Evening Star Newspaper, September 15, 1929, Page 43

PRUSSIA SOON TO LAUNCH | SWEEPING PRISON REFORM Prisoners to Be Treated as Individuals, Studied, Classified and Salvaged. BY GERALD GOODE. ERLIN.—As an answer to the ery of social reformers who have B to fit the criminal rather than the crime, the State of Prussia will inaugurate on October 1 the most sweeping prison reforms ever known in Germany. Under an order recently issued by Prussian Minister of Justice Schmidt, prison administrators will turn their backs upon the ancient regime in peno- correctional methods, which treated prisoners in the mass, and the basic spirit of which was vindictiveness meted out in inflexible measures by a cast- iron penal code. Furthermore, a new penal code has been designed according to “human- ized” principles and cast along socio- logical lines by a trinity of law, psy- chiatry and social welfare. In it capital punishment is marked for abolition. Pending its consideration in the Reich- stag the block has been silenced in Germany. ‘The new prison reforms rest on a philosophy so idealistic that already there is much solemn shaking of hearls as to its success. The prisoner will be treated as an individual. He will be studied as a patholgzical specimen in a social laboratory. He will be classi- fled and subclassified, segregated, dis- tributed and then redistributed. H~» will advance through various classes of prison regime by the new “grading system,” a method which is underlawd with the bellef that criminals, unless they are hopeless recidivists or mentally battered beyond repair, should be given back to the economic machine as healthy as possible in body and soul. Yearly Vacations From Prison. Hope and faith in the ability of the | ‘wayward to recover his social balance | is the main motif. Prisoners will be granted yearly vacations and allowed to work in factories outside of the | prison, in both cases unaccompanied by guards. They will live not in cells but in rooms fitted with furniture and normal-sized windows, and outside ones at that, They will, in fact, enjoy those amenities which one finds in a strictly regulated boarding school, where de- velopment of character is the goal. If they become ill they will be assigned to an infirmary whose windows admit 98 per cent of ultra-violet sunlight. Such privileges will be granted only 1f they are earned. For the new prison officlaldom will act as an all-seeing #oclal pedagogue, minutely measuring the moral progress of the individual | prisoner, evaluating his conduct with merits and demerits, checking its find- ings against the case history and refus- ing to believe that every criminal of- fender is a person alike. How will this plan of individualiza- tlon be worked? The first step will be to segregate the prisoner immediately after his conviction. Separate prisons for short-term and for long-term pris- oners, for first offenders and for re- peaters, for juveniles up to the age of 25 years, for the mentally abnormal and for recidivists will be established. ‘These are but broad divisions and only the beginning of individualization. Now comes the detailed classifica- tion of the prisoner's individual perso- nality through psychiatric examina- tion. A study of his entire life-pattern, including even his style of handwriting, will be made. Kretschmer's study of body and character will be used as the guide for an elaborate questionnaire, which, it is hoped, will some day bel compiled to form a master work on the causes of crime. The prisoner’s social history will be built upon records gathered from welfare agencies, schools, hospitals and the clergy. The condition of his family life, the direction of his talents or leanings, the quality of his child life, all will consti- tute data for the figurative blue print, which will be made of the personality. Police records will contribute to, but will not control, the draughting of the picture. Color value will be given from | the sociological point of view. Three Classes Provided. The actual process of “grading” will involve the promotion of _prisoners | from one prison to another. There will | be three classes in all, each a single | stratum higher than the other by reason of the difference in privileges | allowed, the opportunities for educa- tion and the progressive mitigation of restrictions. The prisoner will advance according to his ability to abide by | regulations and to the rate of his social and moral improvement. When he reaches the heighest grade, he will be prepared for the period of freedom to come after his discharge. It is here that his room window will be curtained and draped. His door will be unlocked and will have no peep- hole. He will enjoy an intramural club life and will visit his family, unescorted, on a two-week leave. It is the pur- pose of this grade of prison to make the | change from incarceration to freedom as gradual as possible, and to prepare | the prisoner to be socially responsible and economically self-sufficient from the moment he departs from the land- | scaped grounds of the prison. In order to obtain a realistic view of | the way in which this latest penal in- telligence will function, consider the| case, for example, of Herman Miller, who has committed a robbery of grand larceny degree. He had previously served a sentence of six months, let us say, for petit larceny. The court has found him guilty and has passed him over to the sentencing board, who, after considering his social history and his| personality, commits him to serve nine years in the “Zuchthaus.” This is a general classification of prisons for long-term offenders, and were known in the days of Wilhelm to be the seat of the cruclest regime, where water- soaked cells and the free-swinging! ~cudgel were the rule. “Had his offense been a lighter one he would have been sentenced to a “Gefangnis,” where the less serious of- fenders live under a comparatively easier regime, Or had the study shown that he was characteristically vicious and habitually thieving he would have been assigned to a