Evening Star Newspaper, December 9, 1928, Page 47

STABILITY IN MEXICO AFTER YEARS OF STRIFE Country Realizes D Political Revoluti isastrous Results of ons and Looks to Peace Under Gil. was proclaimed, and by virtue thereof Carranza became the constitutional President of the republic. Other Disturbances Cited. In 1919 the country was again under- going & period of unrest and internal disturbances. ~Zapata continued his warlike activities, and while waiting for the opportunity to launch an at- tack on the City of Mexico was met by the federal army and completely de- feated, losing his own life in the affray. At this time the forces of Villa, who had strongly intrenched themselves in the government, as well as the military expedition of Gen. Pershing, proclaimed Gen. Los Angeles as President and im- mediately proceeded to establish them- selves in power by force of arms. After a successful campaign they compelled Carranza to flee from Mexico City and establish the seat of the government in Vera Cruz. But after all Villa's forces were not to enter the capital, for Gen. Obregon, one of Carranza’s supporters, hastened into the city, and, controlling the situation well in hand, named Adolfo de la Huerta as provisional President of the republic, thereby ig- noring his connections with his old leader. Shortly after Carranza was made a prisoner by mandate of the government and mysteriously assassi- nated. Upon the death of the consti- tutional President Congress immediate- ly confirmed the appointment of de la Huerta to the presidency and set the date for the general elections several months hence. In these elections, as it was to be expected, Alvaro Obregon was elected chief executive without the slightest opposition. Opponents Suppressed. With the election of Obregon to the BY GASTON NERVAL, Authority on Latin American Affairs. EXICO. the historical, has just | portant political developments. However, this time it was not a revolution or the assassina- ticular, or some improvised conflict or internal complication, which has so at- tracted the attention of the rest of the ful republic of Mexico. ‘This time, without regard to its tra- ditions or to its well established cus- principle wholly orderly and legal which has been accomplished in the political life of the neighboring republic. A visional President of Mexico, took his | oath of office amid most cordial cere- monies. This event has a most far- in Mexico, where the change in gov- ernments but a short while ago was the deed of military coups, and further elapsed since the President-elcct, Gen. | Obregon, had been assassinated by the | very hand of one of his countrymen. Shortly after Gen. Obregon’s election | for a second term as President of_the | Tepublic, when his life was untirh taken by a religious fanatic, who for his crime will pay the highest penalty, | the nation as a whole was in a high | probable unrest and serious disturb- | ances which would as a result impair Ms internal affairs; they foresaw the cated crisis which would unquestion- ably set back the republic to those | tragic days of political anarchy. Not- | of good democratic principles, hereto- | fore denied to it, Mexico has success- fully passed this critical moment of its | such unfortunate occurrence is again enjoying a normal and stable govern- ment. has forsaken its warlike traditions and that it has abandoned that chaotic ambient of confusion and internal un- standing events of its political life? Has Had Trying Period. Since 1910 the neighbor republic has of its independent life. In that year, when apparently that comtry seemed to be enjoying a life of peace and pros- tator Porfirio Diaz, the injustices and the suppression of certain privileges during his regime slowly but inalter- and the desire for vengeance in the hearts of the political leaders, who | chose to bring an end to this state of plish the downfall of his dictatorial Tegime they sought the aid of the great masses of illiterate natives, who, having their masters, eagerly, under the leader- ship of Francisco Madero, a great intel- lectuality, and Francisco Villa, a mili- adventure. The revolution broke out from 12 different points and very shortly the rebels captured the City of Juarez, cation of the tyrannic Diaz. And upon the cry of “Land and Liberty!” advo- &dfl[ the devolution of properties to ibu- tion of lands among the natives, they ignited the torch which was to cause a to an end the Diaz regime, which for 30 long years had remained in power, Re- signing his office, the dictator sailed for ‘Thus began a revolution which was destined to reverberate, even to the «jpresent time, in a series of similar Pals may change, but not the intensity ‘or the nature of the events. New Uprisings Start. been established new uprisings against its stability were in progress. Madero, then in office, was forced to face a re- south, headed by Zapata, and another in the north by Reyes. Others followed, ‘but less intensive. Vazquez, Orozco, number of malcontents and spread dis- order and anarchy throughout the country. Madero, in order to suppress been the scene of new and im- tion of some government leader in par- world to the now turbulent, now peace- toms, it has been a great democratic fortnight ago Emilio Portes Gil, pro- reaching significance, for it occurred because hardly three months had Passes Through Crisis. ! ely | tension of expectation respecting the | commencement of a new and compli- withstanding, setting a great example | history and within three months from Is it to be understood that Mexico rest which have been the most out- been undergoing the most trying period perity under the iron hand of the dic- #bly were sowing dissatisfaction, hatred affairs by force of arms. To accom- promised their liberation from tary leader, undertook the hazardous from where they demanded the abdi- al owners and the