Evening Star Newspaper, September 16, 1928, Page 39

O A e g " EUROPEANS CHALLENGE i AMERICA’S INDUSTRIALISM Manufacturers Adopt Mass Production, Marking Revolutionary Change in Competition. BY CARROLL BINDER. ENEVA.—In Czechoslovakia and Switzerland they make shoes by the mass production princi- ple which American manufac- turers developed. German paper pulp mills, French tire factories, English chocolate works, Russian cotton printing plants, Swedish typewriter factories, Ice- land fisheries and Finnish agricultural undertakings and innumerable other en- terprises throughout Europe operate on efficiency principles copied from Ameri- can industrial establishments. Leading employers of Great Britain and England’s shrewdest labor leaders are now holding meetings to devise ways for collaboration of capital and labor in the economic reconstruction of British industry. The world industrial parlia- ment known as the international labor organization—a corollary of the League of Nations—Ilast June unanimous!y adopted a resolution to work for meas- ures looking toward substitution of em- ployer-worker collaboration for Europe's traditional class war. The thought was to apply in Europe industrial relations principles successfully used in America. “Nothing very original or surprising in that,” remarks the casual American traveler as he hears about these develop- ments. “We've been doing all those things for years.” Remarkable Change Coming. ‘The student of economic and social guestions who gazes out over Europe from this unrivaled observatory and examines these changes in the light of Furopean history and tradition comes to a quite different conclusion. “This,” he says, “is & revolutionary departure for both Euro- Elun capital and European labor. If rope as a whole turns its back on traditional methods and adopts these new policies a new, more powerful com- titor will challenge prosperous indus- rial America. The social consequences of this change may be as far-reaching as were those which followed the ap- plication of steam power and the de- velopment of the factory system a century and a quarter ago.” ‘When a sleepy old American factory employs an efficiency engineer for time studies and a business economist for re- searches into markets and distribution methods no one thinks about revolution. It is merely considered a belated awak- ening to the newer business methods- - something inevitable if the business is . to survive in a fiercely competitive age. adoption of such methods in a European lant is quite a different matter. All ropean tradition and standards are against them. The manufacturer in Czechoslovakia or Germany who deeides to use mass production methods is a veritable Columbus sailing new seas. Europe is accustomed to doing things the way it did them a century or more ago and to using machines that preced- ing generations found acceptable. It has lived a pretty comfortable and satisfying existence by following tradition. Europeans Expect Little. Europe, too, is highly individualistic despite its drift toward collectivism. A European just naturally expects to have a suit of clothes or a pair of &hoes a little different from -those every one .else wears. He likes to find & place where a food product is made Just to his taste. Standardized auto- mobiles, shoes, breakfast foods which the American takes for granted are uninteresting if nos distasteful to the average European buyer. The European workingman is accus- tomed .to working longer hours for far less money than the American ‘workingman. He never expects to own & motor car or to buy a fur coat for his wife, and unless his child is to become a clergyman he hardly dreams of his receiving a college education. But in some respects the European ‘workingman thinks he is more fortu- nate than the American factory worker as he understands that worker's lot. ‘The European thinks he is a craftsman instead of a mere machine tender. He can and does do more varied tasks during his day’s work and he doesn’t work as hard as the machine makes the American work. The son of a wage earner, the Euro- g:an workingman expects his children be wage earners rather than mem- bers of a more fortunately situated so- cial class. Regardless of his political or social views, the European wage earner tends to think of his employer as a hard, impersonal creature, inter- ested in getting the most for the least return. He expects to fight for such wage increases and improvements in working conditions as he obtains. He and his class are in a struggle for the good things of life with the em- ploying class. whose disposition is to yield as few of those things as possible. Communists See Danger. ‘This, broadly speaking, is the tradi- tional mentality of Europe. That men- tality prevails pretty generally today. For a continent with such a tradition to turn its back upon the past and re- order its life on American methods is no small matter. There are many who doubt that Europe will thus abandon its past and Americanize. There are more who think the class struggle is too deeply ingrained in the European soul for American imported ideas of class collaboration to make any appreciable | headway. Cultural leaders and pub- licists write fervent appeals to Europe to deny admission to the American Trojan horse, which they declare will bring cultural ruin along with material prosperity. The Communists are doing their best to prevent the spread of the class collaboration propaganda and to keep alive the passion for the class struggle. It is far too early to comment with any assurance on the future of the class collaboration movement. That European industry is fast Americaniz- ing and will almost universally Ameri- canize—or perish—within a decade or two seems indisputable as one studies the reports received