special prison for “hard cases,” where the intractability of prisoners is pronounced and the rate of advancement slow. Probationary Period Six Months. But investigation indicates that al- though irregular in. habits, Miller is kindly toward his family; that he is ill adjusted in work, irreligious and had lived in childhood under difficult en- vironmental conditions. He is there- fore assigned to “Prison B, grade 1, Zuchthaus.” Here he will find his fei- low inmates are men much like him- self, all previous offenders. At first the life is lean and hard. He 4s virtually isolated. He may not smoke. For recreation he must walk the court- yard in silence at five paces from his Tellows. After work he may read the pmo?u newspaper, ;nd should ‘Chl'hl.; as n along he may receive one ’pnlreeL ppTehla is the period of trial, ‘which lasts six months, during which the prison board makes a first-hand study of his personal traits and possible aocational aptitudes. 5 The prisoner has not misbehaveu, so ho advances one grade, where the process of re-education is in full swing. Additional privileges are granted grad- ually. Mulfix; now has a cell in the community block, in which he may hang pictures or photographs. He may spend a part of his earnings on tobacco, food, books and a newspaper. He ma attend prison “movies” and entertain ments, join the chorus or the orchestra, and ings. Since he displays some aptitude with tools, he is set to work as an enprentice machinist and encoturaged urged that punishment be made | some of his personal belong- [ strut |to develop skill. Prison guards watch | him closely, not so much for infraction |{of rules as for signs of progress in the development of his social qualities. They are guards who can shoot straight, but who also have human insight. Somewhat before the time when Mil- iler will have served one-quarter of his | sentence a calendar will list him as & | candidate for promotion. The prison |director and his staff, consisting of | physician, work superintendent, head | housekeeper, chief guard and treasurer, will discuss the eligibility of the pris- |oner to advance to grade two prison. Having found him to be a promising prisoner, he is awarded a white stripe and publicly honored. Had he failed to pass, his failure would have been | unknown to his fellows. No Uniforms in Grade Two. Should he have chosen to remain in this prison because of the proximity of his family, Miller would have been granted his desire without loss of the fruits of his promotion, although per- haps with some sacrifice of physical | facilities. | "In the grade two prison Miller may | discard his uniform of course blue for | civilian clothes. His cell has the ap- | pearance of a cozy den, for in it he has |8 real bed with bedsteads, a table, | bench, cabinet, reading lamp and night table. He may decorate his room to | suit himself with pictures, plants and | birds. His freedom is increased. He |may pay social visits to other inmates, |play a musical instrument, listen to | the radio in the clubroom, or go to another to talk, read or write. Once a week a member of the prison board will eat at his table, but for sympathetic observation, not inspection. Guards will cease to follow him during his walks on the campus or to watch over him at his lathe. He is given reason to believe that he is trusted. He may become interesied perhaps in | the self-government activities of the | prison, by which inmates elect repre- sentatives from the ranks who have the right to confer on matters of welfare With the director or even with the sen- tencing board. He sees fewer guards, hears fewer regulations made, and moves about more freely without watch- ful eyes upon him. He finds it increas- ingly difficult to harbor a real or im- aginary resentment against authority. After a residence of at least six | months, Miller is eligible for a week's vacation to visit his family or “for ‘othcr purposes that will serve his edu- cation. He may take his vacation whole or plecemeal, and it can be granted only by unanimous vote of the prison board. Should the members dis- agree, they will seek mediations of the sentencing board. He may take all of his savings on the holiday with the ex- ception of a saving fund of at least $12, and leave the prison, temporarily a free man, but knowing that if he abuses the privilege he will lose his " Miter iller has now served at least one- half of his sentence, and has given ample proof that he has made his de- sires subservient to the social order of the prison and that he has used his trust well. He is therefore promoted 0 the highest grade of prison—the | peak of the educational pyramid. The grade three prison realizes the whole aim of the reform movement. In its regime and appearance it resembles a training school more than a prison. One of the first things which im- pressed Miller upon his entrance is the discovery that none of the windows is barred and that no wall surrounds the prison. He finds the window of his room open to the sun and of normal size (the average windows in Germany are about four by eight feet), and hung with curtains and drapes. At meals he eats with silverware instead of tinware. On Sundaf’s he hikes with a guard in civilian clothes. He sleeps 9 hours and works and plays 15 hours a day. In his workshop there are no guards, but there are supervisors, who are prisoners possessing skill. His vacation time and his free time are now doubled. He may remain alone with visitors whom he may receive each week. There is no limit to the number of packages he may receive and no censorship on incoming or outgoing letters. He wears his own clothing and sleeps on his own bedding. In the place of guards are prisoner delegates, elected by the men. They exercise whatever measure of discipline may be necessary and serve on the prison board in proportionate representation. _Since Miller has by this time devel- oped into a skilled machinist, the prison director may bargain with shops and factories outside of the prison to em- ploy him. Having obtained employment