distril nation-wide conflagration. Thus came Prance, where he spent his last days. +8cenes, where the names of the princi- Shortly after the new government had bellion of alarming proportions in the ! Felix Diaz also joined the already great such _opposition, intrusted one of his dieutenants, Victoriano de la Huerta, Fho had been a colonel in the army of :he dictator, Diaz, with the task of abating the revolution. Unfortunately, however, this happened to be a most \Inaupsicious step, for Huerta, after ving defeated the leaders of the revo- {lution on the battlefield, turned against fthe President and demanded his Tesig- nation, imprisoned his ministers and {forced the Parliament to form a new government. The Congress without any other alternative accepted the mandate and designated de la Huerta as Presi- g;?x:g .?nnd a rev: dayst]ner Madero was & most mysterio » b S s us manner ‘n Carranza Comes to Fore. The disloyalty and selfish designs of | de la Huerta, together with hgl,:‘ re- sumption of the reactionary methods of the Diaz regime and the granting of certain privileges to the supporters of the late dictator, soon met with op- position by the Mexican peoble, mak- ing it most feasible for Venustiano Carranza to again hoist the revolu- tionary flag. Carranza gave impetus to the revolution by invoking the sacred- ness of the constitution, which he as- serted had been violated by President Huerta. He was supported in his ac- tions by all the representatives of the verfous states. Two great leaders join- ed the cause of the revolution, Alvaro ©Obregon, who later became Carranza’s “right hand,” and Francisco Villa, 2 military man and adventurer extraor- dinary, who so mercilessly spread panic and desolation wherever his horde trod. At this time Huerta's incident with the United States, which resulted | in the seizure of the City of Vera Cruz, | so complicated matters that he was | forced to resign and hastily sailed to ' Europe. Gen. Obregon Takes Control. ‘Thereupon Gen. Obregon with his Wwoops entered the City of Mexico and successfully imposed his will for the recognition of Venustiano Carranza as President. However, this was not to be the end, for Villa, realizing that Car- ranza had reaped the benefits of the victory, took arms against him, and aid- ed and abetted by the Indian leader Zapata, undertook a most formidable military campaign which resulted in the capture of the capital. Carranza was compelled to abandon the City of Mex- ico and sought refuge in Puebla. But Villa’s presence in the capjtal was not 1o last, for he, too, had to evacuate the city before engaging again the Obregon army. Neithér did the latter remain long in power, for in turn he was forced to leave the city by Zapata, the ally of Villa. Whereupon Obregon devoted his entire time in persecuting the foilowers of Villa, and, after de- feating them in various encounters, turned back his forces against Zapata and succeeded in recapturing and es- tablishing himself definitely in the cap- ftal. Peace relatively reigning in the coun- try, Carranza was recognized as “Pres- presidency ceased the major disturb- ances of the country. The new govern- ment was indeed powerful, and the severity displayed was such that the activities of the opposing factions were soon reduced to unimportant engage- ments in various points far distant from the capital. After a period of four years of stable government, in 1924 Gen. Plutarco Elias Calles was elected to the presidency in 2 most peaceful manner by ‘popular vote. Ever since, until the middle part gthl& year, Mexico enjoyed peace and ‘osperity. Not complete, how- ever, for there have always been minor uprisings of certain revolutionary lead- ers, but that political anarchy char- acteristic of those people does not exist at the present time. During the latter part of the Calles regime, “there arose a great danger which threatened to interrupt the na- tional peace—the strife between the church and the government. This antagonism has given rise to internal difficulties and to it is due the present civil strife, which, although small in scale, is agitating the republic. This condition of affairs resulted in the assassination of Gen. Obregon sev- eral months ago while attending a ban- quet which was being given in his honor upon his return to the federal government. Obregon had been elected President of the republic by a great majority, despite the fact that the con- stitution which prohibited the re-elec- tion of an ex-President to a second term had to be amended. The two prob- able opposing candidates were found gullty of revolutionary designs and ::,e:suted Igng before the general elec- When the assassin, Toral, brought to an unhappy end the life of the great Mexican leader the shock and the sur- ise to the nation were electrifying. etern: of Mexico appeas to_once more outline itself on the horizon. There remained but two alter- natives, either the country would again subject itself to the anarchy of. small political leaders or professional poli- ticians, who would unquestionably disaster to the republic, of it woul ant full and plenary powers to the gve:ll peu'ocv:mmt én orderlmw pre- and order or impose a dictatorial e as the only means of ::Lvlet;:x:hy dlmm;: and anarchy ef y a le wh boast of freedom and llberty?eop o Storm Has Died Down. However, the storm has ceased and once more peace reigns in Mexico. The country has at last come to realize the disastrous consequences and futility of armed political campaigns, and the leaders have learned to maintain them- selves aloof from all entanglements un- der the circumstances. The principle of democracy has followed its well de- fined course, and today we find our neighbor republic guided by a provision- al President, whom the law and the will of the people have placed in power. In another year the Mexican peo- ple will have once more the