Evening Star Newspaper, June 2, 1929, Page 35

HlGpdieraiituese. THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON. D. C. JUNE 2 'AMERICAN SCOUTS PIERCE MAN WHO FOUGHT TO FREE TRADE FRONTIERS ABROAD Many Thrilling Experiences Recorded| in History of Service by American Exports Promoting Commerce. IFTEEN years ago the United|sioner to Moscow. where after being States Government decided 1o | paraded through the streets he was send abroad a group of experts thrown into Lubyanka prison. In the to assist American exporters in same cell with him were 85 other men building up their foreign trade. Three days later he was sent to an- Ten offices were opened in the fiscal |other prison. | vear 1914-15 in as many strategic cen- | The American official had written to ters of foreign trade. Today that organization, the Foreign Service of the | ters never reached their destination. | Rureau of Foreign and Domestic Com- merce, has offices in 60 cities, with a make the offer of a monetary reward.| staff of more than 506 men and women. As Secretary of Commerce, Herbert C. Hoover played an important part in | building up this world-wide organiza- tion. And now that he is President, Washington expects to see a still fur- ther expansion in the activities of this great overseas organization, which is working side by side with American exporters in winning new markets be- | yond our borders. Exports Called Balance Wheel. “Our exports,” declared Mr. Hoover. “are the greal balauce wheel for our production. xporf® are vital to ihe stabilization of our industries of price levels, of wages and employment.” As its main objective the Foreign Service of the bureau aims to help the Ameri- can business man hold the ground that he has already gained and to pre- pare him to meet the foreign competi- tion which he must meet if he is to increase his foreign sales. Expansion in our foreign trade is one of the major economic policies of the present administration, and as that ex- pansion proceeds greater and greater rosponsibilities will be placed upon our trade “ambassadors.” many agencies for relief. but his let- | He decided to appeal to a guard and | | The move was one which could be | | punished with death. | By borrowing small sums from his fellow prisoners he was able to get to- gether 100 rubles. His first attempt to approach a guard was unsuccessful | Among the guards over his cell was a | Lettish_soldier who had been in Amer- ica. The trade commissioner made | friends with this man and suggested that the latter deliver a letter. One | ay as he was half-asleep in his cell he | | heard his name whispered. He went to | the door and there found his Let- tish friend. The guard put the letter | in his boot. ‘ Letter Brought Rescue. Thirty-six_hours passed and nothing Finally a card bearing the | name of the commercial attache at | Moscow was presented to his fellow | official, together with a piece of bread |and a few toilet articles. “Keep your nerve,” the card read. “We'll have you | out soon.” Four hours later the com- missioner was a free man, as free as | any one could be in those days of | | revolutionary uncertainty in Russia. | Trade commissioners ‘can_tell many other vivid tales. On September 1. ] 1923, trade promotion workers in Tokio happened. These trade promotive offices render | were preparing to clear their desks 2 thousand and one services to the|preparatory to leaving for lunch. Sud- American business man. Last year, for | denly a deafening roar filled the air, a example, 570,000 lists of dealers were | combination of the shrieking of the furnished to American business men to| wind, the sound of falling buildings and help them enlarge their markets. The | the cry of terrified human beings. overseas offices of the bureau aim to| Almost before the workers could sense establish connections between our ex- | what was happening the American em- porters and reliable agents or prospec- tive purchasers abroad. Distributes Consular Reports. Under the law the Bureau of Foreign | and Domestic Commerce is made tho distributing agency for consular reports, | so that in addition to its own staff abroad the bureau has the benefit of | the services of 400 or more consuls of | the Department of State scattered at| every important city throughout the | world. ! On’ April 4, 1924, former President Coolidge issued one of the most im- | portant executive orders ever issued from the point of view of the Amer- ican exporter. Under this order there was to be a free exchange of informa- tion among all agents of the Govern- ment in foreign lands. The order like- | wise provided for bimonthly confer- | ences to be attended by all Foreign| Service officers, and recommended that every effort be made to eliminate | duplication of work. Many channels disseminate the in- formation thus gained. The bureau | maintains close contact with all repu- table export houses in the United States, and gives those concerns through a segregated information serv- | dce reports bearing upon their special export interests. It issues many pub- lications, including = “Commerce Re- ports.” Specialists are in charge of dis- | tributing the information on each | group of exports. Agricultural andi forestry exports, for example, bulk | large in the total. So the bureau maintains in its food- | stuffs division a corps of experts, som: of them farmers and others trained in | the business aspects of agriculture, who | direct the work of gathering and dis- | seminating information on conditions in farm product markets throughout | the world. Resident officers abroad , send in hundreds of reports each year | on agricultural products and condi- tions, and what is true of agriculture | holds also for nearly every other field of exports, Specific Opportunities Listed. “Commerce (Reports” carries weekly announcements of specific opportuni- ties for the sale of American goods abroad. The names and addresses of foreign importers desiring these goods are not given in the announcements, but are furnished to American firms upon application to the bureau at | mistakes and send his produce to all |the ends of