at the market wage, this “free prisoner” leaves the grounds every day with his lunch basket and some pocket money to take his place with free workmen who may know him to be a prison in- mate only by reason of the fact that he does not drink beer or eat in res- taurants with them. Out of his wages he pays the prison for his board and lodging. The remainder he puts into a savings fund and a fund for petty ex- penses. Thus he has reached the stage where the step to freedom and social responsibility is a slight one, The grade three regime has cushioned the often disrupting shock of freedom and | carried him along to the point where he may rejoin his family with a bank account to his credit and a job ahead of him. Building Modern Prison. ‘The individualism of the Prussian penal system will not, of course, be ef- fected at one stroke. There are about 800 prisons in the state containing nearly 50,000 inmates. The new in- structions for prison officials have already been issued, but the ideal refor- mation will not be reached until modern prison buildings are erected. At Bradenburg, near Berlin, a model prison plant is under construction which will comprise the three grades of regime. It will have a capacity for 900 prisoners. It will be arranged like a garden colony with lawns, gardens and walks, Officials will be quartered in small private houses along the out- skirts. Prisoners’ buildings grouped in- side among trees and shrubbery. The prison will stand on a 28-acre tract, and adjoining it will be its own farm of 224 acres, to be worked by the agri- culturally inclined inmates. Deep in the woods there will be a separate insti- tution for consumptive prisoners. The kitchen will contain modern steam- cooking apparatus and electric refrig- eration. Prisoners’ quarters throughout will be equipped with running water. ‘The buil will be wired for the latest in electrical alarm devices and light signals. From Auburn Prison has been bor- rowed the idea of the concealed ele- vated watch. A special railroad spur will connect with the main line to allow for the transference of prisoners Irectlly to grounds. The estimated ooetkn. the plant is more than 4,000,000 marks. Every r in Germany must work, and at healthful, useful tasks that will be valuable to him in later life. 'The newly formed ministry of prison labor is charged with rationalizing the work system of the new penal regime. If prisoners have neither a trade ner a profession, they will be compelled to cultivate one, and they will receive full assistance from the state. Provision for Prisoners. Provision will be made for prisoners who wish to pursue wrmnlf art or scientific research. Others will work in agriculture and forestry. Contracts will be ed with municipalities for con- work, prison will ha on 4 ve s chamber of commeres for ihe em: cl commerce m- t of prisoners in shops and fac- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SEPTEMBER 15 1929-PART 2. BY EDGAR SNOW. EKING . . . it is a name which now officially has been flrl)fped from usage for a little more than a year. In government circles,l in official l-nr\lae everywhere, | “Peking” is absolete. e cit; for s0 long guarded with its intrica system of stout walls the rulers of im- perial China, and until recently cradled the leaders of its “republican” suc- | cessor, now is known as “Peiping,” the title bestowed upon it last year when the Nationalists, after their successful unification campaign, took the capital from there down to the Yangtse port of Nanking. ! Among Chinese in the central and southern provinces the new name grad- ually is replacing the old. Newspapers have been ordered to use only “Pei- ping” and the ministry of education is supposed to have had the more an- cient cognomen scratched from all text- books in_ public and private schools. Only in North China, where Manchu blood is strong and the Chinese bitterly resent the removal of the capital to the south, does one still hear that name | which had come to be symbolic of every- thing exotic, romantic and alluring in the East . . . Peking! And the for- eign tourist, too, finds it diffcult to get used to the sound of Peiping, which is pronounced “Bay-bing” and means “northern peace.” Not, of course, as a result of the change of name, but coincident with it. | began an_alteration in the deep, the | mystic splendor of Peking. Like many another time-great capital, its glory has | begun to lose its glow and its beauty to languish as it enters the inevitable | period of decadence. Regrets Decay of Palace. When Chiang Kai-shek, chairman of the national government, recently was in the ex-capital for conferences with the military leaders of the northwest, he escaped from his duties for a few hours to visit the old imperial palace grounds, in the once Forbidden City. Upon noting numerous indications of decay, the chairman expressed regret that such neglect should have been al- lowed. He asked why the broken tiles had not been replaced on the throne- room roofs, why the grass had been al- lowed to grow between the marble- plaqued pavillons, and why the once richly lacquered pillars, of fine old tim- bers. were rotting for lack of a few square rods of paint. Representatives o? the Society for the Preservation of Anclent Chinese Objects of Art, who were accompanying Chiang on his tour, are said to have shuffied their feet, pressed their thumbs together and an- swered, somewhat hesitantly: “It used to be a saying that within Peking's walls no one ever starved. This is no longer true. The ‘Peiping’ of today is not the prosperous city for which that | aphorism was made. And our organiza- tion has no funds for the upkeep of the | precious_and historical buildings and articles left in our trust.” Personally Pledges Sum Required. Chiang, according to & Chinese friend of mine who happened to be a member of the party, then asked how much money would be needed to effect the rehabilitation. The caretakers busied themselves and presently handed him & statement, listing various items which | BY HENRY W. BUNN. ‘The follo is & brief summary of the most impdrtant news of the world for the seven days ended September 14: THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS.