Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1927, Page 43

NEW LAW-MAKING PLANS TO BE URGED IN CONGRESS Representative Roy Fitzgerald Com- ments on Confus ion Prevailing as Result of Haphazard Legislation. BY WILL P. KENNEDY. | HE entirely new procedure of | enacting a law with reference | to how it fits into the code of | laws, rather than as a sepa- rate law, will be urged upon Longress as necessary for a clear un- derstanding of what the law is on any given subject and to avoid cumber- some procedure in the practice of the | Jegal profession, by Representative | ROy G. Fitzgerald of Ohio, chairman of the House committee on revision of the laws. This new method would apply not only to the gener: Federal code, which has just been as- sembled into one large volume, but also to the District code, which is now being compiled. The District codifi cation i1s an especially intricate prob- lem, requiring extensive research, and was to have been submitted to Cor &gress next January, but owing to the death of one of the two compilers the | work has been necessarily delayed. It | is foreseen that if the new method proposed by Representative Zer- ald is applied to District le it will be found advantageous to a lawyer well versed in the District law and code sitting with the District committees at all times to advise re- garding how the proposed legislative | action would mesh with the existing | law. Representative Fitzgerald, hav-| ing been a very active member of the | House District committee, appreciates | thoroughly the situation there. Errors in Code. In the general Federal code, cently published by order of Cong’ Representative Fitzgerald says they | may find about 1,000 errors, which must be detected through the co-op- eration of the legal profession, and | then acts of Congress must follow to | correct them. It is the plan to semble all the new laws at the close of a Congress and publish them in a supplementary volume, so that all of the Federal statutes can be found in those two volumes. In the meantime he expects to get authorization for his committee to take charge of a re- vision of the code so as to reduce fts size and make it more serviceable by eliminating absurdities, conflictng pro- ‘veions and duplications, which would Necessitate a considerable amount of rewriting the law. In this work the heartiest cooperation of the legal pro- fession is assured, Every one is presumed to know the faw” is a maxim and principle of law as essentfal to the admiistration of Justice as the venerable assertions un- der the common law of Great Brit- “the King is the fountain of and “the King can do no Representative Fitzgerald points out No person may b2 excused, even on criminal charge, where his life or lib- erty iz imperiled. on the plea that he did not know that the act complained of was In violation of any statute. Yet | the most learned lawyers may debate the question and no one in fact be certain that the act complained of was unlawful until the last court of appeals or error, even the Supreme Court of the United States, has deter- mined the question. Even more com- plicated, he declares, are the laws re- lating to civil transactions, business 2nd commerce, and upon knowledge of these laws often depend success or failure in business and the rights to great sums of money. With the constantly increasing com- plexity of our modern life, the exten- sion of Government control and regu- lation, the multituds of new laws and the penalties of ignorance, it is most important, Representative Fitzgerald emphasizes, that the laws of a nation or a state be set forth with clarity and precision and with such systematic or scientific arrangement and complete- ness that it may be as readily discov- ered and understood as possible. In our busy life men have little lei- sure for the conscientious research necessary to determine the statute law, yet since the compilation of the stat- ute law of the United States in the Revised Statutes of 1878 the laws have been accumulating with continual changes, modifications, repeals, both express and by implication, until the vague and uncertain trail must be traced through 25 discouraging tomes. Protests to Congress. To the ordinary citizen charged with an irrebuttable presumption that he knew the law, the maze was hopeless. The confusion aroused the indignation of the lawyers of the country and the resentment of the courts. No lawyer or judge could be certain of the Federal law without the most wearisome and painstaking labor. Protests were made to Congress. The American Bar Association main- tained a committee year after year to assail the e Commissions were appointed by Congress. Commission- ers were paid salaries of $5,000 a year apiece. Ten years elapsed. The com- mission expired. About 30 years and & half billion dollars were expended. Still no code. Col. Edward C. Little, chairman of the committeo on revision of the laws of the House of Representatives, called to his aid professors of law schools and others learned in the law eand, devoting himself indefatigably to the great work, compiled the genera and permanent statute law of the United States into a single book and presented it in bill form to the Sixty- | sixth Congress for enactment into law as a code. The bill was passed by the House and again w t- | ing amendments in the Sixty-seventh and Sixty-elghth Congresses, but | never won the approval of the Senate, | The help of the two great pubiish ing houses of the country w sought | and the work was completely redone with at thoroughness and with improvements in classification and errangement. The committees of the House and Senate were in acc the code was adopted June and became prima or 1 correct restatement of the Federal law as it existed Decomber 7.9 | The code was published with index and a number of reference tables and | other ancillaries, inclt i appen | dix 1 contained in codified form the changes, additions and amend ments to the law made by the first eession of Sixtyninth Congress, | for t ent of legislation sweeps | continually on | And now Representat ) 1| 18 soliciting co-operation to prevent the drift by into a like intolerable condition mass of legi Lccumulates to give the peuple of the States a clear permanent statement of | the laws uader which they are gov- erned. { of legislating re- first | Plan to Be Presented. The committee on revision of the | taws will present a plan to the incom- ng Congress (the Seventieth) for cumu Jative codification of