here at the Inter- national Labor Office and the Interna- tional Management Institute, which is affiliated with the labor office. Change Under Surface. ‘The visitor from highly standardized, efficiency-worshiping America who first sees Europe in 1928 probably will ask where this alleged revolution is taking place. To him Europe will seem a hizghly picturesque, old-fashioned, in- efficient place which a few snappy Amcricans, given a free hand, could greatly improve. Those who know pre- war Europe and who take the trouble to look at factories, glance over current literature or visit scientific congresses will recognize the amazing sweep of the new technique and its apparent sure- ness of conquest. The key business men and industries in various countries see salvation and prosperity in ‘“‘Americanization” and they have chosen the route to salva- tion. Their colleagues who cling to the old methods will- survive a while, but the future is with the “Americanizers,” 4t history has any lessons to teach. It is with this reoriented Europe that the United States will have to compete in the years to come. ‘What will happen to the sales sheets of American business concerns, the divi- dends of American stockholders, the wages of American workingmen, if Eu- ropean industry is thoroughly Ameri- canized or rationalized, as it now prom- ises to be? Most observers take for granted that American products will find it more dif- ficult to penetrate the European mar- kets and that our goods will thereafter meet stiffer competition in the mar- kets of the non-industrial countries, such as Latin America and the Orient. With an asbundant labor supply and methods of efficient production and economical distribution similar to those obtained in American factories, Europe should be able at least to meet our prices on all products except where we have advantages in raw material. ‘That would seem to spell reduced profits for American capital and shorter time for American labor under the rule- of-thumb 2conomics. From that stand- point we should regretfully watch Eu- rope adopt our methods. There is, however, another school of business thinkers which rejoices at the Ameri- canization of European industry. This school not only refuses to view with alarm or to sound the cry of the empty dinner pail. It actually puts up money to help Europe learn American efi- ciency methods and therefore increase her industrial prosperity. Filene Gives View. Edward A. Filene, a Boston mer- chant, and Henry S. Dennison, a Massa- chusetts manufacturer, are the leading exponents of and investors in this new economic the Mr. Filene has -ex- this: “Let us assume that a pair of shoes and a hat are of equal value. If I pro- duce ten pairs of shoes and my neigh- bor produces ten hats we can profit- ably do business together. If I pro- duce ten pairs of shoes while he by virtue of disabilities of one sort or an- other can produce only six hats our exchange is limited accordingly. In other words I suffer if my neighbor is in economic straits. America can be most prosperous if Europe, her good customer, is also prosperous. It is an enlightened investment to help restore European prosperity.” Mr. Filene, Mr. Dennison and some American friends, with the co-opera- tion of American efficiency engineers, have acordingly financed on a gener- ous scale an international management institute here in Geneva. The mission of this institute is to make available to European manufacturers, labor unions, governments, business houses, | colleges—to any interested person or institution—the best American ex- perience in increasing production eliminating waste, reducing labor turn- over, training workers and in general reducting costs and promoting effici- ency in industry. The institute serves also as a clearing house for Eu n experience, A Czech manufacturer may learn through the institute how a Swiss industrialist similarly situated dealt successfully with a common prob- lem. Start Efficiency Magazine. 1t is believed by the founders of this institute that American acturers have much to learn from Europe in the matter of efficiency and waste elimi- nation and especially in the adaptation of the worker to his. task. Europe has seized upon American experience with extraordinary avidity, but some Euro- peans have improved upon the Ameri- can technique in the course of their adaptations and it is hoped to trans- mit this experience to American in- dustry. Thus far the movement of information seems to be a one-way affair—an American export to Europe. There was a natural response in the German mentality to the gospel of efficiency, but Americanization seems to have gained a special impetus there because of the hard struggle to pay war reparations and effect industrial recovery. Russia embraced the new technique to insure the success of the revolution. A leading Austrian manu- facturer remarked recently that with- in a decade Russian goods would be able to penetrate all those European coun- tries which failed to organize their in- dustries on the new lines—so success- ful has been the rationalization cam- paign in soviet land. Italy has lfi%‘ nfi‘audluflgn":s a governmen cy for muc! e san;‘: reason as Russia—to insure the success of its fascist revolution. Speak- ing in the Italian chamber last March, Signor Belluzo, then minister of na- tional economy, said: “The new fascist industrial policy is based on rationali- zation. We intend to introduce ra- tionalization gradually, reducing the cost of production without increasing unemployment, and we shall set the pace faster as the supply of labor di- minishes. Industry will be protected against foreign competition to a greater extent by more rational metheds of production than by tariff walls.” Latins Slow to Change. While some of the finest examples of