the earth. To do this our bassy buildings began to sway. A few minutes later the embassy was in ruins and the staff wandered for many hours through the flame-swept city. When hours later they returned to the em- bassy their desks were cleared of “un- finished business,” for their offices had been destroyed. Hardly had the convulsions of nature died down when the commercial staff of the embassy at work again, report- ing to the business world of the United States the commercial effects of the fire and earthquake and indicating to the business men of America what contribu- | tion they could make to the vital work of reconstruction. Scouts Face Adventures. “So I think we are justified” says Assistant Secretary Klein, the man who | has done more than any one else per- haps to build up this foreign service or- ganization, “in maintaining that the diary of a modern Columbus of trade, like some of these American govern- ment representatives, thrills one today just as its prototype centuries ago stirred the courts of Spain. The ‘motif’ is the same. Then, as one writer has said, rulers sat in the robes of purple and decked with jewels, while intrepid voy- agers scoured the giobs in search of new lands to add to already powerful domains. “Today commercial discoverers explore unknown wilds so that the American business man, comfortable at home or in his club, or with his high-powered motor car rolling over paved highways, may expand his markets, avoid costly official trade pioneers have spent connt- less days and reeking, stifling nights in | | tropics, struggling against malaria or more deadly fevers, with the problem of food and shelter aiways uppermost. “Our trade scouls have cut their way through tangled South American jun- | | gles, they have waded waist deep in waters thick with the decomposing bod- | fes of fish killed by native methods of | wholesale slaughter. They have bat- tered about in shipwrecks on the lonely | | coast of Peru, half frozen in the lofty | passes of the Andes, whirled about in | the terrorizing grip of South Pacific | hurricanes. Trip to Angora Described. | “They have heard the whistle of bul- | lets fired at them by half savage tribes- | | men in the midst of a Malay insurrec- | Washington or fo any of the bureaus | districtor co-operative offices. These | tion, Through the wild Inferier of Afts | trade opportunities are based on Teports | gave’ alone, without Interpreter, guide which foreign officers of the bureau | | make, and contain detailed information | Of §1ard; in reglons such as the passes from which American firms can deter- ‘,’,',cf,z:"gkfl,’ ,,’{12“4“““(,‘:‘ Fgo‘xfxew‘,tc]::: mine whether or not they desire to en- | a passage through the snows for old- 'PrT ',3" n;*;k}‘ts ;n‘f‘h}’d- fashioned, rumbling carriages in which e study of any export problem, | the trade commissioner was traveling, | Wwhether the given commodity be agri- | past ox carts, donkeys and camel cara cultural or manufactured, must go hand in hand with the investigation of many | fundamental factors, such as the gen- ! eral economic stability, standard of liv- ing, tariffs, foreign commercial Jaws, | transportation facilities, etc. Technical Divisions Maintained. vans on his way down to Angora to talk | with trade officials of the then newly | organized Turkish government. “All of these things—and many others equally adventurous and thrilling—have | happened within the dramatic decade of trade expansion since the termina- BY EDSON RICH. OT so many years ago & man with $500 in his pocket,could have become the sole owner of any one of dozens of Western abandoned mining camps. It would have been his—houses, barn holes-in-the-ground, ore dumps, every thing. For population he would have had perhaps magpies and certainly pack rats doing nothing all day long but carrying chips from one end of the camp to the other. And probably the investment would have been a good one. For almost any day now you can pick up a Western newspaper and find this headline: GHOST TOWN COMING BACK The mining West ix spotted with those ghost towns—towns of hope that sprang up literally overnight, only to be completely abandoned (wo or months later. One day they w overpopulated that astute gentlemen placed chairs under God's pines and charged 25 cents nightly for the privi- lege of attempted slumber; a week, & month, several months later, and they were shuttered and deserted except for a magpie or two and some benighted prospector who insisted upon hoping. Like tombstones they stood through the West—marking the death of men's dreams. When those towns were in their hey- dey. great holes were pierced into the sides of the Mcunds of what was called “worthless ore” made ugly heaps slithering gulch- ward—mounds that stood through the years to explain the sudden death of the towns built round about. Within the last few years something portentous has happened. sound about the camps these days. It is BY HENRY W. BUNN. ‘The following is a brief summary of the most important news of the world for_the seven days ended June 1: GREAT BRITAIN.—King George is seriously ill again. In the general elections of May 30 the Laborites won a mightly victory, but lacked a majority. The Duke of Gloucester, third son of King George, has just ended a visit to Japan in the interest of Anglo-Jap- anese cordial relations, sailing for Van- couver. He was entertained with of- ficial magnificence. On May 25 12,000 London ‘“bobbies™ paraded in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the establiShment, by police, the most efficient police force in the world. It is now.commanded by Viscount Byng. * ok ok % GERMANY.