the law. A sup- plement may be prepared includin the substanc of the ppendix and the laws of the sccond session of the | Sixty-ninth Congress anged in codified form and by proper | sectional references to the code After cach subsequent session the Congress the Jaws of that sessior. may be incorporated into the preced- ing supplement and that replaced by | » new supplement, bringing the code | proper up to date. Thus the code end a single supplement only need be | could not even be read. | for 1| population must be checked for the errors and imperfections which are to be expect- ed in so great a work. Experience with the Revised Statutes of 1574 lead s to anticipate the finding of a thou- sand such errors, Representative Fitz- gerald says. Amendatory bills may be presented to Congress making such suggestions as seem necessary. and these will be found in the supple. ment until such time as a new and perfected edition of the code may be presented embodying the corrections and the supplement and bringing the code again complete to a later and definite date. The code itself re-enacts all the ab- surdities, the contradictions, the ar. chaic matter of the laws. This was necessary because the magnitude of the code bill before the House and Senate made impossible its considera tion as other bills are considered. It It had to be taken on faith, and it could not have been taken on faith unless assurances had been given that there was no change of existing law. Any attempt to improve the law, any attempt to correct it, to reconcile contradictions, to repeal obsolete matter would have led to apprehension, a demand for ex- planations, to debate, and consequent- Iy to the failure of the passage of the bill, for obviously time is lacking even to read a bill of 1,705 pages or to per. mit of extended debate. It is probable that the co bill | (H. R. 10000) in the Sixty-ninth Con- ress was the largest bill over present 1 to and passed by any legislative body in the world. and as rules of par- liamentary procedure require the read- ing of a bill at least once, it could be passed only by suspending the rules, and this required the consent of a great majority and practically unani. mous approval of the measure, Amendatory Bills, 1t is therefore hoped that in a series of amendatory bills to be offered by Representative Fitzgerald the multi- tude of obsolete sections may be re- vealed and a multitude of perfections m.’\f'll\ in the restatement of the law, which will be also corrections of the substance, but nevertheless confined to expressing consistently the law as Congress had intended it to be in the light of its attempts. These bills must be of reasonable length, dealing only “;xm"mn most obvious errors and not at all comprehensive, or pass v be impracticable, pusskior Il Even then the code will be, thus im- proved, but a conglomeration of badly worded, {ll expressed, often vague and Misleading and ‘needlessly _complex statements of t! v, e he law, Mr. Fitzgerald t 1s here that the real revisi the law may be undertaken, hek:;\‘(;f It must be done a little at a time, perhaps title by title, to permit of proper legislative consideration. It {s an enormous work, but enormously important. ~ Here is Representative Fitzgerald's program: 1. We now have the code, an im- meneely important step, but only the rst step, toward the proj of the Federal lax. Berper Wtenont 2. We must provide by a syste; ::(u‘gxulr:\llve r):ullflmnnn 4 .u’wn".‘ni’é o form the continui E ]egs[“n"o,L tinuing stream ot . We must correct In the code as rapidly as they can be discovered every failure to restate the law as Congress intended it. 4. Then eliminate obsolete matter, reconcile contradictions, establish uni. fermity where there is no reason for discrimination, clarify ambiguities and thus correct such absurdities as are obvious and concerning which there can be little or no difference of opin- lon. Al of this must prepars the way or— $:0uA real revision of the laws, Laws have grown by gr. amendments. until . the - pasoneeny forms an inextricable tangle. Witness our immigration laws. If the whole body of the code could be rewritten in uniform style, in simple, direct and precise language, it would not only be a clearer, safer gulde for the courts and the people but its bulk might he reduced one-half-or more, This is the most important part of the stupendous task, but little by little, title by title, it could be accom- plished by persistent efforts. It will require years, many vears, of patient labor. The benefits are immeasur- able and_worth all the devotion and efforts. Legislators are not the easiest peoplo in the world to submit to dis- cipline. Yet, little by little, they may be willing to co-operate in the code work and he more and more inclined to draw and have bills drawn so that the new law my fit or be adjusted into the framework of the code. Principle Is Ignored. The general statute law has long provided that a single section of a bill contain but a single subject or idea. This provision in the interests of clear legislative expression has been much ignored. The Congress may see fit to enforce its observance from now on and this will be a great help, Rep- resentative Fitzgerald believe: The deformities, crudities and ab. surditid the contradictions and the ambiguities of the present statute laws of the United States stand out more clearly now in the scientifically ar. ranged code. Impelling as are the de- | mands for legislation on an increasing multitude of matters in the great and busy country and as compelling the desire of legislators to get bills passed in any form which will most quickly serve their immediate purposes, there is no reason why the plan here out- lined by Representative Fitzgerald may not be undertaken and, if per- sisted in, bring order out of chaos and an ideal of legislative expression be approached which will permit the peo. ple of the United States to really know the laws of their country, those laws which they are presumed to know and to which they must conform and be accountable, Naturally, it would be an immeas- urable help’ if bills introduced In the Congress were framed with reference to the tramework of the Code, or be. fore passage, were made to conform to the general statutes providing t a single par. oh or section shou contain but a single proposition and conform to a certain standard making uniformity, clarity and precision. Bat the igerness to 't measures lopted in any form to accomplish the immediate