rationalization are found in France, which even before the war experimented with the new technique, the Latin peoples do not naturally embrace American s and efficiency as readily as the Teutonic races and the Slavs, Likewise English industrials have looked askance at the overseas methods as a violation of principles stanchly adhered to. The propaganda for Americanizing is gaining steadily, however, and the success of those in- dustrialists who adopt the rationaliza- tion principles will act as a powerful lever on the rest of the business men. ‘The rationalization - movement is spread in Germany by a national com- mittee, to which the government gives 2,000,000 marks ($500,000). annually. This committee represents the interests of producers, distributors and con- sumers rather than individual indus- tries, and concerns fitself with such problems as standardization, packing, budgeting, credits, business barometers —in fact, anything that will make Ger- man production more efficient. Under its inspiration there is a magazine de- voted to nothing but the best methods of packing goods. A four-day institute on packing was recently held on the Bremen docks. The Czech government subsidizes the Masaryk Labor Academy, whose func- tion it is to promote scientific manage- ment in Czech industry. Poland, too, has a department of scientific manage- ment financed by the government. The lectures and complete courses in scien- tific management in European uni- versities and commercial schools are increasingly numerous. The bibliography of European literature on scientific management, issued prior to July, 1926, occupies 43 pages of six-point type in Mr. Devinat's book. Instances of suc- cessful use of American methods are too numerous to cite. U. S. Has Little to Fear. ‘The picture would not be complete, however, if one failed to add that an American engineer visiting many of these plants, particularly in such an industry as radio and automobile manu- facture, where technical advances come swiftly, often feels even the most ad- vanced European plants to be severzl years behind their American com- petitors. I have heard these engineers say that American manufacturers can readily triumph over even “Ameri- canized” European industry because of greater daring and more progressive technique. Whether the European modernization ultimately will extend to the ready scrapping of good pattenrs and dies for better ones just invented remains to be seen. Another burden of European indus- try's expansion is the present customs barrier erected around every nation, however small its area. The American manufacturer with his huge home area, free of tariff walls, enjoys an advantage his European competitors cannot offsei until old-world nationalism yields to the economic needs of free:exchange. And presumably if those tariff w: are to be lowered the American exporter will also have a chance to enter the markets in competition with European producers. (Copyrizht. 1038.) -~ eory. plained his philosophy somewhat llke‘ -- THE - SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON,- D.- T. SEPTEMBER 16, 1928—PART -2. How Dry Is Wet Canada? Is Plan of Government Sale of Liquor Successful? Is There Graft and Disrespect for Law? BY MABEL WALKER WILLEBRANDT Assistant Attorney General of the United States_in Charge of Lesal Phases of Prohibition Enforcement. HE laws of the United States pro- hibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes have been on the statute books less than nine years. It is now pro- posed that those laws shall be changed. The reasons given for these proposals are that the prohibition law is not sup- ported by public sentiment in the cities of the Nation, that the law is difficult of adequate enforcement, that it has been attended by corruption of public officials and officers of the law. That enforcement of the prohibition laws has been attended by great diffi- culties no one will deny. . That those laws should be modified because of the great number of violations is a proposal as logical as one to modify all laws against robbery because there are hun- dreds of violations each day. Yet the laws against robbery are as old as civilization itself. Our Canadian neighbors have gone far in efforts to solve the problem by the method of sale made by the state itself and not by private individuals. What are the facts in the Canadian liquor situation? Has Canada found a means of dealing with the human crav- ing for alcoholic stimulants that results in temperance and sobriety, satisfies its BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief summary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended September 15: ,—All _the wm'ldh !ovfie‘s a: cess, especially one so charming g:nl’flncesspeulovmm of Italy. So the world listens with absorption to the gossip which alleges that King Boris of Bulgaria, and King Zogu (or Scanderbsg TII, or whatever may be his title), of Albania are rival suitors for Princess jovanna’s hand. . 0King Boris might be a suitable match, for he is reputed a very good sort, but really the gossip as to Zogu is quite too romantic. In the first place, he is a Mohammedan. _Conceivably he might turn Christian, but we have it on very authority that he himself readily admits that he arrived at his dazzling eminence by the good old path of assassination. Really, he won't do. BY the way, the Albanians call him “Mpret” which is thought to be a_ cor- ruption of “Imperator.” He is only 33 years old. While still a boy, he suc- ceeded his father as Beg of the Mati, said to be the most powerful tribe in northern Albania. He has been by turns pro-Turk, pro-Serbian and pro- Italian. Some would call him clever, others slippery. é We hear that Belgrade won't ac- knowledge Mpret Zogu I and has with- drawn _its diplomatic representative from- Tirana; chiefly because Zogu is denominated, not King of Albania, but King of the Albanians, and it is es- timated that of the two million or so Albanians in the world about 440,000 are subjects of the King of the Serbs Croats and Slovenes, there being only about 850,000 Albanians in Albania. Some people might have a kick com- ing on similar grounds as to the title of the King at Belgrade. * oK ok K Bulgaria.