Evening Star Newspaper, December 1, 1929, Page 33

EDITORIAL SECTION he Sundwy Star, Part 2—20 Pages NEW SESSION WASHINGTON, D. C, FACES LONG PULL AND BITTER FRICTION Vare Case Expected to Be One of First Matters Coming Before Seventy-First Congress. BY MARK N NOVEMBER 14 a year ago—t! O SULLIVAN. hat is, in 1928—Senator Smoot returned to Washington from Utah. From that day to the present Senator Smoot has not been out of Washington 24 hours, hardly even one hour; | I suspect his longest absence from the Capitol building was his over- | night visit to President Hoover at the latter’s camp on the Rapidan, some 90 miles from Washington. To say Senator Smoot has been in Washington | steadily is to say he has been steadily e ither on the Senate floor or in his office during practically every daylight hour—more than every daylight hour, for during weeks on end the Senate has had night sessions, the night and day sessions combined aggregating, often, 9, 10, 11 and 12 hours. And when the Senate is not in session Senator Smoot is invariably in his office early and late, attending to those innumerable affairs of the Government or of constituents which, alone, in the case of every Senator, would con: or business man. After this year and two weeks of con- ! tinuous hard work Mr. Smoot and his | fellow Senators begin tomorrow a new | session of the Senate. This new session | will be abnormally long. Senator Sim- ! mons of North Carolina thinks it will | Jast “probably to the latter part of Au- gust or the first of September.” The reason this coming session will be ab- normally long is the same reason that the sittings of this Congress have al- ready been long. That reason is the tariff. The tariff began April 15 last. As this article is written it is not yet done and the end is not in sight. Just how soon it will be done depends on the order of eyents Congress adopts next week. ‘Vare Case on Hand. One of the leaders anticipates that | the first thing taken up in the Senate will be the case of Vare, who has been officially held suspended between the State of Pennsylvania and his Senate seat for nearly three years, and whose suspension between election and admis- slon has caused the second largest State in the Union to have but one repre- sentative on the Senate floor, David A. Reed—an exceptionally able and hard- | working one, but only one. The Vare case will consume some time; how much no man can tell. Af- ter Vare has been told by a Senate roll | call whether he can or cannot take his | ocath of office and a seat, the Senate may or may not return to the tariff.| As this article is written some Senlu[ leaders think they will. But there is| & tax reduction ahead:; it is a very popular tax reduction; about everybody outside the Senate wants it, and hardly anybody in the Senate resists it. For stitute a full day’'s work for any lawyer matter of our adherence before the Sen- ate. Developments at the London con- ference on naval parity may lead to reconsideration of our naval building program, and a possible treaty arising out of that conference may come up for ratification. Ratification of the debt agreement with France is certain to come up early in the session. The mat- ter of recognizing the Russian govern- ment. may come up. Some five or six investigations by Senate or House com- | mittees, dealing in part with highly| controversial subjects, will consume the time of a considerable number of Sena- | tors and Representatives, members of [ the respective committees. In short, the regular business of this | Congress is just beginning tomorrow, ‘What it has done so far has been merely the special business of a special session, mainly farm relief and the tariff. All in all, Senator Simmons’ mention of September 1 as a probable closing date for the coming session is not over- pessimistic. Yet it must end by Sep- tember 1 at the very latest. Indeed, in spite of the volume of business, and in spite of the conditions that end to pro- long the session, Senator Simmons’ es- | timate of September 1 as the closing date may be shortened. The business exists that can keep the session at work, but this session must end—must end probably a little earljer than September 1. It must end, not because of any constitutional limi- tation, but for a reason equally com- pelling—one-third of the Senate and the whole of the House come up for re- election next year. The 435 Repre- sentatives and ‘32 Senators involved must look after their respective cam- psychological reasons, the Senate may | paigns. take account of the urgency of atmos- phere attending the tax reduction and take that up before it resumes the tariff. In any event the tariff will not be out of the way for some weeks. Democratic Senator Simmons of North Carolina (official Democratic leader on tariff matters), says that com- pletion of the tariff will consume from four to six weeks of the coming session. Democratic Senator Copeland of New York, puiting the matter in rather acid terms, says: “If any farmer in America thinks the tariff bill is going to pass before Christmas, or even before Janu- ary or hbnnry.wz 15 fouled tee amore. plliepidll probable one of the Senate’s longest sessions in years.” Senator Copeland’s acidity may make him overpessimistic, and both has acid- ity and his pessimism may arise out of the conviction, which he holds strongly, that such prolonged and continuous ses- sions are bad for individual Senators, bad for the Senate as a whole, and be- cause bad for the Senate, therefore bad for the country. Senator Copeland is one of the two physicians in the Sen- ate (the other being Hatfield of West | Virginia). As a man, Senator Copeland is one of the Senators who least needs his own professional services or advice. He is big and husky and permanently well conditioned. He is as well able to stand the strain as any other Senator, and much better than most. But if not | for himself, then for the Senate and the country, Dr. Copeland deeply de- plores the length and continuity of these sessions: | “It is absolutely wrong . . itis cruelty, it is indecent, to keep these men | e on the Senate floor. Today, this | day, Senators have come to re and | said: ‘I cannot sleep nights, I am so | worn out” We have no business to be here attempting to legisla‘e =1 We are not fair to the citizens of the | United States if we attempt to legislate | when we are in no condition physically or mentally to carry on our work ... All any one has to do is to read the Record of this afternoon to know that the Senate is not in a frame of mind to | legislate as it should.” | And yet this tariff, as yet, has not | consumed any more time than any past | tariff. Some Seantors the other day pot | into a petulant argument about the | time consumed. It may be inferred from what has already been said that | senatorial arguments these days are | rather strongly tinged with petulance. But veteran Democartic Senator Sim- | mons (dating from 1901) agreed with | veteran Republican Senator Smoot " (dating from 