—The experts’ commit- reparations problem) progress during the week. Agreement was reached on the very important point of the date from which -the Dawes plan schedule of annuities should cease to run, and the date from which the new schedule of annuities should commence to Tun, respectively. Sir Robert Peel, of the metropolitan | |an abrupt. staccato, busy sound, as | though nothing could Wnterefere the persistent chugging rhythm | steady work. You hear it on these | very dumps, and, standing in the sun outside those gaping holes in the moun- tainside, it issues from the earth itself. | to the ghost tow, Camps which had dwindled from an overflow population of standing room only to a few scat- | tered inhabitants are leaping. literally leaping, to such population figures as 1,500. “Gold!" That magic cry, which down through the centuries has set men's blood boil~ ing in A mad.fever for xudden wealth, has echoed now and again across the hills and through the valleys of the West, causing sporadic baby rushes. That was to be expected, with all the renewed activity. But while | bubbles swell and burst, the steady rhythm of persistent work goes on. Yes, thére are aspects of a boom, but a suggestion, He calls it a iva and says that “it was bound to come. New Deposits Are Found. | posits is reported almost weekly. At least 25 mines will be reopened or e3 | panded before the Summer is over, | while more and more concentrating | mills are going up to take care of grow- ing production. Among the min | which are taking on new life are those | years had fallen far from their days of glory. They include the famous Smug- open shortly with ore predicted to last 100 years and assays finding pockets worth $4.000 a ton. Even Cripple Creek, | al, s stirring. in earnest of such support was shipped | | to “the Christian general” via Kansu | province. The Nanking State Counc had formally deprived Feng of h's posts in the Nanking government an.. ordered | his ejection from the Kuomintang; the which might seem equivalent to a d cree of outlawry. Grand military dis- | positions were being made by Chang | and Peng, respectively. Yet some | hoped that & composition might still | be achieved, or that at any rate, hos- | tilities might be postponed until after | the grand ceremony of the interment of | Sun Yat Sen's body (to be brought from Peking) in the sumptuous mausoleum | erected for it on Purple Mountain, near | | Nanking, overlooking the Yangtze. But such hopes were doubted by the delivery, on May 24, to the foreigh en- | voys in Peiping of a communication | from Feng to the effect that he had begun war to overthrow “the lllegal and unrepresentative government at | Nanking.” “The extinction of Chang a that the the powers were warned “new government” (to supersede farious Nanking outfit) ognize any debts contracted by th Nanking government after the date o | this communication. Moreover, _the | foreign _governments were ~warned those | the mining man will not tolerate such | with | of | Ghost Towns Reviving Forgotten Mining Camps Come to Life With Tremendous Revival of Industry—Romance Still Stalks In 1927, for the first time since 1923, | Wyoming began again to mine non- ferrous metals from which gold and | silver bullion was produced. A few | | months ago California, in the dumps for For the spirit of life has come back | In Colorado the discovery of new de- | enduring mountains. | a; Leadville, which until the last few | gler Mine at Telluride, which will re- | There is a | the most discouraged looking of them | many years, reported about 30 instances | | of renewed activity. | LIKE TOMBSTONES THESE TOWNS STOOD THROUGHOUT THE WEST MARKING THE DEATH OF MEN'S HOPES, a thrill at this moment as they did in the days when the cry of “Gold!" was heard throughout the world. It was no longer than three months ago that I was in a mining town and wis(fully said to a barkeeper, “Well. you don’t have any shooting around here The latest United States Geological Survey report announces extensive op- | eratlons_in Oregon. Montana, Ulah, Idaho, Nevada, South Dakota, in New | Mexico, where the increase in produc- tion has been climbing steadily snlcc‘ 1921, and in Arizona, where “in 1926 | any mc “Not more than a_ couple a night, stranger.” With a lightning motion that would shame a Bill Hart he cov- eied me with a hair-raising six-shooter. When I arose again, he had taken from the drawer a .45 shell, empty. “Fellow | the production of silver not only in creased, but exceeded all past records,” together with increased production of | general ores. A | Yes, the ghost towns of the mining West are coming back—and they are bringing the glamour of the “old days” b with them. Glamorous Days of Yore. Perhaps there aren’t any stories to- | day to equal the tales of those glamor- ous days when Gen. Grant and his | daughter Nellie went to Denver and a 20-foot pavement of solid silver bricks, | cach worth about $1.700, was laid from | stage coach to hotel for the feet of the_ distinguished guests. Or the story of the English peer, who, to celebrate his acquittal for shooting a man who | | laughed at his extremely English cos- tume, was host at a dinner that cost $100 ‘a plate. When the guests could | eat—and drink—no more, his lordship | called in every hackman in the city and loaded him up with bottles of champagne. ~For three days Denver was treated to runaways, drivers salut- ing each other with pisiol-like reports of popping corks or playfully cracking | bottles on each other's heads But don’t get the idea that the ro- | mance and glamour of the “old days”| are gone forever. They aren't. The Rockies and the Sierras hold as mighty was rough-housing around here just the other night,” he said? and tenderly put the shell away again. I've had to listen enviously to old- timers tell about the days when money flowed like the Mississippi at flood time, when the spin of the roulette wheel made or broke a man. I have been en- vious of the fellw who was lucky enough to live in the time of the dance hall and the’ saloon, sans swinging door. And now let me tell the old-timers something! There are still foot rails in the camps of today’s mining West—and don’t make the mistake of calling for a chaser. There is still the faro game with the in- evitable dandy in broad blacl: and white checks. There is the inevitable ox- choking roll of bills. There is the in- evitable nervous youth placing his num- ber and staking his all at roulette. Glamour walks in the West once more. ‘Woman Responsible. A woman is said to be responsible for the change—the ghange that has brought back