opportunity t';) etlect their own constitutional Presi- ent. Ex-President Calles materially alded in the democratic accomplishment which Mexico is today enjoying, by wisely' guiding the destinies of the re- public in a time when the efforts of the most resourceful mind were needed. and prosperity in his native land was evidenced when he declined to be re- elected. His words in this connection yAll long be remembered in Mexico. “One term is enough for any Presi- dent,” said Calles. “The constitution is, indeed, specific in this respect, and am;‘ él:l‘fra':(lon thereof deserves punish- ment. Hotel Porters Spe‘ak Variety of Tongues | Although the porters of Scandi- navian hotels still remain in the non- professional class of soclety they have | galned a reputation for mental ca- | pacity equaled by few people in the | higher strata. Every important hotsl | in"the larger cities of Norway, Sweden | and Denmark bas at least two brilliant- ly uniformed gentiemen working in eight- hour shifts behind its register and no one is given such a position without years of iniensive schooling. The fully | qualified porter speaks four or five languages fluently, including English, French, German and either Swedish, Norwegian or Daishn, and many of them have a working knowledge of Spanish and Finnish. One porter spent three years in France and Germany and two vears in London in order to'secure his linguistic repertoire. Fortunately they are all well reimbursed, seldom by the hotels directly, but by tips which often amount to $500 or $600 a monti. Japanese Will Build Temple of Concrete Reinforced concrete construction in a Buddhist temple will be used for the first time in the history of Japan In the building of the new Asakusa Hon- |gan Temple, in the Coney Island dis- trict of Tokio, replacing the temple destroyed by the earthquake of 1923. Heretofore all Buddhist temples have 'been of wooden construction and of a | uniform architecture, varying only in detail and size. Officials of the temple declare that they learned by the earth- | quake of 1923 that concrete construc- tion is necessary to insyre permanence. In order to maintain the peculiar Bud- dhist architecture of the temple, the exterior will be painted the dark color of polished hardwood. The interior will be lined with the special wood always used in temple buildings. The new the north and were engaged In fighting | A further proof of his desire for peace 25 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 9, 1928—PART s o B4 BY CHARLES C. BATCHELDER, Former Acting Commercial Attache for America in Peking. S the sleeping giant of Asia awaken- ing? Are the Chinese beginning to realize that they must have ex- pert foreign assistance if their coun- try is to recover from the disrup- tion of years of revolution? Recent developments make these ques- tions of particular interest. The Chi- nese government has just appoin‘ed a committee of honorary advisers to serve during the reconstruction period. Henry Ford, Owen D. Young, chairman of the General Electric Co. and co-author of the Dawes plan, and Gen. J. G. Har- bord, president of the Radio Corpora- tion of America, have been asked to help restore some semblance of order. At the same time the Nationalist government has asked Prof. E. W. Kem- merer of Princeton University to reor- ganize Chinese finance, banking and currency. He has had wide experience in that field. The finances of Poland, Mexico, South Africa, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Guatemala and the Philippines have been remodeled by him. These eminent Americans are amply qualified to diagnose the situation in China, but huge loans are needed to put the sleeping giant back on his feet— loans that the nations of the world will not extend unless good security is of- fered. It is to assist in securing them that China’s honorary advisers in all probability have been appointed. Does their appointment point the way to what many believe is the only solu- BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief summary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended December 8: i United States of America.—The short or “lame duck” session of the Seven- tieth Congress opened on December 3. The Senate at once set to work on the Colorado River dam bill, and the House on appropriation measures. It is to be presumed that, the Cotorado River dam business disposed of, either the cruiser bill (passed by the House in the last session) or the Kellogg pact will next en- gage the Senate. Presumably the House will take action on the Fenn reappor- tionment bill. It is strange and in- finitely discouraging that so little pub- lic resentment has been aroused by the delay in reapportionment. Definitive action on the national origin basis of quotas (shall it be the 1890 census, or what?) is called for. ‘The present indication is that there will be no farm relief or tariff legisla- tion in this session. Hearings, however, on the fifteenth schedule of the tariff Jaw have been appointed by the ways and means committee of the House over the period January 7 to February The following is & brief summary of what appears to me the most import- ant features of the President’s message to Congress: 1. Attention is invited to the four great tax reductions of recent years, which stimulated business and increased taxable incomes and profits, with result of sizable surplus and despite that the national debt was meantime reduced by one-third. But the latest tax reduc- tions shaved close, so that last June there was a threat of a deficit of $94,- 000,000 for the current fiscal year. Thanks, however, to constructive econ- omy and good times, a surplus of $37,- 000,000 is now indicated. As this repre- sents & margin of less than 1 per cent on expenditures, “it 1s necessary during the present session to refrain from new appropriations for immediate outlay, or, if such are absolutely required, to provide for them by new revenue, other- wise we shall reach the end of the year with the unthinkable result of an unbalanced budget. For the first time during my term of office we face that contingency. I am certain that the Congress would not pass, and I should not feel warranted in approving, legis- lation which would involve us in that financial disgrace.” The quoted passage | might seem to be of peculiar signifi- cance with reference to cruiser and farm relief legislation. 