purpose overrides the ulti- mate good und members of legislative bodics, like other people, chafe at dis cipline. st important Code is the ¢ to the District of Columbi , by reason of its gre: d the activities, political and commercial, carried on therein, is greater in importance than a number of States. It has no legislature but Congress, and its affairs are often ne- glected, Representative Fitzgerald ad- mits. There is no real code of laws controlling the District, he says, and never has been. No lawyer or judge of the courts of the District can pro- ceed with any assurance that he knows the law of a case or transac- tion without many hours of the most painstaking research. Confusion in D. C. Laws. One of the most serious difficulties arises from the setting up by Con- s for the control of the District of a body of British laws in force in Maryland, February 27, 1801. No one thought to compile the laws at the time, and no compilation has ever been djunct to the de of Laws re resorted to for the general statute law Ia the mantime the cods itsell .| mad have never been published. ©Oa 60 oc- THE SUNDAY STAR, BY WILLIS J. BALLINGER. LOOKED out of a window of Sam- uel Hopkins Adams’ stone lake house. Like windows in the home of the creator of Cralg Kennedy —Arthur B. Reeve—they are almost lapped by the waves of expanses of water. From where I sat I could see the spot on the other side of Owasco Lake where the famous race between old “Pop” Courtney and Riley for the sculling championship of the world had been staged some years ago, and where, on the morning of the race, an international furore broke loose when the boat of Courtney was found sawed in two. Looking out another window 1 saw a little adjoining house on whose up- per floor Mr. Adams had penned “Revelr Perhaps, 1 thought, Mr. Adams had slipped away to this place of rest to retreat from the storm that he had raised by the publication of “Revelry.” But I found that Mr. Adams cared little what people or the world thought about him. He came from an illustrous family of free thinkers who had more than once been haled before the constituted au- thorities to answer charges of intel- lectual heresy. There was his grand- father, an eminent divine of his day, accused of heresy and for whom the fagots of penitence had all but flared when they were put out by the pro- found learning of the accused heretic, who showed his indicters that they knew little about church history. And Mr. Adams' father had been tried for heresy because he did not swallow the doctrine of eternal damnation. “So" smiled Mr. Adams, “T guess T sort of inherited a - disposition to take the unpopular attitude.” * ok ok ¥ Clad in knickers, Mr. Adams settled back comfortably and we puffed away in silence for a while. 1 started on a favorite subject—the widespread re- volt of youth from old standards. “The sillfest rot among conversing people,” spoke up Mr. Adams, “is the consolation that so many older people take in the belicf that this generation is the same as any other—that every generation has been accused by its elders of going straight to the devil. The young people of today represent a social revolution the like of which the world has never seen before. “Most parents who bewail the ac- tions of their children forget that there is not a shred of that good old- fashioned environment left that they love to talk about, as though it were still here and children were willfully trying to get away from it. The pres- ent generation was born into a veri- table social wilderness. They had to work out new paths of conduct. And it is silly to think that they should not be different from the beaten tracks of a generation ago. e live, I repeat, in an environ- ment utterly different from the days of our fathers. The trouble is that too many parents are living mentally in The Author of SAMUEL HOPKINS ADAMS the old-fashioned environment of yes- terday and refusing to realize that what Js necessary today are not parents who cling desperately to old standards that can no longer work under our changed conditions, but fathers and mothers who will be ploneers with their children in build- ing up new customs and standards to work in our new environment, Who believes in tithes, feudal dues or homage to kings today? Yet there are parents who have medieval minds in modern times." * K ¥ % “That's very interesting,” T re- marked. ‘“Let's see it we can visual- ize this enormous change in our so- clal environment from the last gen- eration to the present.” “Very well,” said Mr. Adams. “Let's begin with what used to be the great- est factor in the old-fashioned life— religion. In the days of my youth young people were still awed by re- ligion. Children feared divine wrath if they transgressed. Religion was a great moral brake in my day. “Fear of a xd who will punish naughty bhoys and girls is no part of the belief of modern youth. I have never encountered a member of the present generation who thought of God as a sort of supervisor of morals, who from his observation tower in the skies would be quick to punish the morally errant boy or girl. The younger generation is little bothered by the religious consequences of their acts. The moral brake of your day WASHINGTO “Revelry” Says: Old-fashioned morality was all right when we had an old-fash- ioned environment. It was all right to wear clothes of the fifteenth century in the fifteenth century, and morals change the same as dress habits. A new age calls for a new code of morals. In our grandmothers’ day we seemed more moral be- cause there was less temptation, less chance to get out of range of the paternal eye, less leisure to go wrong. Today young people are con- fronted h many more temp- tations, Furthermore, there has been almost a complete emanci- pation from paternal supervision, due to the coming of the auto- mobile and the growth of city life, where a few steps puts one out of mother’s sight. Today women and children are becom- ing financially independent. They no longer are kept down for “fear of being abandoned. And, finally, education has given youth boldness and confidence. The old restraints of religion and fear are dissipated. We must have a new code of morals and stop clinging desperately to a code that was designed for ut- terly different conditions. has been loosened until it has very slight effect upon the wheels of daily conduct. “And let's look at the old-fashioned home. People of my day worked 12 hours a day. They lived, for the most part, on