the ghost towns, that has brought romance and glamour back to | the mining West. That necessitates an explanation. Zine, lead, iron and vari- ous other ores which are found in what (Continued on Fourth Page) even the | hero of railways tuent, made the proper bows and read to the spirit of the departed | Al hundred and twenty pallbearers We are told On the tick of midnight May journey from a tem les fr al of the of the revolution in the message from Chang Kai-Shek. [ “In the deep a lo! the body of Sun Yat-Sen started on il ceremonial ple s 2 ; 1 Peiping to Nan- |gering the lives of many millions. king, 900 miles away. Just before re- ffin, Sun Fo, son of the and minister Nanking govern- | thereto | the tee at Paris (dealing with the German | gaj-Shek was to be expected at any | achieved great | moment,” and meantime the foreign | e | Wresque ha . | catafalque along uld mot rec- | way, with its fantastically dressed pall- { | beaters, torchbearers and escorting sol- | number assigned of old to an empe-| ror's catafalque) carried the catafalque | along the ancient imperial highway (repaired at vast expense for the oc- casion) to Peiping, whence it was to be conveyed by train, the train and | the lower route of the Tientsin-Pukow | Railway being heavily guarded against | the possibility of attack by Feng's The Story the Week Has Told the tragedy for the 20,000,000 or so, famine sufferers. er_de-p still opens to confound them that Chang Kal-Shek has bribed over to his side one of the | Red Cross most important of Feng’s commanders The American Red Cross is sending A committee of three experts to China | | to determine, upon careful study, the cxtent to which (if indeed at all) the shall participate in efforts } for relief of the present frightful famine | situation. The present famine may or may not be the wor but it is great enough, certainly en It | may “sound a little cold-blooded to withhold help pending a_thorough in- vestigation, but most of those familiar vith the conditions will agree that <uch procedure is correct, and, indeed, on grand considerations the most humane of procedures. Drastic and radical methods, not mere pallitives, are in- | dicatea. It is reported that the China National Aviation Corporation (under the auspices of the Nanking government) has made a contract with Aviation Exploration. Inc., of New York, under which the latter is to carry mail for the Nanking government on three trunk lines. service to begin within six one of 50 years, | troops. Nothing could be more pic- | months. The lines ars as follows: Peip- ing to Nanking, Shanghal to Hankow via Nanking, Canton to Hankow. x X K X UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.— diery. |Oon May 29 the Senate passed the The repulse of the Kwangsi forces in | combination bill providing for a census than that journey of the the imperial high- | ~ uorner BY GASTON NERVAI Authority on Latin American Affairs. AVANA —Thirty-one years ago a voung American left his po- sition as dean of the Law School of Los Angeles to enlist | in the 7th California In- fantry for the war with Spain. The United States had resolved to help the Cubans with their independence, an with shouts of “Viva Cuba Libre thousands of volunteers enlisted in the American army to fight for Cuban lib- erty. Today. after these three decades and more, that same American, James Brown Scott, is here as a guest of honor | of the Cuban government, to lay, in ! the capital of that “Cuba Libre” for which he fought, the corner stone of | an edifice which is to house the Ameri- can Institute of International Law. a great institution of peace and justice | | for all the peoples of the Western | Hemisphere, Sees ldea! Come True. In a conversation with Dr. Scott, after the ceremonles of the laying of the corner stone, he told the writer, his voice still touched with emotion : “Few men have the great good for- tune to see crowned with success. in their own lifetime, an ideal for which théy have struggled. I am one of that foriunate few. More than 30 years after I fought, gun in hand, for the independence of this country, I come back to it today as a guest of honor of a free and sovereign republic, to take part in ceremonies which not only are a manifestation of the reign of fra- ternity and peace on this continent, but are also a proof of the international prestige attained by Cuba, and of the leadership which she already holds in international affairs. The laying of the corner stone of the building for the In- stitute of International Law in Havana is important not only as an evidence of the progress made toward establishing the ideals of peace and justice among the peoples who will benefit from it, but also, to us who fought to help make | this a free nation, as evidence of the | permanence of Cuba's international po- sition in making Havana the future | American Geneva by establishing here the seat of the first institution for the promotion of - infernational justice in our hemisphere. And this act gains even greater significance from the pres- ence on this occasion of special em- bassies and missions from 30 nations of the world, come to attend the inaugu- ration of a new presidential term for Gen. Machado. Where Civilization 1s Fusing. The eminent American jurist and | publicist is right. The erection in Ha- vana of an Institute of International Law, for all the nations of the Ameri- cas, will confer extraordinary political importance on Cuba and will tend io establish her pre-eminence as the cen- ter of the Pan-American movement. Cuba is peculiarly endowed for such distinetion. ~Placed geographically be- tween North, Central and South Amer- ica without belonging, properly speak- ing, to any of these divisions, Cuba is the point where the currents of idealism of the north and south meet, where Latin and Saxon civilizations are fus- ing and where, for historical as well as economic reasons, the Saxon American and the Latin American find them- selves in closer relationship than in.any other spot on the globe. In the center of the Caribbean, between Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America