—A recent political develop- ment in Bulgaria might not, at first blush seem of great consequence, but a far prettier business in the Balkans might lead to the embroilment of the entire planet, might bring the whole world by the ears. The Liapcheff cab- inet resigned because of a bitter di- vision of opinion among them. The French and British governments had been urging the Sofia government to end the terrorism exercised by the so- called “Macedonian revolutionary or- ganization” to smash that ineffable outfit. M. Buroff, the foreign minister, approved the advice and pressed for correspondent action. But Gen. Wol- koff, the minister of war, backed, we are told, by the army, was even more emphatically of the contrary persuasion. Of the rest of the cabinet some went with Buroff, others (probably in fear of Macedonian bullet or cold steel) with Wolkoff. ~ So the cabinet resigned Liapcheft was invited to form a new cabinet. So bitter was the quarrel, it seemed that he, a lover of compromise, must defi- nitely take sides, excluding one of the two groups from participation in the government, Favoring the Burofl group, he would risk assassination, civil war might result; but that, one felt, would be choice. Favoring the Wolkoff group, he would, one felt, connive at terrorism, would antagonize Britain and France and would be likely to ruin the chances of a forelgn loan, negotiations for which have been set afoot:; a loan so neces- sary to the Bulgarian economy. What happened was that King Borls, (presumably with an eye to the desired loan) intervened to effect a reconcilia- tion. The old cabinet is back. Close observers, however, regard the reconcili- ation as of the frailest, they predict for it only the briefest life. * Kk ok ok China.—The Nanking government has announced that “Likin” is to be completely abolished before the end of October as a preliminary to institution of tariff autonomy, but there seems to be a good deal of doubt whether such total abolition is immediately pacticable. the courageous, the honorable | people and promotes the public welfare by eliminating liquor law violations, graft and corruption? The answers to these questions are all found in the evidence of Canadian citizens, Canadian officials and the Canadian press. It is not unfair to call attention to the first page of the Vancouver Daily Province, published at Vancouver, British’ Columbia, January 27, 1928. A four-column, three-line, large-type “screamer” headline on that page reads thus: “Customs Report Urges Swift Clean-up of Shady Export Liquor Houses.” The report is that of the Royal Commission on Customs and Excise. Liquor Dereliction Cited. ‘Three columns on the first page are utilized to tell the story of Canadian customs and liquor dereliction, and ad- ditional columns are devoted to the same story on pages four and seven. On page two most of a column is de- voted to charges of graft made against a number of employes of a Canadian government liquor control board. A quotation from the report of the royal commission is of direct interest because of its bearing on the possibility of improvement in our own country through individual State control of the liquor traffic. It refers both to illegal sales of liquor for use in the United States and for Canadian consumption: Order must be taken to provide sources of revenue to replace the Likin, or lo- cal transit tolls, if the provincial and smaller governments are to carry on, and such provision is likely to be a mat- ter of difficulty. Has, as some reports aver, or has not, Marshall Chang Hsueh Liang, son of Chang Tso Lin, and now in succession to his father, Super Tu- chun of Manchuria, definitely commit- ted himself, heart and soul, to the Jap- anese interest, turning down the pro- Nationalist party of Manchuria, headed by Gen. Yang Yu Ting, the elder Chang’s chief of staff and right-hand man. Baron Hayachi, special agent of the Tokio government in Manchuria, in- forms us that the economic (including the financial) situation in Manchuria is improving, thanks to good crops and military retrenchments. He says that the political condition is stable. As to war-like operations, or threat of such, between the Shantung (Ankuochun) remnant and Nationalist troops in Chih Li, just over the border from Manchuria, he says that if the Shantungese retreat into Manchuria, they will be disarmed. * K ok K United States—Charles Evans Hughes has been elected by the League Assembly and Council Judge of the World Court, to fill the unexpired term of John Bassett Moore, resigned; and has accepted. Porto Rico was swept by a terrific hurricane on September 13. - Reports indicate a considerable loss of life and great material damage. The American Getting to “We are convinced that the export houses are established in practically every case for the sole purpose of sell- ing liquor to be smuggled into the United States, and that they exist for no legitimate purpose whatever. * * * In seeking a cause of smuggling of liquors in Canada we found it was owing to some extent to the high cus- toms tariff on imported liquor and the high excise tax duty on liquor manu- factured in Canada.” ‘What Might Be Expected. It is quite apparent, therefore, from the experience of Canada, that we might expect these things if each of our 48 States were given independent control of its liquor policy:. 