2. The national income is estimated to_exceed $90,000,000. 3. The Congress is urged to grant generous debt terms to Austria and Greece. The rehabitilation of these countries waits upon such terms. . The Senate is urged to pass the bill providing for 15 cruisers and one air- plane carrier passed by the House in {the last session, but with elimination of the time clause. The injunction to eliminate the time clause should, I take it, be considered in connection with the passage quoted above. (The bill as passed by the House provides for laying down five cruisers a year, com- mencing with 1929.) “We have no intention of competing with any other country. This building program is for necessary replacements and to meet our needs for defense.” This way of putting the matter will go some way toward offsetting certain inferences widely drawn from the President’s Armistice day speech. To me, “Our needs of defense,” is, however, a sufficiently Sweeping phrase. 5. The President restates his well known views as to the amount and kind Throughout Empire. tion of China's pressing problem—a Dawes plan for China? Rosy plans are being drawn up by the Nationalist government—plans that will cost hundreds of millions, perhaps billions. The “Christian general” wants $60,000,000 spent on factories to work up China's abundant raw materials— on agricultural and industrial better- ment. The Pearl River is to be dredged so that ocean-going vessels may reach Canton. Canals are to be dug. Floods are to be controlled. Existing railroads are to be repaired. Thousands of miles of additional roadbed are to be con- structed. A great program of automobile roads all over China Is visioned. (This makes particularly significant the inclusion of Henry Ford among the honorary ad- visers. Already his Far Eastern repre- sentative has offered to pay in advance all the customs duties on Ford automo- biles during the next five years if this money is spent on motor roads between Shanghai and the new capital at Nan- king.) Improvements costing $25,000,- 000 are planned for the new capital, ‘There are further vast schemes for uni- versal education and the suppression of opium smoking. ‘Where are the funds for all this to come from? The Chinese have no money. The credit of the government is at the vanishing point, almost as bad as that of Germany after the war. Ob- viously, America and Europe will be called upon. But will the bankers dig down into their pockets unless they ers' situation, involving, as it does, the principle of self help. “The Govern- ment,” he says, “should aid in promot- ing orderly marketing and in handling surpluses,” but only those surpluses “clearly due to weather and seasonal conditions.” A Federal farm board should be created, “empowered to advise producers’ associations in establishing central agencies or stabilization corpor- ations to handle surpluses, to seek more economical means of merchandising and to aid the producer in securing re- turns according to the quality of his product. A revolving loan fund should be provided for the necessary financing until these agencies shall have devel- oped means of financing their opera- tions through regularly constituted credit institutions.” The above seems to be with the views expressed by Mr. Hoover. A Dbill containing the provisions in- dicated should, says the President, “carry authority for raising the money, by loans or otherwise, necessary to meet Foolish N Erewhon people were sent I to jail for eating the wrong food. Ever hear of Erewhon? It is a mythical country which a man named Samuel Butler wrote about. “This is what | gathered (says Samuel Butler). That in that country, if a man falls into ill health or catches any disorder, or fails bo before he is 70 years old, he is tried before a jury of his countrymen, and if convicted is held up to public scorn and sentenced to jail. But if a man forges a or sets a house on fire, ny other such things criminal in our country, he is either taken to a hospital and most carefully tended at the public expense, or, if he is in good circumstanc he | i be known to all his he is suffering from a severe fit of immorality, just as we do when we are ill; and they come and visit him with great solici- tude, and inquire with how it all came about, symptoms first showed selves, etc.—questions which he answer with perfect un- v Butler sa; in Erewhon, and saw priso being sentenced for ing im- properly and otherwise injuring their health. To one hardened criminal the judge said: “Prisoner at the bar, you have been accused of the great crime of laboring under pulmonary consumption, and, after an im- partial trial befo, a jury of your countrymen, you have been found guilty. * * * This is not your first offense: You have had a long career of crime. You * he visited a court re of aid which the Government should afford the farmer. As usual, he stresses building will cost about $1,500,000, to ident de facto” by various foreign gov- emments, among them the United B L] aise which a campaign has already 5 started. \ tates. Later on & new constitution!been [ development of the co-operative move- ment as presenting the best promise of permanent improvement of the farm= were convicted of aggravated bronchitis last year; and | find that, although you are now only 1 in agreement | have security—unless there is a Dawes plan for