farms. Mothers found a home a full day's work. The children of a generation ago when they finished school promptly went to work about the home doing chores. The fathers, mothers and children worked so hard and so long during the day that there was little time for leisure.” “One of the chief indexes to modern progress is found in the creation of leisure,” I replied. “Just as you im- plied it takes leisure to go to the devil, and we of the modern generation have it. Children no longer work after school. Chores of their father’s day are now done by machinery and scien- tific apparatus—telephone to store, de- iivery wagons, wood sawed, cut and delivered. The home is no longer a full day’s work for mothers. Wqmen have been emancipated from the kitchen by sclence—automatic dish washers, co-operative kitchens, cooks, electric stoves. And supervision of children is no longer possible. We live in a city age. The child who enters the elevator Is lost to the mother's eye. * ok % % youth” continued Mr. Adams, “our amusements were not designed to encourage the devil. We played croquet, shot at birds that we never hit, collected butterflles, 1in- “In my dulged in whist or cribbage, sang the newest college songs, read aloud or went in a group to the church enter- tainment. In those days most of our amusements were in the home. It was easier to keep an eye on children in consequence. “And today, our greatest pleasures are outside of the home—the cinema, theater, night club, cabaret, athletic spectacles, automobile riding. As we have moved outside of the home our temptations have heen greater and parental supervision grown less and less. Look at the cart and buggy con- veyance of my day. The radius of escape from parental vigilance was very limited then. Today, with the automobile, the radius has been great- ly enlarged, and no wonder that young people who are enabled to get beyond the parents’ vision do a lot of things that they wouldn't dare do if they lived in the home of a generation ago. “And in my day children were abso- lutely dependent on parents for finan- cial support and their first start in lite. Daughters were completely de- pendent until they married. It was father who usually got son his first business connection. Today children have thousands of opportunities to make their own living. Al they have to do is to scan the morning newspaper for jobs. A child's fear of being put out in the cold by a parent whom he has disobeyed has vanished. The mod- ern world has made it possible for chil- dren to become financially independent in almost a moment, and of course, they pay less attention to parental commands. * * ok X “But, above all,” concluded Mr. Adams, “look at modern education. We have educated the modern genera- tion so that a boy of today knows more than his father. Small wonder that today youth, knowing that it knows more than the ‘old man,’ thinks itself capable with this greater knowl- edge to pllot itself through life. “Knowledge makes people bold, and youth is infected with the attitude of ‘prove it to me.’ In my day education did little harm to parental authority because boys and girls did not know more than their parents. The student of today can no longer be terrorized by religion into doing right after he has taken a course in comparative religions, or be frightened by the bogeys of sex after he has studied biology, or be commanded to adjust himself to standards of authority after he has looked through telescopes and microscopes and been taught to make everything answerable to his own reason. “We live In a brand-new world. We must have new standards. We won't get them from parents who think in terms of a century that is gone and which will never come back. Parents must go forward with youth and stop trying to take them back- ward to standards that applied to a vanished environment.” (Copyrizht. 1927.) The Story the Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief sum- mary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended July 30: The British Empire.—On Friday the British Parliament adjourned to November. The trade disputes and trade unions bill has recelved the royal assent and so becomes law. The films bill, of interest to Amer- icans, went over to the next session. Lord Beatty has been succeeded by Sir Charles Madden as first sea Inn! of Great Britain, after seven years service in that capacity. He has been made a privy councillor, a very high mark of honor. He is still only 56 years old. Premier Baldwin of Great Britain, the Price of Wales and Prince George have landed in Quebec. They will participate in ceremonies pertaining to the Diamond Jubllee. * ok ¥ % Spain.—Primo de Rivera continues to grant interviews to press repre- sentatives regarding the proposed National Assembly, but he is increas- ingly vague. Asked whether the government proposes return to “‘nor- maley” he replied obfuscatively, as follows: “That depends on what you call normalcy. We are not going back to the old institutions of parlia- mentarism, but the government wishes to establish as soon as possi- ble political reforms in accordance with the desire of the people and the new ideas of political science. A consultative assembly in_which all economic and intellectual activities will be represented will discuss and approve the reforms and help the government achieve political changes.” Asked how the members of the As- sembly would be designated, he re- plied: “Nomination by institutions has the inconvenience of reviving oligarchial rivalries and the influence of old caciques. The government is in a position to make a better choice and will také care to see that all ac- tivities have a voice in the National Assembly.” He concluded his communication thus: “When the new constitution is finished, it will be entirely open to discussion for from three to six monthg so that the people will be enabled thoroughly to understand the character of the reforms proposed. A referendum will follow. 