—On September 7 Flying Officer Henry C. D. Waghorn of Great Britain, in a supermarine seaplane, with a Rolls Royce engine, won the Schnei- der Cup race, with an average speed around the 31-mile course at Calshot of 328.64 miles per hour. At times the speed was 375 miles. About a million persons witnessed the race. On the 12th Squadron Leader Augus- tus H. Orlebar established a new speed record of 375.7 miles per hour, this being the average speed of four flights over a 3-kilometer course. He used the plane which won the Schneider Cup, or a sister plane. Sir Eric Geddes assures us that reg- ular London-Australia and London Cape Town airplane service will be es- tablished within two years. The Lon- don-Australia flight will involve land- ings at Genoa, Naples, Athens, Crete, Alexandria, Karachi and other points in India, and Singapore. From Singapore the pianes will fly over Sumatra to Port Darwin, Australia. Land planes will be used over land and seaplanes over large bodies of water. The London-Cape Town flight will involve landings at the airports of Alexandria, Khartum, Lake Tanganyika and Johannesburg. Sir Gilbert Clayton, British high com- missioner in Iraq, is dead. He was one of the ablest of British administrators and his loss is especially to be deplored at this crisis of British relations with the Near East, for very few men possess his knowledge of the Near East and still fewer his sagacity in dealing with Near East problems. As head of the British intelligence department at Cairo during the World War he was largely instrumental in the organization of the Arab uprising against the Turks. Owing to defeat by one vote of a measure submitted by it to the Can- berra Parliament, the Australian gov- ernment, headed by Premier Bruce, has resigned. General elections will prob- ably be held in October. * K X % ITALY.—Premier Mussolini has re- organized the Itallan cabinet, appoint- ing nine new members, seven of them promoted from the post of undersecre- tary; turning over seven of the eight portfolios previously held ,by himself, retaining only the portfolio of the in- terior. Previous to the advent of fascism it was customary for the premier to hold that portfolio. The new cabinet in- cludes three of the four leaders who condutced the march on Rome in Oc- tober, 1922, viz., Gens. Debono, Baibo and Bianchi. The fourth, namely, the Count de Cecchi, was recently appointed the first Itallan Ambassador to the Holy See. The*m:ce,hl’l‘ acted wisely. RUSSIA—We hear that in a note forwarded _through Norwegian _diplo- tories. Unemployment will not be tol- erated, for is believed by German prison authorities to be the cause of dis- content. Rej 1y|n,machfl(emtnfllonhbar woul% unfairly compete with numwork- installed in all prisons despite tions among the reformers that ma- chine labor, fosters monotony and will breed discontent. Germany has no acute crime problem today. Its' prisons are comparatively empty, having only one-third as many inmates this r as they had in 1923, when the tion did much to bring criminality to the surface. But mo- mentum t'h.: given to tmh:e:gm ro- gram conviction popula contains latent econamic power. A scientific. treatment of % 's THE PEKING OF BETTER DAY THE Peking---A Ghost of Glory Begins to Languish as It Enters Decadence Under Its New Name—Business Moving —WHEN CARAVANS BROUGHT IN RICH PRODUCTS OF THE OUTLANDS. Prom a drawing by Cyrus T. Baldridge, reproduced from “Turn to the East.” totaled around $60,000. Declaring that he was depressed by the signs of inat- tention, Chiang added that he felt the people would approve of an appropria- tion for that amount. Accordingly, he personally pledged the sum., much to the satisfaction of the soclety. It was a noble gesture. Unfortunately there were some who raised their eye- brows and commented that the Nation- alist general (concurrently chairman) was merely making a bid for popularity in the north. But then there always are those unreasonable cynics who refuse to believe it is possible for a Chinese general to be sentimental. ‘There were many who regretted that Chiang did not also visit the Summer palace, where scenes of the mischief of time and the elements are even more painful to wistful souls who still believe that a thing of beauty, even though it was created for a royal tyrant, ought to be preserved as long as possible. Rest- ing in the lap of the western hills, a few miles outside Peking, the celebrated Summer palace grounds are perhaps the matic channels the British government has suggested to the Soviet Russian fovemment resumption of negotiations looking to resumption of Russo-British diplomatic relations. We are told, how- ever, that Moscow still insists that re sumption of diplomatic relations be un. conditional, while London still insists that it must be preceded by an ac- ceptable pledge of Muscovite abstention from communistic propaganda on terri- tories of the British commonwealth of nations and by substantial assurances concerning Russian indebtedness to the British government and to subjects of the British crown. According to a state- ment made by Mr. MacDonald to the House of Commons in July, 1924, the Russian indebtedness totals the equiva- lent of about $1,500,000,000. * ok x % PALESTINE.