and | the northern coast of South America, {Cuba is practically equidistant from each of a dozen American republics. Being the natural or geographical cen- ter, it is logical that she should become | the spiritual and political center. Free From Boundary Disputes. Cuba has another special advantage: hers is the only Agnerican republic witii no territorial boundaries. Being an island, she is the only nation free from | boundary disputes with neighboring countries. All the other republics have been at some time, or still are, involved in boundary controversies which date from Colonial times. This makes it | still more suitable to have chosen Cuta as the seat of an institution to promote peace and justice. When James Brown | Scott said in his address that Cuba was | the only Latin-American republic with- out frentiers, he doubtless had in mind that this was assurance that she had no enemies. This is a sad comment on the other republics, but none the less true. And this one fact is sufficient | reason for believing that in no other American state could an institute for inter-American peace and justice have greater assurance of success. The decree of the Cuban government providing for the construction of this | | palace of justice states that it will be | “a_ contribution of the Republic of | Cuba to that most meritorious work in | | | the latest and most author | positions of international problems and | national law | general. |0 | cul | success to the work for peace and jus- CUBA SEES IDEAL REALIZED %Afler Three Decades James Brown Scott Is Guest of Honor to Lay Stone. first will be open to men and women o~ every American nation who wish to take up courses of study. in charge of which will be professors from the va- rious nations which are members of the institute. The academy will have two semesters each year, and its official languages will be those of the New World—Spanish. English, Portuguese and French. The texts of the lectures and debates in the academy will be widely published. in order that scholars of the whole continent may benefit by ative ex- of ouestions ot public and private inter- national law. The American International Librarr will occupy one of the large sections of the palace. and is to contain the official publications of all the American gov- ernments and works of notable Ameri« an write: Endeavor will be made to_specialize. of course, in publications relating to public and private inter- It will also have collec- tions of the treaties and protocols made between all the American republics and all other nations, American or other- wise, and also works on diplomatic history and international politics in ‘This library will be open tn all Americans and to foreigners as well Court of Great Value. A permanent court of interamericar justice; with its seat in the Palace o" Havana, would be of the greatest value to all the American nations, in the fon of this distinguished guest o and would be a fitting crown of tice which has been begun. A court of this kind would be a logical culmina- tion of the work of the Interamerican Commission of Investigation and of the Court of Interamerican Arbitra- tion, both already in existence. Th=> work of such a court would be that of a court of last resort in controversies of a juridical character arising be- tween American nations. “We all know, perhaps too well,” said Dr. Scott, “the expression ‘America for the Americans,” but there should be in thes Americas a means of solving the dis- putes that may arise between these same Americans.” Lastly, Dr. Scott believes that the women of the Americas should have their place and part in this great work of the American institute of interna- | tional law and asks that they be given the right to participate in it. To do this he believes it indispensable that there be installed in the Palace of Havana the Interamerican Commission of Women, at present functioning in Washington and presided over by Miss Doris Stevens. Miss Stevens’ work for the “recognition of the political and intellectual rights of women at the Sixth Pan-American Conference, held last year in Havana, proved tha’ women are interested in cooperating with men in the solution of their com- mon problems on this continens, Plan Would Be Hazardous. This portion of the address of ths famous American internationalist is thc one which probably aroused the mos discussion among his hearers. It is thought here, and not without reason. that, although the women of the United States have had a general and politica! education which fits them to take up national and international questions. the preparation of Latin American women is still deficient. The majority of .public men and scholars of Latin America sincerely believe that it wou!i be hazardous as yet to give women di- rect participation in the conduct of thel~ national and international affairs befors having undertaken a methodical pren- aration for such innovation. In this | connection it must not be forgottsn that the feminine problem has to be studied from very different points of view in the south and in the north, since the difference in the positions occupicd by women in the United States and in Latin America is very great indeed. However, Dr. James Brown Scott, when the writer suggested that perhaps the Latin American woman is not yet in a position to share profitably with , men the solution of continental prob- z:ms, replied, with emphatic convie- S “Some day it will have to come. This | question of woman’s rights is like learn- ng to swim: you have to jump in the water and then the problem of swim- ming is solved. But first you have to get into the water; you can't swim on the ground. Just so, the Latin Ameri- can women cannot win their rights if they are not given an opportunity to do it. . Soho Markets Gain in Girl Customers ‘There is a great change in the bar- rows of Soho now. There are fewer flower and fruit and china and old It seems to be agreed that the Dawes | ggainst “violation neutrality” by fur-|their attempt upon Canton is at- |in 1930 and for reapportionment of the ! fivor "¢ inter-American culture and | | tion