1 cannot disclose the precise character of the referendum, but it will surely be comformable to the later referendum method obtaining in the world. In this ¢ the constitution will be technical in preparation and demo- cratic in approval.” The dictator declared that a chief alm of Spanish government’s hence- forth (independently of domestic political developments) would_be_to casions in the courts of the District learned lawyers, delving in the musty records of the past, have directed judi- clal action with the result of their laws relating to the District h been incorporated in other unrelated acts and without ref- erence to any scientitic or logical ar- angement, until a disorderly condi- tion of uncertainty results and, natu- rally, injustice and resentment. However, Cong is at last alive to the situation and has appropriated money for the task. The work on a real code for the District is now under way, but temporarily suspended until arrangements can be made through the Bar Association and the bench of the District, co-operating with the House committee on revision of the laws, to replace the late learned and lamented Harry A. Hagerty in collab- oration with Edwin A. Moore in the important task. With the growing complexity of our modern life and its activities, it is more and more important that the in- creasing body and scope of our laws be simply and clearly expressed and arranged in orderly and logical form, ome of these laws apparently. to the end that pitfalls be avoided and security and confidence maintained, Representative Fitzgerald argu {suffering heavy foster material and spiritual relations between Mother Spain and the His- pano American countries. * % X X China.—The general Chinese situ- ation seems to have entered a new phase. One hears that an armistice has been concluded between Chang Kal Shek, on the one part, and the alliance of Northern _war ' lords (headed by Chang Tso Lin) on the other, and that, pursuant to its terms the Nanking forces that had penetrated deeply into Shangtung Province have been completely with- drawn therefrom. Because of this transaction it is general to question Chang Kai Shek's patriotism, to sus- pect that he is no better than your ordinary tuchun, that he is looking out for number one. But, though I have always reserved a doubt as to Chang's complete disinterestedness, it seems to me unfair to condemn him out of hand on this ground. To commit himself to a drive on Peking prior to satisfactory settlement of his relations with the Hankow out- fit would be most hazardous; would, it might be well urged, be unjus- tifiably to jeopardize his grand plans for China. Besides, it may be sus- pected that he is by no means as- sured of the loyalty of that slippery ‘customer Feng Yu Hsiang, and Yen Hsl Shan, Tuchun of Shansi, grows daily, more inscrutible. The situation at Hankow is as fan- tastic as ever. The other day one general, Ho Chien, commanding the forces of the Hankow government stationed at Wu Chang, crossed the Yangtsze to Hankow with the major part of the forces and proceeded to assume the military direction of Han- kow and Hanyang, the redoubtable Gen. Tang Sen Chih (previously com- manding at Hankow), cordially sub- ordinating himself and allowing his troops to be incorporated in Ho Chien’s command. Both Ho Chien and Sen Chih are zealously anti-Red. Ho Chien has vigorously taken or- ders to check radical agitation and to protect foreigners. In contrast to previous “faise alarms” the Hankow government seems definitely to be de- communizing itself. No dcubt under pressure from Ho Chien. The de- parture of Borodin is officiaily an- nounced, apparently for Russia, and similar departure of the other Rus- sians and elimination of native ex- tremists from the government is presumed. Assume the purgation genuine, the moderates securely in the ascendant at Hankow; will re- unification of the Natlonalist move- ment follow? Will modetate Hankow and moderate Nanking unselfishly conlesce? Dispatches received since the above was penned seem to call for certain qualifying comment. It would seem that Chang Kai Shek negotiated for an armistice with the Northern al- lies but that efther he failed to get it or it quickly lapsed or was de nounced; that, at any rate, hostilitie were resumed, and that though Chang did evacuate Shantung, he did not do so unmolested, but only after losses. Certainly Chang Kal Shek's fortunes are look- ing down; while those of Hankow, of late so desperate, are looking up. The purgation of radical elements at Hankow has proceeded so remark- ably, confidence there has been re- stored to such a degree that some respectable critics envisage the pos- sibllity 6f reunmification of the Na- tionalist niovement under the Han- kow standard, the Nanking outfit, by Summarization thereof is not prac- ticable, the wording being the tersest possible. In the July 2 issue of The Star 1 summarized the original pro- posals of the three powers. “1. The combined tonnages of cruisers, destroyers and submarines below thie age limits for replacement are not to exceed: (A) For the British Emplre and the United States, 50,000 tons. (B) For Japan, 385,000 tons. “2. In addition, each power may re. taln vessels over the age limits for replacement up to 25 per cent of the total tonnages given In paragraph 1. “3. Age limits before which replace- ment may not take place: 10,000-ton crulsers, 18 years; other cruisers, 16 years; destroyers, 16 years, and sub- marines, 13 years. “'4. The following vessels over 6,000 tons to be retained in their respective fleets; British Empire, 4 Hawkins class (carrying 7.54dnch guns); the York (carrying 8-inch guns), 2 Emerald class (carrying 6-nch guns). The United States of America, 10 Omaha class (carrying 6-inch guns). Japan, 4 Ilka class (carrying 6-inch guns). “Note.—The general intention of this proposal is to provide for the retention of existing ships which, though still in full efciency, fall neither within the 10,000-ton, S-inch class, nor the contemplated class with a maximum displacement of 6,000 tons and maximum armament of 6-inch guns. The British delegation, recog- nizing that this proposal would leave the United States of America with no 8-inch gun cruisers in this class, are prepared to agree to construction by the United States of vessels which, in the opinion of the naval advisers of the three delegations, would equalize the strength of the British empire and the United States of America in this All other cruisers to be divided into two classes (A) 10,000-ton cruisers; (B) smaller cruisers of a maximum displacement of 6,000 tons and mount- ing no guns exceeding 6 inches in caliber, 6. Ten-thousand-ton cruisers to be limited in number: for the British Em- pire and the United States, 12; for Japan, 8. “7. Maximum standard displacement for flotilla leaders to be 1,850 tons and for destroyers, 1,500 tons. Flotilla leaders and destroyers not to carry a gun above 5 Inches. “8. Of the total tonnage in the de. stroyer class, 10 per cent may be used for vessels of 1,500 tons and under, but not more than 16 per cent of the total may be used for the flotilla lead- er class, i. e, vessls above 1,500 tons and limited to a maximum of 1,850 tons. Submarines to be divided into two classes: Class A, 1,800 down to 1,000 tons; class B, maximum 600 tons. Submarines not to carry a gun above 5 inches. 