China? Many of the schemes of the Na- tionalists, of course, are but rosy dreams with whiclt they are trying to dazzle the world into believing that China is a first class, civilized nation, worthy of the permanent seat in the Council of th League of Nations which they so insistently demand. But there is another side of the pic- ture—grim, horrible, terrifying. The lot of the masses.must be made endur- able; some of the desolation and ruin left by seventeen years of civil war must be cleared away. One must get a view of this side of the picture to realize the tremendous work that is ahead in China —work that must be done before rosy dreams can come true. Over thousands of square miles the Spring crops have all been eaten and the Autumn harvests have all failed, due to the devastation of swarms of grasshoppers and to drought. This will be the worst Winter for years and the Nationalist government in Nanking is being bombarded with pleas for aid. | Many millions of Chinese will die og | starvation and exposure within the next | few months unless relief measures are carried out. Some of the patriotic mag- istrates have even committed suicide— the time-honored Chinese way of forc- ing the attention of their countrymen upon unbearable circumstances. Not only are hundreds of thousands of soldiers unpaid, but no sufficient provision is being made to feed, shelter or clothe them during the bitter cold the expense, as the Treasury has no surplus.” It is claimed for the Mec- Nary bill, just introduced in the Sen- ate, that it adequately embodies the President's recommendations and_con- tains nothing offensive to the Presi- dent’s views, It provides for a $300,- 000,000 revolving loan fund and omits the equalization feature of previous bills so obnoxious to the President. 6. The President reviews with very proper complacency the progress in commercial aeronautics. 7. The President again urges legis- lation further to promote railroad con- solidations. 8. I quote in full the section on the merchant marine: “The cost of maintaining the United States Government merchant fleet has been steadily reduced. We have estab- lished American flag lines in foreign trade where they have never before ex- isted, as a means of promoting com- merce and as a naval auxiliary. There have been sold to private American Should We Be Jailed for Eating? BY BRUCE BARTON. 23 years old, you have been imprisoned no less than 14 times for illnesses of a more or less hateful character.” In Erewhon, you see, the man who lets his health go to pieces is counted a greater criminal than the man who burns down a barn or forges a check. His heaith is a part of the tate's ts: By ruining it he defrauds the state, and makes himself liable to punishment. There is something to be said in favor of the Erewhon custom. We are too sympathetic with certain sorts of sick people. They of their own because they eat too much or eat the wrong kind of food. They are very careful that the oil they buy for their automo- biles shall be of precisely the right grade, but ti t to ask themselves, the food that is calculated to develop the maximum efficiency my cular body at this particular season of the year?” Instead of sending such peo- ple flowers, it would be better if nt them to jail on a health- in b for a few weeks. They would come out cured. The Romans were wiser, as old Dr. Thomas Moffett tells us: “The Romans once banished Physickians out of Rome under pretense that physick drugs weakened the people’s stomacks; and cooks for corrupting and enforcing appetites with strange retained Cato, that time, and all of th were able (without phy: prevent and cure diseases. If you would banish physick- ians and do without physick, be your own Cato. (Copyright, 1928.) A Dawes Plan for China? Appointment of Advisers to Chinese Government May Speed Program ‘of Reconstruction Work A CORNER OF PEKING, FORMER NERVE CENTER OF THE ASIATIC GIANT. of the coming Winter. 1t s estimated that the unnecessary armies of the “War Lords” exceed 1,500,000 soldiers, badly trained and undisciplined. Their only resort is banditry, which means that the wretched people in the neigh- borhood will be deprived of their few remaining clothes and valuables. Mer- chants and wealthy farmers are con- stantly being kidnaped for ransom. Banditry prevails over a large part of the country. The military are often in league with the bandits, and the police are powerless—when they are not ac- complices. Most to be pitied are the peasant farmers—one of the best elements of any nation. Industrious, intelligent, thrifty, good-humored and cheerful de- spite their misery, they have won the admiration and respect of all who have known them. Incredibly poor, they do not have enough to eat from one year to another, and often help out their scanty rations with bark and leaves. Savings are impossible; any misfortune simply means death by hunger. Civil war has made the lot of these cultivators unendurable. The unpaid and unfed soldiers have requisitioned the grain, cut down the ripening crops for fodder for their animals, looted the houses of everything which could be used or sold, including Winter clothing and blankets, and even pulled down the roofs to use the rafters for fuel. ‘The men were impressed to act as bur- den bearers and camp laborers and the Continued on Sixth Page.) The Story the Week Has Told capital for operation within the past few years 14 of these lines, which, under the encouragement of the recent legis- lation passed by the Congress, give promise of continued successful oper- ation. Additional legislation from time to time may be necessary to promote {ut;u'e advancement under private con- rol. “Through co-operation of the Post Office Department and the Shipping Board, long-term contracts are being made with American steamship lines for carrying malil, that already promise the construction