1. A vast organized business of “smuggling” liquor from wet States to dry States. 2. “Smuggling” of bootleg or tax- free liquor irom one wet State to other wet States in competition with the higher priced “official” liquor. 3. Smuggling of liquor from foreign countries into wet and dry States alike, just as at present, but with greater possibilities of non-detection, because of the legality of the sale of liquor in many States. ‘Whoever can envision the possibility of reducing the so-called “army of pro- hibition officers” under such a system, involving inspection of shipments across the boundaries of 48 States as well as Red Cross is sending a relief expedition. On_ September 14, a tornado struck Rockford, Ill, causing death to perhaps as many as 75 persons and much destruction. James Duncan, last to survive of the founders of the American Federation of Labor and one of its ablest and most popular officials, is dead at 71. In the international tennis contest at the Germantown Cricket Club be- tween American and French teams, the Frenchman won five matches to four. In the singles Henri Cochet beat George Lott, Jean Borotra beat John Hennessey, Christian Boushus beat Junior Coen, John Van Ryn beat Jacques Brugnon, Francis Hunter beat Rene De Buzelet and John Doeg beat Pierre Landry. In the doubles Landry and Boushus beat Doeg and Coen, Borotra and Brugnon beat Lott and Hennessey and Van Ryn and Wilmer Allison (the team victory already decided in favor of France) beat Cochet and De Buzelet. The contest was especially interest- ing as furnishing a comparison of the best younger players of the two countries. Apparently they are od the whole quite evenly matched. Cochet was very impressive in his match against Lott, but observe that in doubles he ha# twice met defeat in this country recently. Either he was not happily mated or his talent for doubles is not of quality comparable to his talent for singles. Note that Lott and Hennessey, who triumphed so decisively over Cochet and Brugnon in the na- tional doubles championship at Brook- line were beaten at Germantown by New York BY BRUCE BARTON. BOUT twice a week some young man writes to ask me how he can get to New York. | answer A the question by telling how one very prominent New Yorker got there. * Kok ok He grew up on a farm, worked his way through college and law school, and hung out his shingle in a little lowa town. One of his first clients was a local merchant—a jobber in groceries, let us say. * X ¥ ok Our friend handled the busi- ness so well that his client spoke highly of him to the county as- sociation of grocery jobbers and he became the lawyer for the association. This necessitated his_attendance at conventions in St. Louis and Chicago and at one of these he was able to show the Western association how to get out of a tangle. So the mem- bers of the Western association elected him as their counsel, too. * % %k % There came then the que: of uniting the Eastern and Western associations. Our friend was sent to New York for con- There he fell under of a gentleman who had interests and liked his * ¥ ok X The gentleman investigated his record, discovering that each forward step in his career had grown out of the good work of the past. And so, to his complete surprise, our friend received an offer of the vice presidency of a company in New York at a sal- ary beyond his wildest dreams. Subsequently the man who se- lected him retired, and he be- came president. * ok k'K He told me the story one morning. “Had you asked me 10 years ago what my career would be,” he id, “l should have answered that I'd probably practice law in that little town in lowa until my ieth birth- day. * ok ok ok “Then, having saved enough to buy a farm on the edge of the village, spend the rest of my days raising pigs. It would have given me a great laugh if any- body had suggested that | should ever be in business in New York.” 2 ited experience makes me believe that this story has general application. One thing leads to another. Very few of the things | have planned to do have ever come to pass, but good things have continu- ously dropped into my lap from totally unexpected sources. o kL There is an old saying which does not rise to intellectual heights, but contains much truth. It says: “See a pin and pick it up—All the day you'll have good luck.” * X Xk X Most good luck comes when you are busiest picking up the pins immediately in front of you. Fellows who strain their ey see the end of the road upon them by puncturing one of their tires. (Copyright, 1928.) CROWD AT GOVERNMENT LIQUOR STORE IN WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA. our international boundaries is indeed an optimist! Since 1916 Canada has had what amounts to_“local option” in its nine provinces. No liquor may be sent into or shipped out of any province in viola- tion of the regulations or -laws of the province. The liquor business, except in two prohibition provinces, is govern- ment controlled and managed, though manufacture and importation is in pri- vate hands. Government Monnpoiy. The sale of whisky and other liquors with high alcoholic content is a gov- ernment monopoly, and is limited to sealed packages, bottles or. crates, not to be consumed on the premises where sold. Some of the provinces sell only to citizens who have purchased permits to buy. Members of clubs are per- mitted to maintain liquor lockers. Beer is sold in “parlors,” but not at bars, and must be consumed at tables. Such, in general, is the Canadian system. Heavy import duties and excise taxes yield substantial revenue to the general and provincial governments—and, inei- dentally, make the government’s activi- ties dependent on the liquor demand. The practical effect of this system may be judged by these facts, taken from Canadian sources: The 10,000,000 population of seven (Continued on Fifth Page.) The Story the Week Has Told Borotra and Brugnon. Van Ryn's show- ing both in singles and doubles was most flattering to our hopes for the future and the same is to be said as to French hopes of the playing of Boushus in both his matches and of the showing of De Buzelet against the veteran Hunter. The match which engaged the most lively attention was that between Boushus, junior champion of France, and Coen, the 16-year-old member of our Davis Cup team, won by Boushus. * k% x Geneva.