0 The maximum tonnage to be devoted to submarines of either class of whatever age to be as follows: (A) British Empire and the United States, 90,000 tons; (B) Japan, 60,000 tons. Of which total tonnage not more than two-thirds may be used for class A submarines “11. cept for the restrictions im- | posed in scctions 6, 8 and 10, the total tonnage allocated to be used as each power thinks best.” My understanding is that it is pro- posed that the treaty in which the above proposals should be embodied would run to 1936. The proposals main- tain British principle of division of cruisers into two categories, with nar- the same token, being “liquidated.’| row restrictions of the category of This, however, seems unlikely. Pos- sibly, moregver, the depression of Chang Kai #hek’'s star has been ex- aggerated. * ok ok % The Naval Conference.—On Thurs- day W. C. Bridgeman, first lord of the admiraity, and Viscount Cecil, the chief British delegates to the tri- power naval tonference, having ar- rived back in Geneva from London, whither they had been summoned by the British government for consulta- tion, the conference resumed opera- tions, The British delegation submit- ted & new set of proposals. E ' cruisers exceeding 6,000 tons In dis- placement or carrying guns of larger caliber than 6 inches, though (under section §) making certaln concessions in the latter head. Presumably it is contemplated that, should the arrange: ments proposed be adopted and should they substantially be perpetuated be- vond 1936, the category established under section 5 would in due course lapse It, is to be noted that nothing is said as to the. number of guns of caliber larger than six inches which may be carried by ships allowed to carry - such ‘flmn presumably the omission ' is " intentional. ‘Note also that the original American proposals contemplated maximum combined tonnages of cruisers and destroyers (lumped together, “during the transi- tion period” but without distinct cruiser categories) as follows: 550,000 tons for the United States and the British Empire, respectively; 330,000 tons for Japan. The contemplated maximum submarine tonnages as follows: 90,000 tons for the United States and the British Emplire, re- spectively, and 54,000 tons for Japan. The proposal of a category of ves- sels older than the replacement limits of age is purely British pre- sumably perpetuation of this category {s contemplated. The proposal that insured tonnage allowances assigned to submarines may be transferred to the cruiser and destroyer categories is purely British. In respect of age limits for replacement the new Brit- ish proposals represent a considerable concession to the American view- point. For other detalls of differences be- tween the new British proposals and the original American and British proposals, I must refer the reader to my summarization of July 2 or current press comment. In respect of the grand question, namely, the cruiser question, it cannot be said that the British have substantially vlelded; rather as I interpret (and note in this connection Sir Arthur Chamberlain's Wednesday statement to the Commons) they have tightened up. The British are for subdivision of cruisers into two categories, with narrow restriction of the category embracing cruisers of tonnage ex- ceeding 10,000 and with guns of caliber greater than six inches. We (or, at any rate, there is no authentic indication to the contrary) are for no restrictions as to tonnage or armament of individual cruisers ex- cept those imposed by the Washing- ton conference. It is recognized without rancor on either side that the differing British and American attitudes are imposed by disparity of needs. The general opinion seems to be that the present conference will find itself unable to achieve a satisfactory compromise. There is to be a plenary session tomorrow; when we shall see what we shall see. * ¥ kX Nicaragua—~On Monday a body of Sandino’s followers attempted to am- bush a detachment of American Marines and Nicaraguan native con- stabulary near Ocotal, but the am- bush was discovered betimes and the outlaws received a drubbing. One Marine and several of the constabu- lary were wounded. Several of the attackers were killed and a score or so wounded. My understanding is that the detachment of Marines and constabulary, under Maj. Floyd, was on its way to reinforce the detach- ment at Ocotal under Maj. Hatfield. Salmon Pack Passes Half Billion Pounds The world pack of canned salmon In 1926 exceeded 500,000,000 pounds, an increase of 26 per cent as compared with 1925, according to the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Of this the United States produced 71 per cent, Canada 20 per cent and Siberia 9 per cent. Compared with 1925 there was an increase in the domestic pack of 72,000,000 pounds, Siberia 17,280,000 pounds and Canada 14,400,000 pounds. ‘While the increase in the domestic pack in Alaska was 105,600,000 pounds reater, that of the Pacific States was 3,600,000 pounds less. The decrease in the Pacific States was largely in the pack of pink salmon, which is sub- Ject to alternating good and poor % , the even-numbered years being ‘off years.' Deputy Commissioner Lewis Rad- cliffe states that from 1900 to 1917 the domestic pack averaged 82 per cent of the world production. With the de- velopment of the Siberian industry and the -uwh;i up of growth in the Alaskan fleld, the percentage of world m luced in this country has srowing smaller. RED CROSS RE Experience Gained XPERIENCE gleaned in the Mississippi « Valley floods re- cently fortifles the American Red Cross in its disaster knowl- edge. Should another earth- quake rock San Francisco or the Woolworth Bullding in New York topple down today or any community almost anywhere in the United States be stricken this great humanitarian organization is prepared to cope with the scourge with a smooth-working machinery that is only catapulted into | the public gaze in times that t souls. This vigilant force, every reac to rush succor to suffering commun ties, and prepared for disaster at any point in the Nation, has its focal cen ter in Washington, under the able