of 15 to 20 new vessels and the gradual re-establishment of the enterprise. No action of the National Government has been beneficial to our shipping. “The cost is being absorbed to a con- siderable extent by the disposal of un- profitable lines operated by the Ship- ping Board, for which the new law has made a market. Meanwhile it should be our policy to maintain necessary strategic lines under the Government operation until they can be transferred to private capital.” . Just before indicating his mes- sage, the President read a summary of the report just rendered by the Colo- rado River Board, a body of experts appointed, as provided for at the last session of Congress, thoroughly to in- vestigate the project of a dam on the Colorado River which should furnish flood control and water for irrigation and domestic use. The President notes rather sketchily that the board finds the project perfectly feasible in an en- gineering view, though recommending the Black Canyon as preferable to the Boulder Canyon site; but that “on the economic features they are not so clear and appear to base their conclusions on many conditions which cannot be es- tablished with certainty.” “So far as I can judge, however, from the summary,” continues the President, “the conclusions of the board appear sufficiently favor- able, so that I feel warranted in rec- ommending a measure which should protect the rights of the States, dis- charge the necessary Government func- tions, and (note this particularly) leave the electrical field to private enterprise.” The construction, as all are aware, would involve “incidental creation of water power which could be used for generating electricity.” Presumably, the Boulder Dam bill by the House in the last session will be drastically recast to adapt it to the recommendations of the board, and L seems obvious that the additional ex- penditure clearly indicated by the board and the further contingent expenditure merely adumbrated by that body, will be bitterly challenged so that the fate of the measure would seem doubtful, while the new elemenis threaten a con- troversy prejudicial to dispatch of other important business. 10. The President’s remarks on the long-vexed Muscle Shoals problem seem to indicate a certain weariness of that subject. He seems to recognize that other more satisfactory methods of syn- thetic nitrate production have been evolved than that of Muscle Shoals plant. “But we have it, as I am told, it still provides a practical method of making nitrates for national defense and farm fertilizers.” The problem, |then ~(so I interpret the President’s views, as somewhat shadowily pre- !en;fdfiuls tx’c‘x% deu?lt:hom! of mlzm ing sucl position of e prope! as should insure a sizable production of nitrate, with some financial advantage to the Government (at any rate without further loss), and without “putting the Government indiscriminately into the grlvlte and retall field of power distri- ution and nitrate sales.” One way might be for the Government to lease the nitrate part of the plant and sell wer to the lessees; another to lease he whole plant, in either case, on terms insuring a sizeable production. The President is specific in denouncing the me embodied in the Muscle Shoals which dled - the death in the last American merchant marine as a private | ex) COMMUNISTS ARE LOSIN(T; BY CARROLL BINDER. LONDON.—Communism—that dar- ing economic and political movement which, during the post-war years, struck such terror in Western minds— has,_lost much of its menace and cer- tainly a great deal of its promise for | the people of Western Europe. One must drop in at a club where the retired colonels fcregather to hear any serious talk about the “danger of Communism” in Western European countries. Outside of the meeting halls of the determined but surprising- {ly small Communist groups in various countries one finds few who expect social, political or economic changes to be wrought by the Bolshevik crusaders in countries like France, - Germany, England or Italy. Turn From Communism. Moscow has its fervent and loyal even Italy, where Communism means a prison sentence of from 3 to 20 years. But the European masses which have been wooed, subventioned and threat- ened by the Russian leaders of the new |cult are cooler today than at any time since the Russian revolution to the ap- peal of revolutionary Communism. Communism makes two appeals— one political, the other economic. By capturing governments the Communists hope to repeat in other countries what they have done in Russia. Pending that consummation, which Commun- ist lore says is decreed by inexorable economic laws, the Russians seek to enlist workingmen of various countries under their banner for concerted in- dustrial action to hasten the collapse of the existing capitalistic society and to erect on its ruins the new Commun- ist society. ‘The recent German elections showed that Communism enjoys a certain po- litical strength in that country. where its economic foothold in the infiuential trade-union movement is insignificant. In France Communism's political strength is negligible while its economic strength is relatively greater. In Great Britain and Italy Communism has neither political nor economic impor- tance, and in all Western Europe its appeal seems to be weaker than strong- er as compared with five years ago. Only the hierarchy of the Russian or Red Trade-union International, known in Communist vernacular as Profintern, knows how many millions of dollars | have been spent during ths last decade to win the workers of Western Europ to Bolshevism. Dazzling gifts have been sent to striking workmen in Great Britain and Sweden. There have been | Russian gifts offered for almost every important European trade-union strug- gle which showed the least sign of will- ingness to hearken to Moscow's counsel, Money Used Lavishly. ‘The