of the war. The chances of pic- | Pox. | plan schedule-shall pass into limbo on | nishing material of war to Nanking. | tributed largely to Cantonese bombing | House. The bill has now gone to the | ;o corg” which is being carried on by | Junk stalls and more—very many more To handle these more technical | turesque adventure for the trade ex- | phases of the trade promotion work and to keep records of commercial in- telligence the bureau maintains its own technical divisions. The division of forcign tariffs, for example, is called upon to furnish rates of dulies on the admission of products into any coun- try, the basis upon which such duties are levied and the advices in detail as to_consular invoices required The commercial laws division com- piles information on_the operations of foreign_commercial laws in so far as they affect trading by American firms. As one of its principal activities th finance and investment division make: a careful analysis of the opportunities which await the American investor abroad As these investments often call for the purchase of machinery, equipment, etc, fhe efforts which the division makes toward interesting American capital in foreign investments con. tribute directly to the expansion of for eign trade. Wherever such invest- ments offer a chance for the sale of American goods or service one of the many commodity divisions of the bureau gets in touch with contracting ; firms, manufacturers, supply houses and others that may be interested. ‘The statistics division prepares for | ¢he American business men interested Hundreds of special statements show- ing for the most important commodi- ties the complete list of countries to which these goods are exported or from which they are imported. $10,000,000 Contract Won. The foreign offices aid the American business man in many ways. Not long 230 Atbens decided to modernize its water system. The city had been using = water system not much different from that which was in existence in the days of Pericles. Then an American contracting -corporation came on the scene, and after studying local condi- tions and with the help of the com- mercial attache of the American lega- tion, representing the Bureau of ror- eign and Domestic Commerce, it suc- ceeded in getling a_ contract’ for the installation of a thoroughly modern system at a cost of about $10.00,000. The “frontiers of trade” provide many a thrilling experience for the trade scouts of Uncle Sam who go abroad to help the American exporter. Some years ago a lumber trade com- missioner of the bureau was caught in the Bolshevist revolution as he lay ill As s00n as he was the local but this official floor, stamped on it and ordered him to at Vologda, Russia. able he paid a call Bolshevist commissar, , threw his passport upon on the | prison. That night his cell companion wi taken out and shot. special guard took the trade comul | plorer are as alluring, as exciting as | they ever were in the times of Mareo Polo or Vasco de Gama, or Clive or Car- | | tier. The modern heirs of those im- | mortal pathifinders of business are liv- | ing up to the glorious tradition of open- ing the way for the buying and selling | of the materials of better living.” ‘The Bureau of Forelgn and Domestic Commerce has atiracted a good deal of | attention abroad. It is often cited as an example an efficient trade-promotion agency. “The history of this bureau.” the Deigian newspaper Neptune pointed out, “is_the economic history of the United States. Taking as an_example | Germany, which aids its commerce by ull the available resources of the nation, | land England, which in its turn has | abandoned its long tradition of indi- vidualism, America is beginning to put in practice the axiom which today i truer than ever, that one of the norma functions of the state is to sustain and | promote its foreign commerce. Bureau Termed Indispensable. “At the present time the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce is (n- | | dispensable to the American. He could | Inot do without it. Thanks to this burcau, he knows as much as it is ! humanly possible to know of the gen- eral resources of all the nations of the | world | 780 tar as possible, the bureau aims (to avoid any conflict with the foreign | service of the State Department. Nat- | urally, some disputes have arisen, cen- tering chiefly on differences of opinion over jurisdiction. Consular offices have many other functions to perform than those connected with business, 1 ¢ foreign agents of the Commerce | Department, the commercial attaches, ¢ counselors and commissioners, are con- {cerned mainly with the promotion of | American trade with foreign countries. | Where overlapping does exist the solu- {tion lies n an informal understanding between the representatives cf the two branches of the Government. In addition to the regular agents, the | Commerce Department has sent in re- | | cent years a number of special commis- | | sioners abroad, to seek to develo American trade in special fields, suc {as textiles, boots and shoes, motion ' pictures and a number of other lines. Other specialty commissioners probably {will be added to the foreign force in | the near future, Co-ordination to Be Strengthened. \Congress is due to consider this y {legislation for reorganizing the foreign service of the State Department. While doing this it may seek to clear up any differences that may exist between the | ject August 31, 1929, and .that the Young| rThis plan schedule shall take effect on Sep- tember 1, 1929. (There had been dis- cussion of some curious scheme of | overlapping.) Word has just arrived of composi- tion (on the balance, favorable to Ger- | many) respecting all but two of the | sundry German reservations and con- ditions, and it seems probable that b the time this is read complete accord will have been struck. No doubt the reader noted with satis- faction the notification by our Govern- | ment_(acting, apparently on.a sugges- | tion from Mr. Young, chairman of the experts’ committee), of its assent (sub- to the approval by Congress) 10| the proposal that payment of the total due us