rection of James L. Fieser, vice ch: man in charge of domestic operation: There are 3,500 local Red Cross chapters scattered over the land—al- most one for every county—forming the sis for relief work. The local chapter is the local base, and to the question “When does the Red Cross get on the job after a disaster?” Mr. Fleser answers, “The moment the lo- cal chapter gets busy and, Invariably, that is immediately.” Ready for Emergencies. Plans to handle a disaster are pre-| pared beforehand by the efficient Red Cross unit. Headquarters here has issued a booklet entitled ““When Dis- aster Strikes,” giving _information based on the wealth of experience gleaned in emergencies, large and small. Committees on food, clothing, shelter, medical aid, finance and trans- portation are organized and know their tasks when afffiction bowls over the community. Lists of available public halls, locations of food supplies, clothing, bedding and medicines; and n.me:, addresses and telephone num- bars of capable workers are ready for instant use. Personnel are organized and schoolad in their duties should disaster come, including physicians, nurses, social workers, motor corps, canteen work- ers and production committees—pri- marily people who are accustomed to act with promptne.s and decision. Not only are local relief resources ap- praised, but those of other communi- ties to which it may be necessry to turn. Help which may be available from agencies like the Army, Navy ar4 National Guard is known. Disaster preparedness denotes a sur- vey showing where emergency food supplies, such as groceries, meat, can- ned goods, bread and milk can be ob- tained and where cots, mattresses, blankets, clothing, cooking utensils and stoves may be secured. Street car and motor truck facilities and high, level ground that may be used for a tent colony, the position of sup- plies with regard to potential floods, fires and explosions and the best means of mobilizing these resources rapidly are part and parcel of the vital information. The Red Cross chapter chairman and his nids know the hazardous, potential disaster spots in their com munity—danger zones like mines, arsenals, powder mills, munition plants, river areas likely to be flooded, and make special plans to meet such emergencies. Public officials, fire and police departments, telephone and tel:graph offices and newspapers are part of he preparedness plan to notify the chapter chairman of any calamity immediately, so that the rellef ma- chinery may be set in motion without delay. Some of the large communities of the country, Mr. Fieser says, have very complete organizations for dis- aster work, even dowu to having storehouses _stocked with emergency materfal. Bulwarking this far-flung organization, he adds, the muchinery of the American Medical Association is available, through the national, State and county units. The Ameri- can Red Cross maintains as a reserve for the Army and Navy 42,000 nurses, w™ich form a reservoir for disaster work. Then, too, Mr. Fieser points out, there is a mobile disaster relief agency in the first-ald railroad car, which can be rushed to any point in peril, as the railroads give it right of way. In pe- rio?: of normaley the car, with two experienced men on board, is a base for first-aid instruction for railroad men and communities along its route. It makes a tour across the continent, starting in at a designated railroad system and traversing all its lines. Field Staf’s Work. Supplementing these groups a field staff of 15 or 20 is giving first aid and life saving lectures over the country, aiding the local chapters in this work, and in times of national stress are available for relief duty. ational headquarters, too, has its experts that can be dispatched to a disaster of great magnitude. For instance, Mr. Fieser observes, A. L. Shafer, assist ant national director of the Junior Red Cross, is now directing the entire re- lief operation in the State of Missis- sippi, while M. K. Reckord, assistant national director of first aid and life saving, is also active in the recently flooded area. As soon as work of this nature is completed the natlonal offi- cials go back to their regular assign- ments. Mr. Fieser attributes this wide- awake spirit of readiness to meet any disaster over the land to the fact that Red Cross chapters are alive and do- ing things all the time. At no point are they muscle-bound (Continued from_ First Page.) the New York and Vacuum companies. What sort of retaliation could be put into effect is difficult to understand. Granted that the Royal Dutch has es- tablished markets in foreign countrie: it has only one cheap source of supply —America. But the competing com- panies which he has threatened with retaliation have two cheap sources of supply, one of them in America and another in Russia. Therefore, the talk of retaliation sounds to those who understand the situation very much like hot air, and they are inclined to believe that Mr. Teagle's trip to Europe has been made with the pur pose of cementing further the alliance of the New Jersey company with the Royal Dutch-Shell group. One of the | objects of the New Jersey company in continuing in the good graces of the Dutch-Shell group is understood to be its desire for concessions in the Dutch East Indies, which heretofore have been, in the main, refused. The New Jersey company may have a point in its favor, if there is any bar- gaining to be done, by siding with the ; Dutch_group against the New Jersey and Vacuum companies in America. Losing this _alliance might work against the Dutch-Shell group, and they may want it enough to come to trading terms. This is only conjec- ture, however. * ¥ ¥ % One reason why some of the stu- dents of the oil situation cannot be- lieve that the Dutch-Shell group and the New Jersey company are guided only by the alleged unethical procedure in dealing with a nation which does not respect private property rights is the fact that. both companies have been very anxious to get Russian ofl. Before the war there was a working agreement of some sort between the New Jersey company and the Nobell Co., Ltd., which had large oil conces- sions in Russia. The war saw the confiscation of the Nobell concessions, but after the war, when there was | energy on g ADY TO MEET ANY NATIONAL EMERGENC@( by Organization in Recent Disasters Is Used in Perfect- ing Plans for Future Activity This activity exhibits itself in a va- riety of ways. Mr. Fieser calls it “the contribution