sums spent in publishing papers, subsidizing journals and agencies of information and for financing propa- gandists among European workers are | formidable indeed. The energy devoted to the dissemination of the Communist message by zealous believers certainly equals that expended by religious devo- tees d:‘ various Christian and Moslem creeds. And after 10 years one finds that the British workingmen, as represented by the powerful Trade Congress with a membership of almost 4,000,000, not only | spurned any association with fussion unionism, but formally launched a cam- paign of “purging” which British Com- munist leaders themselves characterize as a possible prelude to expulsion of j Communists from the various unions. Some British unions affiliated with the Trade Union Congress already discrimi- nate against Communists to the extent of forbidding them positions of respon- sibility. A powerful group of trade union lead- ers want to drive Communists out of trade unions altogether on the ground that they are “disruptionists,” whose tactics serfously handicap the normal progress of trade union affairs. It does not seem likely that such an extreme course will be adopted, since its in- evitable result would be the creation of rival unions which permit employers to Sarlly ‘eakin. the postion of organised sarily weaken the of o labor in the industrial field. If the Communists remain within the session: The proposal to construct a new dam (Cove Creek Dam), at public ense (though the Government might lend the money for such a con- struction), I repeat that the President seems a little weary of the subject not sanguine a satisfactory solution, with, | in the term of his administration. { The greater part of the message of ten thousand words consists of general observations which I have not thought it desirable to attempt to summarize, On December 1, Comdr. Byrd sailed from Dunedin, New Zealand, in_the City of New York, for his base in King Edward VII Land on the Bay of Wales, Ross Sea. * koK ok The British Empire.—A council of state has been appointed to act for the King until he is sufficiently recovered to attend to business of state, to con- sist of Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales, | the Duke of York, the lord chancellor (Lord Hails Ham), the prime minister and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The King signed the commission. The crown was similarly “put in commis- sion” during the King's absence from the realm on cruise for several weeks after his illness in 1925, On November 30 Dr. Cosmo Gordon Lang took the oath as Archbishop of Canterbury—the ‘“ninety-seventh suc- cessor of St., Augustine.” The new ::chbbhop signs himself “Cosmos Can- ar.” * X ok x Ttaly.—VYesterday, December 8, the Italian Parliament was dissolved, the last under the old system of representa- tion. The new “co-operative, non- political” chamber will be chosen March 21 next. The Fascist corporations will propose a list of candidates. The Fas- cist grand council will then make up a list of 400, partly from the list men- tioned, partly from nominees of their own, and present this list to the peo- ple, who may take it or leave it, but there will be no other candidates. No doubt, they will take it. A wonderful system, very suitable to a free people. A Bulgaria.—The how-d'ye-do in Bul- garia seems to have petered out; a fan- tastic olio of mendacity, rhodomontade and silliness, though the precise facts are not to be ascertained. It seems fairly certain that the reports alleging that Mikhailov, the Macedonian chief, was marching on Sofia to punish those opposed to the activities of the Mace- donian revolutionary organization, were whoppers of the first class. Moreover, we are assured that the factional feuds of the Macedonians (at their worst been composed, and all is harmony among those pleasant people. And not only that, but that the demands of the Imro (Macedonian revolutionary or- ganization) are mild and reasonable enough in all conscience; they would be satisfled by an_effective guarantee by the League of Nations of exact fulfill- ment by Jugoslavia and Greece of the clauses of the treaty of Neuilly relating ta their Macedonian minorities. As to ! ‘these latter assurances, our attitude is| Missourian, but we devoutly hope it is $0. The other dav bonds of & Bulgarian foreign loan under League of Nation suspices ($27,000,000) were placed on the world markets " (chiefly London. | New York, Paris and Amsterdam) and Bolshevist originy were Hoated to preji- evist o were pre; dice the loan. ¥ disciples in every European country— | monstrously exaggerated in report) have | ernment center established THEIR POWER IN EUROPE Masses of Common People Wooed for So Long by Russians, Pictured as Re- maining Cold to Doctrine. British unions, as their Russian leaders | direct them to do at all costs, they will have less opportunity to express them- selves than in the past and will be powerless to impede the present trend of British labor toward a policy of co- operation with employers—a policy fiercely condemned by the Communists | throughout the world. The British La- bor party has not hesitated to take the | step, which the trade-union movement |is trying to avoid, of refusing Com- munists _the right to participate in its affairs. Vexed with Communist tactics within the party, the British Labor po- litical movement ousted the Communist | leaders, and today British Labor can- didates are generally opposed by Com- | munist candidates as well as by Liberals and Tories. The British Communist or- ganization is, like nearly all Communist | efforts, a well discipiined and efficient mevement, but very small and quite un- | important. because it evokes no wida- spread response among the masses. German Reports Too High. The German Communists have suf- fered much from internal dissension in past. years