from Germany (upon the &c- | count of the cost of our Army of Occu- | pation and to liquidate the awards of | the Mixed Claims Commission) the | spread over a longer period of years | than as contemplated under the Paris agreement of January, 1925 (providing for distribution of the Dawes plan an- nuities). My understanding is that the total, present value, receivable by us from Germany would, by the proposed new arrangement, be cut by about 6 per cent, amount due creditors under the | awards of the Mixed Claims Commission | not to be affected. The total proposed | to be sacrificed by us is comparatively | small, but the offer is thought to have been notably reassuring to our allied debtors. RAN across this paragraph in the notebooks of Sam- uel Butler “l imagine that life can give nothing much better or much worse than what | have myself experienced. | thould say | have proved pretty well the extremes of mental pleasure and pain; and so | believe, each in his own way, does almost every man.” That, when you come to think about it, is wholly true. Some men have more of the luxuri of life than others, but these ex- periences which are richest in pleasure are the commen herit: age of us all. * Kk Charles M. Schwab, at last re- ports, had more money than I:° but just what can he buy with it? * Kk Three meals a day. They will cost more to serve than my three; but if Charlie enjoys them any more, he is going some. * Kk A roof over his head. It will Ye a wider and steeper roof than mine, and more rain will run off it; but the rain that runs off mine will be just as wet, and underneath | shall be just as dry. * K A good night's s lucky. l * ok k k CHINA —For weeks Chang Kai-Shek, head of the Nationalist (Nanking) go: ernment, and Marshal Feng Yu-Hslang, super-tuchun of the provinces of Honan, Shensi and Kansu, had been exchan ing characteristically celestial telegramn and issuing manifestoes of like bouquet, each accusing the other of perfidy, pe ulation and “sic_things.” The wor! was beholden to these heroes, for they howed themselves supreme artists in elegantly mendacious vituperation and innuendo. The Nanking government had buttressed its charges by publica~ tion of documents purporting to ema- nate from the Central Political Council at. Moscow, offering Muscovite support to Feng in an attempt to overthrow the | Nanking _regime, and stating that on {March 15 a_first consignment of arms p—if he's d ok % He can own more of the world's surface than I. But, try | | as he may, he cannot breathe up | of the trade service, and observers in | 3ny more of its hezcannat ‘Washington expect him to favor its absorb any more of its sunshine; continued expansion. he cannot bribe the ocean to give The President may indeed suggest him any more invigorating bath. certain changes in th> organization of | nor the evening stars to shine the diplomatic and ccnsular services— [ Jov (o AN RE B EIE O changes in line with the policies that | /g o J have proved so successful in making | . The world is full of pleasant I State Department and this growing The next day a |service of the Commerce Department, !international trade the most efficient President Hoover has . high opinion % T A @ - the overseas organization of the Com- | merce Department on the frontiers of sights and “sounds and smells, organization of ghe kind in the world. | AN ) denunciation of war deepens | planes. “Therewith to Be Content” BY BRUCE BARTON. (Copsright | o | and his ears and nose and eyes do not bring him any sensation a particle more sweet than mine | | bring to me. | Sk i Compared with the blessings | | we have in common, the few blessings which he has and | have not are insignificant. * Xk % The habit of contentment is ‘ormed, not from without, but ‘rom wit 3 | “There is no duty we so much underestimate,” says Stevenson, s the duty of being happy. By being happy, we sow anonymous benefits upon the world which remain unknown even to our- selves; or, when they are dis- closed, surprise nobody so much as the benefactor. A happy man or woman a better thing to find than a 5-pound note. He or she is a radiating focus of good will, and their entrance into a room is as though another candle had been lighted.” It is strange that contentment should not be more widespread, considering how very common and close at hand are the ele- ments that go into it. %k ok Work is one big ingredient. Simple tastes—the power of find- satisfaction in little another. * % The power to take things as and enjoy them to the another. St. Paul, for id a good-sized job and left a shining record. % He was forever “pressing for- ward to his goal.” Yet it was he also who wrote For | have learned, in what- soever state | am, therewith te be content.” | were bill provides for automatic rea s/ ment on the basis of a new decennial | Maine, | ardson, House. about $40,000.000 for the new census. 1t s said to have been grimly opposed by a good many drys, who dread in- ‘reased representation through reappor- tionment to cities which desire modifi- cation of existing prohibition legislation Amendments motived by such dread defeate Very importantly, the pportion- census should Congress fail to take specific action. It cannot be repeated oo often nor emph: zed too strongly that in failing to reapportion the House on the basis of the 1920 census the Congress neglected (with circumstances of peculiar offensiveness) a constitu- tional duty of the first importance. Reappot tionmen provided for the bill, would de se the repre: ta- tion of 17 States and increase that of 11, while 20 Statcs would be unaffected. ‘The States that would gain are as follows: Californta, six seats; Michigan, in | four; Ohio, three; New Jersey and Tex- as, two_each; Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Washington, one each. The States that would lose are as fol- jows: Missouri, three seats; Indiana, Jowa, Kentucky and Mississippi, two cach; Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ter- nessee, Vermont and Virginia, one each. Discovery in Utah of an extraordi- narily rich deposit of helium gas is re- ported. The New York stock market