of the war to the work.” Junior and life saving work, pubHc health and nursing programs, work for ex-service men and their families and many other endeavors keep the chapter on the qui vive. he sags. Of course the annual Red Cross roll call, plans for which are now being laid for 1927, is the signal for visible the part of the Mr. Fleser points out t year the American Red Cross is ‘ 6b- serving its “coming of a - its twenty-first birthday under its pres- ent charter, as well as its tenth an- niversary of its entrance into World War activities. The charter says that the American Red Cross shall be the representative of the American peo- ple in time of disaster, pestilence and national emergency. It is also a line of communication between the Ameri- can people and the Army and Navy. Government Aid. The chairman and five members of the central committee are appointed by the President of the United and are representative of the Govern ment departments. This gives a di- rect channel into the Government m- chinery, as the organization is semi- governmental in character, as well as enjoying wide popular support. Its governmert nexus is exhibited-in times of disaster, when the support of the Army and Navy and other go¥- ernmental agencies becomes readily available. This means tentage, equip- ment, stores, medical supplies, vessels of th, Coast Guard and the Light- house Service, expert advice on soils from the Department of Agriculture, assistance from the Public Health Service, down to seaplanes from the Navy and radio outfits and operators. This, Mr. Fieser s is aptly {lls- trated in the Mississippi Valley dis- aster. In the case of the Japanese earth- quake, Mr. Fieser recalls, the naval radio service was placed at the di posal of the Red Cross to render as. sistance and transmit neceasary mes- sages. The Shipping Boa®, Navy and Army transports opened their hold = for cargo space for supplies.to al'~viate suffering. Part of the Washington office has supervision over activities east o the Mississippi and the State of Loulsiama. The St. Louls branch office has com- trol over the area west of the Mis- sissippi River to the Rockies and the San Francisco branch offica has charge of the seven States in the Far West. Backing up its activities are 3,000,000 adult and 6,000,000 junior members of the Red Cross. Mr. Flieser declares that there are from 60 to 100 disasters over the United States every year, large and small, ranging from floods, cvclones and hurricanes to epidemics and mine disasters. News of these disturbanees s communicated to the Red Cross. by the press services br newspapers, or often by an operator who sends word before a wire goes out. This sets in motion the immense disaster relief machinery, starting with the local unit, backed by the national organl- zation and supparted by the Unit States Government itseif. 2 The President of the United States is the president of the American Red Cross. On several nccasions in recent years an occupant of the White Houss has called upon the American people to aid in_some disaster at home. or abroad. This occurred in December, 1906, when President Taft appealed for the victims of the famine in China, and again in1910 after tha earthquake in Costa Rica and in 1912 after a second Chinese famine. Aided War Sufferers. President Wilson in 1914 had occa- sion to take similar steps when & famine raged in Japan, as he had the year before during the Ohio Valley flood disaster. When the World War broke in Europe in the late Summer of 1914 President Wilson appealed for funds for the war sufferers, and a year later found him urging the American people to contribute for the succor of Mexican victims. In 1917, when the United States entered the conflict, he asked his fellow-countrymen to give liberally for their own, and in 1920 another proclamation went forth un- der his hand asking assistance for the Chinese famine relief. The Pueblo floods in 1 a proclamation from Pres Ing, and the year after Symrna relief was the occasion for a like appeal by him. In 1923 President Coolldge issued a plea on the basis of the Japanese earthquake. Last year the Florida hurricane evoked a’ proclamation, as did the Missiseippi Valley disaster this year. All these events, Mr. Fieser asserts, have added materially to disaster re- lief data. The Mississippi Valley ex- perience a few weeks ago contributed liberally to this fund of informatior, for_progressive methods were utilized to bear rellef, making full use of air- craft and radio to supplement the better known channels of aid. Mr. Fieser feels that whatever dis: aster may befall in the future the American Red Cross, in co-operation with the American people, will be able to cope with it through a system of preparation deemed as vital for coms munities as is military preparedness for nations. N some prospect of Russia's compensaty ing the owners of confiscated property, the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey bought an interest in the Nobell coms pany. The company no longer owned or operated oil property, but the understanding is that the New Jerse: company bought on the possibilities that the Nobell compary would either be compensated for its losses or elsy have concessions restored. Neitheg has come about, and the New Jerse; company's purchase has been a poof bargain, P [ Rumania Breaking Its Economic Wall The economic “Chinese wall” seps arating Rumania from the outside world fs being breached if not brokes, Although its resources have been but slightly developed, Rumania in recent years has sought to achieve the ideal of economic self-sufficiency. To keep all its “wealth,” Rumania has pros hibited the export of many commod- ities or placed a prohibitive expdft' duty upon them. Import duties e also high. Such regulations have made the investment of foreign capital possible with Rumanian capital mu% the roost. As a result farmers pay 32| per cent to 40 per cent per annum fas fully secured loans and the Rumaniag, banks get the profit. p Premier Averescu has shown hifh self inclined to modify these regutd® tions. The recent Italo-Rumaniam: treaty contalns commercial asTen: ments permitting the entry of Italial wares at reasonable duties and th& Italian loan of sorue $10,000,000° has had good effect on the financial situgs tion. Now representatives of Amers ican banking houses are in Buch: investigating the loan market, and ¢ seems likely that forelgn money whtk =oon be welcomed on terms acceptablgy to the investor, 2