The meeting between Mrs. Wilson and President Masaryk, in Prague, therefore, was not only interesting because it renewed an_ acquaintance of several yegrs' standing, but she must have had significant conversa- tion with him upon European condi- tions. It is worth noting that Presi- dent Masaryk was quoted some months ago as having said that Eu- rope would not see another great war in 100 years. That there will be sporadic and in- cidental outbreaks he does not doubt, but such a general conflagration as began in 1914 he does not anticipate. He pointed out that it was 44 years between the Franco-German War in 1870 and the World War in 1914, and he believes that Europe will exceed that period of peace by 50-0odd years before another all-engulfing conflict comes, if it comes then. All of the new self-determination nations have settled thelr war debts to the United States. Some of them— for instance, Poland—have mnot had easy sailing, Poland now being vir- tually under a dictator. Thelr future causes much speculation in Europe, inasmuch as Germany and Russia, from which nations so much territory was taken-to establish the new states, have shown an inclination to regain some, if not all,.of the lost posses- sions. y's Helped by League. However, GGermany has entered the League of Nations, which guarantees the territorial integrity of its mem- bers, and, presumably, Germany will resort only to peaceful persuasion within the League for any rectifica- tion of boundarfes. In the League Germany will find the new nations closely united on the one policy of preserving their existence. As for Russia, outside the League, the seven nations on her European border, from Finland through Poland and Czechoslovakia to Rumania, all having common interest in self- preservation, could draw on & popu- lation of about 65,000,000 for de- fenders, by no means a weak com- bination. Russia also would see in the background the allled nations and the force of a world sentiment that now must be reckoned with more than ever in starting aggressive movements. . Against these speculations, how- ever, Is the more cheerful prophecy of President Masaryk that Europe is in for a century at least of fairly peaceful development. SILENT MEMORIAL TO OUTLINE GENIUS OF A VANISHED RA€E desert rulers, theréby . German; Yucatan Will Offer Western World Its Greatest. Attraction When Restoration of Ruins Represent- ing America’s Ancient Civilization Is Complete. BY FREDERICK L. HOFFMAN. ‘When the work near the Maya vil- lage of Dzitas is finished, Yucatan will offer to the Western world thé greatf- est attraction in the silent memorial of the genius of a vanished race. The project itself symbolizes America’s highest idealism in rendering aid and guldance to another nation not in a position to undertake the work on a scale proportiondte to its magnitude. Those who have witnessed what is be- ing done at Chichen-Itza must feel grateful toward the Carnegie Insti- tute, which is erecting a monument here that will never be permitted to perish or fall into decay. All comparisons are wanting unless it be with “the grandeur that was Rome” and the “glory that w Greece.” In the case of the Maya ruins the task is enormously compli- cated by absence of a definite ground plan or symmetrical conception of the several leading structures. They seem to have been placed without a pur- posive objective in their relation to each other. The Mayas also seem to have had no clear conception of, streets or of roadways and avenues, facilitating approach from one great building to the other. Hence, each structure, pyramid, temple or build- | ing, stands out by itself. Pyramid a Colossal Pile. The first ruin that meets the eyes is the great pyramid, a colossal pile of earth and masonry, with more than a hundred steep steps, crowned by a temple which is in course of being re- stored. About the pyramid are other structures, but these are overshadow- ed by the Castillo, a vast building on the crown of a sort'of pyramid or an earth cone. The effect of the first view of the Castillo on the eve is as though some Scottish Rite temple had been bodily transferred to the Maya jungle. Some of the frescoes and carvings are well preserved, and here and there are still traces of anclent wall paintings in bright colors. This structure is now known as the Temple of the Warriors. The height of the structure is about 30 feet. It is a dizzy height from which to look down, but a scene of grandeur. Structure after structure comes into sight. There is the Temple of the Tigress, the Temple of the Tables, the Temple of the Cones, and in the distance one can see the impressive outiines of the | Round Tower or Carocol, and last, not least, the group of buildings known as the Casa de Minajas or the Palace Nunnery. Between these are smaller 12 buildings, many ‘yet [ covered with debris or undergrowth. I made my way to the Round Tower, a unique structure in the Maya coun- try. It contains a spiral stairway now partly in ruins. It is located on a mound and is easy of access. Until the tower is reconstructed it is next to impossible to clearly trace its out- lines. Future Generations Benefited. ‘Wandering among the ruins, fiiled with awe and admiration for the ge- nius of these ancient buflders, there likewise came to me the thought of profound respect for the ability and daring imagery of those who are re- storing for the future generations some clear picture of the greatest achievements of the Maya race. The work of Prof. Morley is one of the most audacious and toilsome attempts ever made to rebultd the vanished cities of the past in any part of the world. ‘With infinite pains and extraordi- nary skill the scattered fragmentsare being put together, and by slow de- grees the old structures are being re- created and made comparable with the greatest architectural monuments of European antiquity. (Coyright. 1926.) Foch Holds Disarming By Force to Be Futile Obligatory disarmament, imposed on peoples against their will withqut a “disarming of. the mind” as well, is an {llusion, according to M: Foch, in a recent interview. History, he says, shows that a people thus, dis- armed will always find a way to arm again at the earliest opportunity. Asked what weapons should pre- dominate in a modern army, he.re- plied: “Which is the most important part of a building? Foundatigns, ar- chitecture, style, material —all are necessary. Nor would you say of an orchestra, hereafter there must be only violins—no more trombones or wood winds or drums. All instru- ments are necessary in proper portions, pending the invention of still others.” He considered the recent German- Russian agreement “redoubtable” and calculated to complicate Germany's entry into the League of Nations next september. —_— To help solve the housing problém in Germany many c.y'nndm homes are’being erected.