—Apropos of Herr Mueller's speech of September 7 to the League Assembly and Council in joint session, in which he demanded that the allies disarm down to the German level or allow Germany to arm up to theirs, and | one or t'other without delay, Briand in a talk to correspondents the next day invited attention to the necessity of Eu- ropean provision against Russian men- ace, and then he went on to call in question the alleged military helpless- ness of Germany. Germany, he asserted, has 100,000 men trained to the hilt for non-com- missioned jobs and not less than 2,000,- 000 men who took part in the late war and are still it for service; besides that practically all the German youth (so he put it) have been trained or are being trained in organizations which are camouflaged military training schools of high efficiency. Finally, he spoke of “industrial potentialities for proviston of required arms in short order.” On September 10, addressing Assem- bly and Council in joint session, Brian answered Herr Mueller's speech. Un- fortunately the cabled digests of Briand's speech (as of Herr Mueller's) are meager, but apparently he told his audience substantially what he had told the correspondents as cited above: stressing the Russian menace as a rea- son why allied reduction of armaments must needs be cautious and avoiding too direct a reply to the German alter- native claim of the right to arm up allied levels. Apparently Herr Muziler stark assertion (ascribable some shrewd heads insists, to political exigences at home) of unchallengeable moral justi- fication for the German claims, set Briand's nerves on edge and accounis for an unwonted brusqueness in his speech, which appears to have been taken in very bad part throughout Ger- many. But to say that on this occasion Briand repudiated Locarno, and that in consequence of his speech, the near rapprochement (if the expression is al- lowable) between France and Germany has been fatally compromised, is doubt- less to make too much ado. No doubt Germany, though disappointed that her chancellor should not be able to “swing it,” will on reflection, and re- calling the Treaty of Frankfort and its sequel, find excuses for a certain French obstinacy (despite loyalty in the large to the spirit of Locarno) in re- spect of guarantees for S$ecurity and reparations, and will concede that the principle of mutual concessions may after all be the ticket. In fact, hopeful conversations on the side are being con- ducted on that, and not on a rhetorical To_conclude; I think we may say that Herr Mueller was most un- tactful, where much- tact was “indi- cated.” That Briand, in reply, was far less happily inspired than usual, but that the fluttered dovecotes should soon recover calm after the rhetorical blasts. Most interesting were Briand's refer- ences in that speech to Moscow. Mos- cow, said he, in effect, blocks disarma- ment by everywhere fomenting the men- ace of civil conflict. The Russian proj- ect for complete disarmament he called “a theatrical gesture.” ° Moscow, of course, is righteously indignant. In the same speech Briand announced that the Franco-British provisicnal naval agreement, the rumors about which have so fantastically fluttered the world, would be submitted to the pre- paratory disarmament commission and would simultaneously be made public. He declared there were no secret under- standing U. S. SEEKS Memory “of 20,000 MERICA is launching a far- flung crusade for child safety —intended to eliminate from the harmony of children’s voices at school, home or play the discordant note cf childish anguish | that arises too frequently from traffic- .| infested streets, inadequately suj playgrounds accident. The crusade is not a new one, but as the vast army of little ones moves back again on the Nation's schools the ;:nmpmgn will take on rejuvenated orm. Thousands upon thousands of little strangers to the world of education are entering classes for the first time this Fall. In the National Capital, alone, some 2,000 wide-eyed boys and girls, awed and confused at their initial venture into the fleld of books and blackboards, will make their way to school tomorrow across the city’s busy thoroughfares. Theirs are the voices of innocence, of confidence in their playmates and their elders. Yet the voices of 20,000 of these little children were stilled throughout the country last year—beneath the tragic wheels of traffic, on the corner lot, in the old swimming hole or at ipervise and other pitfalls of : divers other places fraught with danger for youngsters. All of these 20,000 children were under 14 years and over 5. The figures include only children who lost their lives in- accidents. The mnumber who were injured and who will carry marks of the accidents to their graves runs into the hundreds of thousands. Accidents rank third in the causes of death among children up to 5 years of age, first in the causes of death among children between the ages of 5 and 14, and sixth among persons of all ages. Auto Toll Is High. Nearly one-fourth of all the victims of automobile accidents are children under the age of 15 years. The auto- mobile thus becomes an outstanding menace to the school child. Last year in 50 cities that maintained records no less than 34,577 