—Perhaps the reader will be glad to con again the Balfour declaration, issued in November, 1917. It is as follows: “His majesty's government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people most impressive mementos of Chin: regal past. In the buildings of this group and in the articles contained in them are ex- pressed much of the individuality of the cultural attainments of Chinese civiliza- | tion for several recent centuries. Per- | haps here is the peak, the most Superb | zenith of Chinese artistic accomplish- ment. flawless in coloring; ivory screens carved with exquisite result and | patience; gem-crusted thrones; lacquer | chests inlaid with ebony; bronzes and porcelains, cloisonne and damascene, all worked by artisans whose secrets of skill have been long since forgotten. Most impressive of all are the build- |ings themselves—rambling _pavilions, shuttered shrines, throne rooms and audience halls and countless chambers | dedicated for such varied employments as could occur only to a Dragon Em- peror. And yet over the whole scene there is today a sadness, for the fingers of dilapidation slowly are spreading over tory the Week Has Told and will use its best endeavors to fa- cilitate the achievement of that object. it being understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non- Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by the Jews in any other country.” ‘The Cave Machpelan, reputed place of burial of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is at Hebron, where occurred the most bloody incident of the recent horrors: a delightful place in the mountains. ey CHINA AND RUSSIA.—Dispatches of September 9 told of Russian attacks on Chinese positions in the vicinities of Manchuli and Pogranichnaya, of de- structive and bloody bombardment by artillery of the Chinese sections of the latter town and of bombing from air- planes of the railroad in its vicinity, the last involving destruction of a sec- tion of the road and of two planes, with some casualties, the Chinese troops, dispatches also stated ‘that the Nan- king government had been informed, A Letter to a Young Man BY BRUCE BARTON. OU ask me how you can get a better job. My answer is that you can't, All over the country are mil- lions of young men who, in a vague sort of way, want a better job; and here and there among them are the worth-while few who want the better job. And the millions wonder why the few move on, while they stand stationary year after year. You must, first of all, pick out the better job—some particular job that is better than yours. Then train your guns on that and capture You tell me that you are a bookkeeper and that you earn $25 a week. 1 know certified public accoun- tants who earn $10,000 a year and mor If | were a bookkeeper earn- ing $25 a week, | should go out for a public accountant’s . might die on the road, but whi ever found my body would no that my face was toward the summit. Second: You can never make anybody pay you more money until you ha tomorrow morning and have a hundred bright young men here at 8 o'clock. Each one will have just as much to offer me as you have; the same two years of high school; the same experi- ence in keeping books; the same good record. Every one of them will be willing to work for $25, and some of them for §18. The only way you can yourself out of that $25 cl; by giving yourself an equipme! that the rest of the fellows in that cl do not ha iIn other words, by study—by education— by . specjalized training. Thi When you have picked out the one particular better job that you want, when you have lift is (Copyright, 1929.) fitted yourself fon it, then be ful of your letter of applica- tion. Your letter is your representa- tive. For h have in you any spark of orig- ality that other men have not, make your letter a tiny bit dif- ferent from the other letters that the other men Fourth: | receive many letters of application. In one form or another, they usually say some- thing like this: “I want a better job: | am thinking "of getting married”; or, “l have a mother or, “I have been and see no futur All of which interests me not at all. For when it comes to spending my employer’s money | am fundamentally selfish. Much | should like to give jobs to all the young men who have mothers to support, or who e no future where they are, | cannot do it. The only letter that | read with inte: the letter of the young man who has studied my business and who points out to me how | can make more money for my employer by employing him, One of the biggest business men | know said to me: “l have private secretaries to relieve me of many details; but one detail | make it a rule to see all applicants for positions.” he have that rule? Because his business, and every business in America, is built on youth, enthusiasm and y applicant may ea that would be worth thousands of dollars. the keys that unlock big men’s doors. When you have fitted yourself for the better job, let your letter of application contain an idea. - There are vases of green jade, | infinite | however, holding their positions. These | the area, and apparently none is capa- ble of combating the deterioration. ‘The famous marble boat, that is sup- rou to have cost several million dol- ars and incidentally lost China a war because it was made with money appro- priated to build a Chinese navy for use in the Sino-Japanese conflict of 1894, 1s today a sagging-roofed, broken-balus- traded, crumbling-corniced edifice, al- ready robbed by decay of much of its original beauty and now being as a playground by the Shansi soldiers | quartered nearby. Elsewhere on the grounds tiles in the pavilions are 4 broken, sprouting weeds have parted the ‘stones in the courtyards, and there are numerous evidences of the need for a troop of repairmen. Stairway to “Summit of Long Life.” | Leading to the “Summit of Long Life” is a double stairwa flanked with | balustrades of imperial yellow hue. Its | tiles are of an especially smooth, satiny | texture and many of them are beauti- i fully embossed. Along this stairway, for almost its entire length, these tiles have fallen and broken to bits, or have been removed by curlo seekers. One notices a number of them offered for sale by the Peking art dealers. How did they get them? The answer is plainly in the hundreds of coolie soldiers who are lowed to flood into what, ironically, once was the forbidden villa. Within the Winter and Summer p: aces many objects are disintegrating. Others have disappeared from them en- tirely. Unfortunately, the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Chinese Ob- jects of Art, which also is called the Palace Museum Association, is not all | that such a body should be. Its mem- pers’ interest in art is something less | than academic. All of them being pure- |1y political appointees of the Hopei Pro- | vincial Kuomintang, one is not surprised to learn that many of them do not know | & Ching vase from one produced in the ‘Tang period, which is a very deplorable state of affairs indeed. More depressing is the museum's cus- tom of “withdrawing” articles from time to time as these become “unfit for dis- play.” There are stores in Peiping, Shanghal and Tientsin at which such unduplicated treasures now are offered | for sale at fancy prices, but most of | them have found their way to America, | particularly to New York, where all the world’s best dreams are being collected for the Fifth avenue menage. Proceeds from the museum's sale of such articles | | are supposed to “provide funds for the upkeep of the palaces.” Halls of the Manchus Neglected. Alas, one looks in vain through the azure-tinted halls of the Manchus; there are no indications of efforts at main- tenance. One cannot but be skeptical of the museum's success at preserving | things as they are—or used to be. True. at frequent intervals around the palaces one notices large signboards listing the various endeavors of the Palace Museum | Soclety. But it is common knowledge that the Chinese reaction to a statement of intention usually is equivalent to the approval given an actual performance. And the Chinese have rather a passion for signs. Every one knows that they | seldom mean anything, but every one ‘s (Continued on Fourth Page.) through .German channels, that the attacks were by.the way of retaliation for “19 new attacks by Chinese and White Russians” and for Chinese sow- ing of floating mines on the Sungari, the which, entering the Amur, greatly endangered navigation of the latter. Our experience of dispatches from that corner of the planet is not such as to Justify perfect belief in the reports above noticed. Later reports are very vague, but some credence is permissible to a re- port that the Chinese positions in the vicinity of Pogranichnaya have been abandoned, the troops falling back to a new line crossing the railroad near Muling, some 40 miles west of Pogran- ichnaya. * ok % % ARGENTINA.—At the instance of | President Irigoyen of Argentina a bill is about to be submitted to the Argen- tinian Congress providing for a 10-year program of highway construction by the national government, the roads to | be macadam, with concrete foundation, de the expenditure to be about the equivalent of $4,200,000 yearly. Per- haps Argentina’s greatest need is of a good highway system, and realization thereof should be an economic boon of the first order. The announcement is of peculiar interest to American auto- mobile manufacturers. 1%000,000. and that of Buenos Aires about 2,100,000. Buenos Aires is be- ing close pressed for the primacy in !p;publ;fi&l‘lo .:an‘ S(;IIL\I Afinerlcnn eit- le_Janeiro, whose ula- tion is about 1,800,000. e * K ok X UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Immediately after receipt, on Septem- ber 12, of a note from Washington bearing on the Anglo-American naval exchanges it was officially announced from Downing street that Premier Mac- Donald would sail for the United States on September 28. The presumption is that a tentative Anglo-American agree- ment is in sight of & nature to justify the convening of a five-power naval conference looking tb further consid- erable naval reductions by the five powers. The Niagara-Hudson Power Corp., formed not long ago by J. P. Morgan & Co. and associated concerns, has acquired the properties of the Frontier Corp,, including sites on the St. Law- rence River, capable of developing 2,000,000 horse power. Before this pur- chase the Niagara-Hudson outfit owned installations at Niagara and else- where with a total capacity of 1,700,000 The population of Argentina is nearly | horse power. It now controls almost every important water-power site in New York State. On September 7, Harrison R. Johi ston of St. Paul became the new n tional amateur golf champion by de- le . F. Will- It is a matter of satisfaction to us, if ‘hinese pundits, that Mr. Roy drews has been able to & in Mongolia, including of the dainty animal “embolotherium.” * x x x THE LEAGUE—I noticéd in last week's issue the of Briand to the Assembly. tresemann made rman foreign minister urged the Assembly to give its ired consent to immediate return of Saar Basin to Germany, by which restoration, he sad, liquida- tion of the war would be completed, and the way would be opened for “close and fruitful jon between G many and her farmer ad! . He referred a On | th: his I[PLANNING IDEA IS APPLIED ITO RUSSIAN ECONOMIC LIFE Soviet Adopts Plan Used in Private U. S. Industry—Change May End Years of Deprivation for People. BY WILLIAM RUFUS SCOTT. OVIET Russia, adapting an Amer- ican idea, is ahead of the United States and all other nations in one respect. It plans on a na- tional scale for the entire indus- trial activity of the country instead of leaving each industry to scramble along regardless of the general welfare. The great business imagination cf President _Hoover already has grasped the possibilities in such a program and there is evidence that not only he but leaders of American industry fully ap- preciate the advantages national plan- ning gives any country’'s economic life, for steps have been teken to put the United States abreast of the idea on a modified scale. To depict adequately the magnitude of the idea imagine in Washington a National Economic Planning Board whose function would be to fix the rate of expansion of all branches of Ame:- ican industry, agriculture, transporta- tion, mining and the like. g Plan Covers Five Years. ‘The Russian planning scheme does not stop with the current year; it covers a 5-year period with the intention of merging it into a 15-year period. For the present 5-year period the develop- | ment of Russian industry calls for a | budget of about $27,000,000.000 and the first year's