and today their appeal falls on deaf ears for the most part. In the membership of the Red Trade Union International for 1927 Secretary Losov- sky reported “one million” German membpers whom he described as Com- | munists belonging to the various Ger- | man trade unions. Inasmuch as those | unions are socialistic and affiliated with the international trade-union move- | ment, which is uncompromisingly op- | posed to Communism, this figure can- not be given too great importance. Nor is there any evidence to show that Communism is influential among th> German workers today. The Commun- ist minority seems as impotent to mod- {ify German trade-union policy as it is to affect in any way the course pur- sued by the American Federation of Labor. In France the Communist and non- Communist trade unionists fought for years for the control of the French equivalent of the American Federa- tion of Labor and in the end split into two federations—one Communist and one anti-Communist. ~The principal effect has been to weaken the position of trade unionism in French industr, and to enable employers to pit on up against the other. The Moscos International has spent much time an money in an effort to improve the position of its French group, but it can- not be said that the bourgeoisie of France lose much sleep over the pros- pects of Communism in this country. At the last meeing of the Red Inter- national Secretary Losovsky found it necessary to rebuke his French lieu- tenants for launching strikes with no prospect of carrying them to a suc- cessful conclusion—a procedure slightly disturbing to the smooth functioning of | the industrial machine, it is true, but | far more serious in its effect on the morale and well-being of the working- men called out on fruitless strikes. Reds Active Elsewhere. From time to time the Italian pol. report the discovery of Communist ac- tivities in Italy. The special tribunal for dehling with ‘such cases decrecs prison sentences of from 3 to 20 years to convicted Communists, but the number of “underground” members of the Italian Communist movement is not large enough to constitute any se- rious force in Italian affairs. In Hungary for a brief period right after the war there was a Soviet regime under Bela Kun. reac- tionary regime in Hungary has many affinities with Fascism and is equally severe on such Communists as come within its clutches. Socialist Austria is more lenient, but hardly more tole- rant, for there as elsewhere the hatred of Socialist for Communist and Com- munist for Socialist is more intense, if possible, than that of bourgeois and Communist. The recent troubles in Greece gen- erally are attributed to Communist ac- tivities and Communists are in evidence, but again it seems to be a momentary phase rather than a serious force in political or economic affairs. Reports from observers in the various Balkan and Baltic countries agree that the Communist movement there is disinte- grating rather than growing. The nascent trade union movements which the Communists struggled to control in those countries seem to be disintegrat- ing along with the Communists. Rome Starts Repairs On Ancient Pantheon Tresh_interest is being manifested in the Pantheon, which besides being one of \ the greatest architectural achievements of the Romans is the only ancient edifice in Rome with walls and vaulting in complete preservation. The other day a huge piece of the cornice of this building, begun by Marcus Agrippa in 27 B.C, fell into a busy Roman street. Fortunately no one was | injured, but the accident called atten- | tion to the fact that the edifice is de- | teriorating at an alarming rate. ‘The government promptly instituted reparations, for the Pantheon is the official burial place of the Kings of mod- ern Italy and the sepulcher of Raphael’s bones as well as an impressive relic of imperial Rome. A Roman engineer with a bent for archeology, named Cozzo, has just published some studies tending to establish new facts abont the Pantheon. Cozzo shows that the dome of the Pantheon, which was the first of any size to be constructed, served as model for the famous dome of Santa Sofia in Constantinople, which has been held to be purely Eastern in origin. Moreover, Cozzo has proved to the astonishment of several Roman scholars that the doorway which im- presses present-day tourists is a sort of side entrance as compared with the | stately main entrance of the Pantheon as originally constructed. Cozzo has uncovered a huge doorway on the opposite wall which has been completely walled in for 1,800 yea: He explains the walling in of the origi- « nal doorway and the creation of a smaller one as the device of imperial Roman engineers to stay fissures which began to appear in the walls of th» structure, whose interior thrilled early Romans as it does present-day visitors. | i Philippine Building Plan Fund Renewed Again this year the celebrated Chi- cago architect, Daniel H. Burnham, is being honored by the Philippines in the voting of several million dollars for the building of public, edifices on gxlé I&V- “the Burnham plans” of that city in 1905. It was then that Burnham furnished the government plans for the two char- tered cities of island—Manila and Baguio. Both cities continue to be im- proved along the lines suggested in the plans, though various modifications have been adopted—some for good rea- sons, some for bad. The “residual lega- tee” of Mr. Burnham is the consulting architect of the public works bureau, Juan Arellano, who after graduating at Drexel Institute and taking post- graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania made two world trips to study all types of architecture. The plans are especially safe in Arellano’s hands, as he has almost a sacred de- votion to his work. The appropriation bill carries a total fund of $12,500,000, &pread over several years.