children were struck by automobiles. Accidents happen in other places than on the streets, however. For ex- ample, 23,000 persons lost their lives in industrial accidents last year and 20,000 died as the result of accidents in the home. Some 23,000 others were killed in automobile accidents. All told a few more than 95,000 lost their lives in various kinds of ‘accidents last year, while the number injured ran into millions. Three million were injured in industrial accidents alone, entailing an_economic loss of more than $28,- 000,000. The cost of accidents is appalling— far above the idea of the average per- son. When one learns that one-fourth of the deaths from accidents are among children of school.age, the ques- tion arises: ; “What is being done about it>" Much is being done. A great deal has been done. Much . more will be done. There are many agencies at work to better conditions of the school - dren, and there is one organization that is devoting its entire time to safety edu- cation. That is the education division of the National Safety Council, of which Albert W. Whitney of New York is chairman and Miss Idabelle Stevenson, also of New York, is secretary. ‘The National Safety Council spends many thousands of dollars yearly to teach safety to school children, and will continue the drive as long as bene- fits are derived therefrom. There is no doubt ' that the safety council has made advances in keeping down Amer- ica’s accident and death lists. council, many citles, civic organizations, ‘Through the educational work of the educational bureaus and other organiza- s STIRRED BY TRAGEDIES, CHILD SAFETY Deaths Last Year Arouses Nation to Launch Crusade for Protection. tions are promoting safety. and more and more groups become affiliated with the movement each year. Los Angeles has made an extraordi- nary move in the floating of a bond issue of $350,000 for the construction of 40 tunnels under busy streets, primarily d | designed to solve the problem of school children crossing trafic arteries. These tunnels have proved a most profitable investment, for the list of accidents on the streets in which school children are involved has shrunk encouragingly. Furthermore, the tunnels are policed by junior safety patrols, sponsored by the national safety council. Washinz- ton has adopted a similar plan with its schoolboy patrols, fostered by the Dis- trict of Columbia division of the Ameri- | can Automobile Association. The patrols have proved a marked success here, and the association is outlining a new pro- gram of activity for the present school year. Detroit has followed the example of Los Angeles in building a tunnel so that children of the Burton Street School may go under the busy street instead of over it. While a tunnel may cost thou- sands of dollars, safety officials point out that one cannot measure money in the saving of lives. The Detroit tunnel is declared to be a real life-saver, for its construction has virtually eliminated accldents in that vicinity—once a source of constant concern to parents and police. Detroit also has formed a chil- dren’s safety club. . Massachusetts has a safety council which plans safety work in all of its schools. Jersey City, Hoboken and Bayonne, in New Jersey, have erected huge bulletin boards in prominent loca=- tions throughout the cities, and on these hoards are displayed safety bulletins so that those who walk or ride may read them and profit by them. Problem in New York. New York City, with its 1,045,000 students, is intensely interested in safe- ty education. With 42 children injured each day and 3 children killed every two days, the problem in the big me- tropolis - is one that challenges the ingenuity and the perseverance of officialdom.. Supt. of Schools O'Shea of New York has inaugurated a special course in safety, supplemented by motion and still pictures, safety games, plays, spe- cial talks and lessons. As educators the country over thus taking an active part in the campaign the safety movement in all its phases continues to grow. And the number of accidents and deaths is slowly but sure- ly decreasing. The safety division of the National Safety Council is in liaison with boards of education and other school authorities in at least 160 cities. Many cities, like New York, have made the teaching of safety a regular part of the curriculum. This includes not only safety on the streets, but safe- ty in the home, in the building of boxes, in the making or doing of anything by children. It is gratifying to safety promoters to note that wherever community safety councils are active there has been a continued decline in accidents. In 21 cities where safety councils now are operating there was a decrease of 26 per cent in street accidents.in the first six months of this year over the same period last year. Latest developments in the fleld of safety education will be disclosed next month at a meting of the safety divi- sion of the National Safety Council in New York City. Co-operating with the division will be the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, the American Child Health Association, the Child Study Association, the Progressive Edu- cational Association, the Public Educa- tional Association and the United Par- ents’ Association. Soil Near Volcano Eaten by Japanese A strange edible earth upon which man might subsist indefinitely ex- sists on the slopes of the volcanic Mount Asama, near the popular Summer resort of Karuizawa. Scien- tifically it is described as vulcano- thrid silicophila kawam, but in the district around Komoro, where it is found, it has been known by genera- tions of Japanese as tengu-no-mugi- meshi, or ‘“mountain god's barley food,” as there is a superstition that owes its origin to emergency stores of wheat and barley burled by an- cient