operation of the plan indi- cates that the expected rate of progress has been exceeded with a likelihood that the total will be surpassed before 1933 when the period ends. However, if the United States adopted | the same kind of national planning the budget would so. far overshadow the Russian figure as to stagger the imagi- nation because American industrial ac- tivity is so far ahead of Russia’s. National planning as practiced in Russia embraces not only production but distribution; it determjnes wage | levels in all industries and the prices of finished goods to consumers; it seeks i to avold excess output in any line; 1n} short, the whole commercial field of the | lumber and_furs. former czarist government, the present Soviet regime finds it difficult to get credit anywhere. Those American firms now selling to Russia either do so for cash or on terms almost as severe as cash, while they do so without any guaranty of protection by the United States Government, which has not rec- ognized the government of Soviet Russia. As conditions become more stable in Russia and as the Soviet regime estab- lishes a record for paying its own debts. American firms may extend eagier terms. The expanding trade of the United States with Russia, $120,000,000 last year, shows that this easing of credit is taking place in some degree, but solely on the initiative and at the risk of American traders. Russia freely admits, and the visitor to Russia plainly sees, that at present Russian industry is lamentably inade- quate to the task of supplying ordinary commodities to its 140,000,000 popula- tion in satisfactory volume. The five- year program is expected to remedy this deficiency in a large measure, a condi- tion the Russians describe as a “goods famine.” The outside world is familiar with the food famine in Russia, but not so familiar with the famine or shortage of common necessities in all other classifications. Has Three Exportable Products. To get outside capital Russia has three chief exportable products—oil, A year or s0 ago, when the Soviet government needed some ready cash, it gathered up all the furs in Russia to sell abroad, thereby compelling its own citizens to get along with their old furs. This was an extra internal measure, as the sale abroad of furs always is a government monopoly. However, these self-denying acts Ve the effect of keeping Russia out of debt to other nations. To do without until Russia can produce its own goods is & settled policy. ‘While the five-year plan provides for a great increase in production and nation is surveyed, regulated and co- ordinated according to an estimated | {7 rate of speed and accomplishment. The | aim is to eliminate wasteful competi- | tion, overlapping, surpluses, panics and | other occurences upsetting or disastrous | to industry. , No_such planning is possible now in | the United States, because the Gov- | ernment has no such strangle held upon industry as is maintained in Rus- | sia, while the dominant idea in America hag been to prevent monopoly through | anti-trust and similar laws and to keep | competition alive in every branch of industry. Hoover Seeks Safeguards. But President Hoover has instituted | efforts to prevent in American eco- | nomic life the crises listed above and | to forestall some or all of the common | dangers of prosperity. He is actively seeking ways of preventing hard time: by such proposals as extensive govern- | mental building in slack seasons and | by encouraging experts to find the | cause of periodic slumps and panics | and how to avoid them. The new Farm Board is a move, in one sense, toward national agricultural planning. There can be no co-ordinated national planning here until basic changes are made in laws and basic changes occur n American viewpoints about such concentrated authority, yet the tend- ency lately is plainly toward unification in the many mergers now going on in industry,’ in forming powerful combina- tions in finance, in consolidations of railroad systerfs:and so‘on. This shows the alertness of American captains of industry to modern conditions, espe- clally to the new aspect of foreign competition. Are tl masters of Soviet Russia more original and smarter than the leaders of -other nations in adopting national planning first? Not at all By virtue of the 1917 revolution Rus- sia’s slate was washed clean, and Soviet leaders were free to adopt any ideas that appeared useful. They looked around the world and found planning practiced by every large industry, espe- cially in the United States. Their smartness consisted in applying the | idea to a whole nation. No other advanced nation is in a position to do this without drastic re- organization in government and in- dustry, even if it were desired to do | s0. Nevertheless other nations can and do approximate the idea. Germany and other European nations and Japan are awake to the situation. The great car- tels formed in Europe and many other signs point to nation: tion to end haphazard, small-scale di rection and production. The chain store idea in America is an approximation of the national planning system. Underlying the chain store is | the opinion that national distribution | provided for by a central buying body which operates on a vast scale will and does save many costs encountered by individual communities having stores independent of all other communities. Plan Necessary in Russia. ‘This, however, is a puny effort com- pared to planning for the whole com: mercial life of a nation. The fact that Russia since its revolution made itself the owner of the land and resources, of manufacturin€ and retailing, and the arbiter of wages, gave the opportunity to experiment; more than that, it made Pl and “light” industry. The former includes production of raw materials, and such lines as mining, oll, manufacturing of bulk and heavy prod- ucts, etc. Extensive development of electrical power comes under this classi- fication. In the light industry division are all those commodities used in every day life such as