is in the doleful dumps. Apprehension over the possibility of establishment of high re- discount rates by the Federal Reserve Bauks is generally ascribed as the chief cause. A notable soldier passed away about a fortnight ago, at the age of 69. in the person of Col. Wilds Preston Rich- U. S. Al retired (reir his own request after 40 years' ice). In the World War Col. Richard- son was a brigudier general in the Na- tional Army. and later he rendered very efficient service in the same rank as commanding general of the American Expeditionary Forces in North Russia Presumably it was because of his long Alaskan experience that he was chosen for the Russian job. For many years he had been engaged in important con- struction work in Alaska. In the face of great hazards and difficulties he built the Richardson Trail, which im- mortalizes his name. It leads from Fairbanks, at the head of the Govern- | ment railway, across the interior into the copper mining country. Rear Admiral Robert Mallory Berry. U. 8. N, retired, died about a fortnight ago at the age of 83. He achieved just fame at the age of 35 as lieu- tenant in command of the Rogers sent to the waters north of Siberia in the It authorizes expenditures of | the American Institute of International Law, and & recognition of the honor done by that organization to the city of Havana in establishing in it the center of its activities.” N Houses Two Organisms. Under the provisions of this decree, | the edifice will house two great inter- national organisms; an American Academy of International Law and an | ) _International Library e hope of rescuing the Jeannette,.whose voyage of exploration ended so hideous- ly. ‘The Rogers herself had a sufficlent- | ly thrilling experience, with the details of which, as Macaulay would say, every schoolboy should be familiar, On May 26 _the American monoplane Fort Worth, Reginald L. Robbins, pilot, and James Kelly, co-pilot, established a new sustained flight airplane record of 1721, hours. Their machine is of nearly the same model as that used by Lindbergh in his immortal flight, with Wright whirlwind motor. The super- seded record was of 150 hours 40 min- utes, established in January by an Army plane, The Fort Worth refueled 17 times from a plane piloted by Capt. W. T. Ponder, a World War veteran. She traveled about 10,000 miles. The aviators must have wearied of the landscape. I must postpone remarks on the gra- cious action of our Government with respect to the debt to us, amounting to $406,000,000 of the French government, for surplus American war stocks pur- chased by France after the armistice. Let us hope that the joint resolution introduced in Congress and sponsored by the Government, proposing post- ponement of the date of that debt, will be promptly passed: EEEEE NOTES - Belgian general elections on May 26 resulted in a Liberal triumph at the expense of the Socialists. A plank of the Liberal platform calls for complete wetness in place of the present partially dry regime. The Catholics continue to be the strongest party in Parliament, but the Liberals acquire the balance of power. Rumania recently celebrated very elaborately and bulliently the tenth an- niversary of the birth of Greater Rumania. The celebration had a genuinely popular character because of the recent accession to power of the Peasants’ party, and by the same token the overthrow of the selfish group of money-changers who so long had ruled | the country. We hear with discreet emotion that Amanullah has abandoned the struggle to recover the Ameership of Abyssinia, which he abdicated some months ago, and hes fled tn Jndis { —street stands for women's clothing. | especially stockings. And instead of the mixed crowds of old and young the ma- jority seem to be youngish women, ex- amining stockings and hquse coats with expert fingers. “You'd be lucky, miss, if they didn't ¢harge you.more than $5 for that coat in a West End shop,” says the hawker, who, too, is of & | mew class of costermongers, and the | lady offers $1.25, take it or leave it, and gets it at $1.50. The shouting still goes on at the butchers' and vegetables and fish stands. but it is a much quieter street market, and high spirits rarely break into song except when some Scotch engineers up from the dock try to help things a little, seeing it is Sat- urday night. Soho is still one of the strangest meeting places in the world, with the rich people on their way to & Bokemian rendezvous, and poor people looking for the counter with the penny herring, and refugees from almost every country, and old-fashioned tradesmen of highly special trades whose names are known in Europe, and ambitious little Italian boys beginning life by sell- ing small toys and trees, hoping in time to have money enough to buy one of tha splendid dress suits for waiters they see. in the windows. St ol S NG Americans to Aid In Swede Songfest ‘Three hundred vocalists, selected members of the Swedish-American Choral Society, will go to Stockholm on a specially chartered ship next Sum- mer to take part in the national song festival which will be held there in connection with the Stockholm expo- sition, Nearly 10.000 members of the Swedish Choral Soclety ure expected to take part in the event and all of them will join in singing several spe. cial numbers, according to the plans. The festival will be held in the garaen of Adolf Frederik School in the Swedish capital. Plans for the exhibition proper, which will display the countless con- tributions of modern Sweden to the improvement of home culture, are going ahead rapidly. Buildings are already under construction on the grounds, bor- dering on the picturesque Canal Djurga- ardsbrunnsviken on the southeastern edge of the city, and a large corps of architects is busy completing drawings for the remainder. A large number of the objects which Sweden is ex- pected to send as her contributions to the Chicago Fair of 1933 will be on display in the Summer of 1930, and the Chicago Fair committee is e; d to send representatives to Stockholm for the occasion. Between 25,000 and 30,000 Americans are expected to visit iy e,