mountain gods. However, one scientific opinion lately arrived at is-that tengu-meshi is due to an _intermixture of plant substance and earth that has undergone a cu- rious change effected by certain un- classified bacteria. The earth food, of which great new deposits have been discovered recently, is found six inches to a foot below the surface, which indi- cates that it must have been some sort of vegetative growth prior to the last big eruption of Mount Asama in the eighteenth century. To the taste the earth food is like unsweetened gelatin with a slight earthy taint. That is edible, not un- healthy and will sustain life indefinitely is claimed by high officials. Tengu- meshi is found in three forms. the purest being almost white 1n color, with a slight greenish tinge made np of a gelatinous substance and masses of mold bacteria. Where the cairth has been in contact with the pumice from the volcano the color is brown. that it represented a very sincere co- operative effort of the French and Brit- ish governments to end the of the preparatory commission and to smooth the way toward a general dis- armament conference. He spoke with humor asperity with the planetary how d've do over an innocent unknown document. On_ September 11 conversations *“on the side” respecting the Rhineland oc- cupation and related matters began, Germany being represented by Chancel- lor Mueller, France by Briand, Great Britdin by Lord Cuchendun, Italy by Scialoja, Belgium by Myhans and Japan by Adachi. On this day Briand, apropos of his somewhat peppery speech of the previous day to the Assembly, told newspaper correspondents thot he ‘was convinced that the majority of Ger- mans wanted peace, but that there was an important element in Germany which made him uneasy. Spain, Venezuela and Persia have been elected to non-permanent Council seats in succession to China, the Neth- erlands and Columbia, but Spain’s seat is practically permanent (I believe they call it semi-permanent), as the As- sembly passed a resolution permitting her re-election to succeed herself right on to the millennium. * ok k% Notes.—Spain is celebrating the fifth d’etat (September 13, 1923). 9th of September, 1828. It is of inter- est that the Tolstoys were originally German, settling in Russia in the time of Peter the Great. Opinions will differ widely as the poles as to Tolstoy's im- in connection with i, and Peace” are portance as a social philosopner, but there will be few to deny him a very high place among literary artists. “Anna Karenina” and. “War and doaiestale: v anniversary of Primo De Rivera’s coup | Russia is celebrating on the grand | scale the one-hundredth anniversary of { the birth of Leo Tolstoy, born on the | Mafia’s Brigandage Will Be Extirpated Brigandage and armed violence in country districts have now been vir- tually extirpated in Italy, and the huge trial of 180 persons connected with the “mafla,” which has just begun at ‘Termini Imerese in Sicily, will probably be the last important case of its kind. The trial, which deals with various offenses alleged to have been commit- ted by adherents to the secret assoei- ation of the “mafia,” will last three months. Cattle and sheep stealing, arson, wounding. murder, violence and ::lxaclkmnu are among the counts of the rial. In Sardinia, too, the police, following strict instructions from Il Duce, arc giving ill-doers short shift. The fa- mous Sardinian bandit, Salvatore Succu, on whose head there was a price of $4,000, has just been killed by the “carabinieri,” or mounted police. There are still a few bandits operat- ing in the Sardinian Mountains. but their capture is now generally believed to be merely a matter of a few months. Cellist Orchestrates Music of Philippines The Philippines are quite rapidly de- veloping fine national music through the efforts, chiefly, of Prof. Abdon, a cellist. He is orchestrating the simple native airs, which adapt into exquisite pieces in which he retains the plaintive minor chords identifying them as typi- cally Malayan. No doubt some of this new music will reach America soon. It is universally applauded by visitors here, none of whom has ever heard anything quite like it. Brass and cymbal and gut and drum all do their wonted parts in pieces originating on the five-string |Iu£tar, Usually Prof. Abdon sandwiches the pieces in between those of Western origin, but he played a whole concert in connection with the prayer services at Maria Clara Church for the early re- covery of Senate President Quezon, lying ill in Monrovia, Calif. This was the first the masses had learned of Abdon's work, and they were delighted at the genius of this poor-of-pocket mu« sipian. IElite Act in Film i Of Life in London | Forty people prominent in London I social circles motored from Mayfair to the Elstree film studio in Hertfordshire {to take part in a film, “A Knight in i London,” which 1s being produced there by a British film company. Among those in this voluntary “mob scene” were the Liberian Minister to the Court of St. James and his wife, | the Maharaja and the Ranee of Sera- wak, and her daughters and other stars of London society. ‘They arrived at Elstree at 6 pm. and for three hours their faces and hands were made up by dressers engaged for the occasion. Then they danced from 9 pm. until 2 o'clock the following morning on ‘a polished floor in a bril- liantly lighted room to the strains of a jazz band. They were in evening dress and the scene might have been that of a May- fair ballroom, except that the dancers were ordered about by the director. On one side of the room was a buffet at which the players could take refresh- ment—when the producer gave them permission. The scene. which represented a coun- m‘ r}::(‘j‘” party, w:’lu ;rnnged by Mni Ashley, wife of the minister of transport,