clothing, canning, con- fecticnery, tobacco, and on through a long list known to all consumers. ‘Where does the United States figure in the Russian program? Soviet leaders frankly admit that Russia will .be strained to furnish all the capital needed for the 5-year plan although they are ready to go ahead on a cash- paying basis of buying in the United States and other nations if that is the only way out. Contracts involving millions of dol- lars already have been let in the United States by Soviet agencies for materials ne The chief need is machinery. Russia wants to have its own factories rather than abroad. Ford' i example, will be limited to showing the Russians how to build and operate utomobile factories, although during the development stage he also will sell to R some. jousands of cars, trucks and tractors. The S5-year plan contemplates a Russian output of about 100,000 cars and trucks by 1933. When it is stated tion for one month Bipes o ba four § e Tou Sin our years m now. Ice the total United States production of cars will pass 5,000,000 for 1929 the comparison is still further emphasized. Russia Is Richly Endowed. aia e Sy & POk an scheme possi- bilities rather than in any immediate threat it offers to nations not using national ing. Russia nevertheless is one of the most richly endowed coun- Tesource: - | tries of the world in natural of every kind, and should it work into an industrial state of the first rank it will be & factor. Russia lowering of manufacturing costs, it is not the present intention of the Soviet ut prices to the consumers to the lowest possible level. The plan is to give the state-owned industries a good profit and ta turn this profit back into industry as new capital. That is one v in which the government raises capital, and taxation is another way. Confiscation was the principal way in the first vears of the Tegime. Soviet leaders say with some pride that Russia is the only nation in Eu- rope which has rehabilitated itself since the World War without the aid of out- side capital. The billions of dollars loaned by United States bond buyers to European countries, have not been shared by Russia. Now, however, Rus- sia would like, if not loans, at least less rigorous credit terms, for the machin- ery, raw materials and some finished products needed in the five-year plan and the ordinary life of the nation. It looks to the United States and Ger- many mainly because these are the two most advanced industrial nations. ‘The fact that the Soviet government can make and unmake laws at will and | has control over the whole industrial fabric gives it an advantage in making quick changes of policies to meet new conditions, it is argued in Moscow. In other nations legal obstacles and gov- | ernmental limitations stand in the way |of sudden and drastic changes, while | industrial leaders sometimes are prose- | cuted for business practices introduced ahead of the lggal concept of the re- spective nations. Every American busi- ness man, for instance, must keep an eye on the anti-trust laws in his ma- neuvers. It remains to be seen whether the arbitrary power of Russia will be |as big a blessing to the people as its leaders believe. How to reconcile the agricultural to the industrial worker is one of the great problems in Russia, and one which is tackled in the five-year plan. Russia still is overwhelmingly an agricultural country, with about 75 per cent of the | population peasants. The aim is to make Russia an industrial nation, hough this will not give the city eles ment a preponderance in numbers. Peasants’ Co-operation Needed. If the peasants can be induced to fall in with the five-year plan and produce ‘!nolllh Wwheat to make importation un- necess; and if they produce more cotton, flax, hemp, wool, sugar beets |and other commodities to cut down |such importations, and even to give Russia an exportable surplus in some of the items, the economic outlook will be made comparatively rosy; that is, rosy according to Russian standards, though far inferfor to American stand- ;:ld'!ce l:i’unow is bu; about 80 ni cotton fr St;}u. om the United lore automobiles and trucks mea more good roads in Russia. Exunlh"!l new housing and construction mean a large development of the building in- dustry. In turn both mean increased demand for American road-making and construction machinery. Already much such machinery is in use in Russiz. .:rnée&c;n‘mmee? are supervising the of some of the la; WX:" D rgest electrical for wages, the Soviet gov expects that the nve-yur”pl’nr:m:?l; Taise the average from $33 to $43 a 'zlll.s:.be kept;‘.n mind that Tages. Man make $100 & month and mme’n'tmmk;rl: than that in specially skilled trades. In addition to wages, they get benefits such as vacations with pay, medical attention, recreation and educational facilities and price concessions in 807 ernment or co-operative stores, theaters, etc., which supplement their wages. The latest Soviet idea of institutin, A continuous-work year—that is, os keeping factories going 365 days, using shifts, so that while there will be no observance of Sunday each worker wiil get & day and a haif off each week— must be fitted into the five-year plan. The effect it will have if generally in- troduced will be watched with keen lnxhrellt, fl’l n all this review it must be - bered" that Russian production. aiemny has passed the pre-war level. But that was 15 years ago, in 1914, and in the meantime the United States and Eurone generally have gone far above pre-war figures. Russia, after being 'in the World War from 1914 to 1917, had sev- eral years of civil war, two years of famine and a general d inization due to the complete destruction of the old political, social and economic order. Hence in reach: = considers 1t has ‘ade bn: arsiercreses :‘nowl.:l‘dmry mgfimw is striving to cut Mgnnudfl::ao m'vuen it and tne more e effect of the five- the hope it lndlapuhblyu ives o™ Seeing s ‘et o scheduled rate %fl v‘:fl'fl"‘-h:’ e passing it. Tiod o mmwxm- land ares, | al} compactly united.” s sy- Having mm the of the » 'n._"‘ g