1903) that “the ava | time in which we have been able to| pass tariff bills in the past has been | something like five months.” The Senate has had this present tariff bill | exactly five months. It is going to| have it probably a month longer, and the ensuing conference between Senate and Hpuse may, in the present case, be exceptiona]ly prolonged. Large Program to Meet. Not only will the tariff continue to consume a good deal of time during the | coming weeks and months. In turn, the time spent on the tariff will cause a future telescoping of that portion of the program of Congress which arises after, and when, the tariff is out of the way. This regular and normal program, omit- ting the tariff, is already large. There are the great supply bills, the appropri- ation bills for the Government depart- ments. Other than these, and other than the business already mentioned as likely to come up early there will be | many further matters. Some are | already in sight, and no doubt Presi- dent Hoover, in his address next week, | will mention’ yet more. | Senator Glass of Virginia, Repre- sentative McFadden of Pennsylvania and others have exceedingly jmportant | proposals dealing with banking, credit, the Federal Reserve system, branch | banking and allied subjects, which in | the aggregate would alone be enough | work to consume a full session of Con- gress, considering the pace at which Congress normally makes progress. | Senator Fess of Ohio has an urgent | bill affecting railroad consolidation. | Senator Couzens of Michigan has a| carefully worked out hill dealing with | radio, other forms of interstate com: munication and public utilities. Sen: tor Sheppard of Texas has a proposal extremely provocative of prolonged de- bate—dealing with the liabilicy of the purchaser under the prohibitin law. Because of the possibility of some ae- gree of business depression, and in order to take up any slack in employment, plans will be enlarged and put in force o carry on waterway improvement on the Mississippi and other streams. For the same reason good roads, public buildings and other national impro ments will be expanded and appropria- tions made for them. Some advocates| of the World Court hopes to bring the | They come up for re-election in No- vember; that is, the general election, as | between Republicans and Democrats, comes next November. While many of the seats are determined in the Novem- ber general election, the bulk are deter- mind in party primaries much earlier. In practically all the South, seats are determined wholly in the Democratic primaries. In much of the West and much of the Middle West, and in most of such States as Pennsylvania, the seats are determined wholly in Repub- lican primaries. And whether any one | Senator's or Representative's seat is wholly determined by the primary or only partially, the tenure of each and every one is involved in the ghnmry, To substantially all of them the pri- | mary is indispensably important. ‘These primaries occur at various dates, depending on the State. They be- gin. in a few States, as early as the Spring months, February, March and April. Consequently, from the opening day of this session tomorrow practically every Representative and one-third (32) of the Senate must be thinking about the renewal of his term. And without any “practically,” without any qualifi- ation whatever, every party leader, major or minor, every individual with any faintest degree of party responsi- bility whatever, will be thinking of the aggregate of the elections. In the House every Republican leader will be think- ing of whether, and how best, the Re- publicans can hold their present mem- bership of 267; every Democratic leader will be thinking of whether, and how best, the Democrats can increase their present membership of 163. Similarly, in the Senate every Senator with any sense of Republican responsibility will be thinking of whether, and how best, | they can hold the 19 Republican (in- cluding progressive Republi an) seats involved in the coming elections; and every Senator with any sense of Demo- cratic responsibility will be thinking of whether. and how best, the Democrats can hold the 13 Democratic seats in- volved in the coming election. Politics Means Tariff. That brings us to the politics of the coming session. There isn’t really much more to be said. To expand would be a reflection on the reader's powers of imagination and deduction. Politics, in this session, means the tariff. The politics about which cer- tainly every leader, and practically every individual, is going to think, is the effect of the tariff on public opin- ien. That is, in large part, normal and as it should be; the function of poli- ties is—in large part, certainly—to re- flect public opinion. Individuals, as individuals, are going to speculate about how their individual votes are going to affect their fortunes in their individual States and districts. Individuals, as members of one party or | the other, are going to speculate on how the party as a whole, as a result of its collective attitude on the tariff, will stand in their respective States and dis- | tricts. Leaders, of both parties, who | have a directive hand in making the tariff. or who have the responsibility of | directing or persuading their followers as a group to vote one way or the other on the tariff as a whole and on scores cf | specific schedules—such leaders are go- ing to be speculating every hour on just | hov' the country as a whole is going to view the tariff and the position of the respective parties on it. There is always politics, of course, in | every session of Congress that precedes a congressional or general election. It just happens to be the tariff this time. But this time, on this tariff bill, the condition is especially acute and intri- cate It is so because nobody Qquite knows which party is going to be re- | sponsible, in the public eye, for the bill that will ultimately emerge. Nobody knows yet just what kind of bill is go- ing to emerge. In the House, so far, the Republicans are in control and have the responsibility. On the other hand, in the Senate, the coalition of Demo. crats and Insurgent Republicans co stitutes & majority; they control—and presumptively have the responsibility, though a part of the complex maneu- vering consists of each group trying to put upon the other group the responsi- bility for one move or another. ‘When so small a matter as taking a | week's rest came up in the Senate the various factions jockeyed and maneu- vered and “passed the buck” about like the pea under the three shells before they could determine which faction should accept responsibility for publicly making the motion adjourn. after the vote was taken, with an out- come that was not the one expected there were violent charges of bad faith. cowardice, “welching” and breaking a gentlemen’s agreement. If any one wants to realize the extremely involved intricacies of the politics attending this tariff bill, consider these remarks, made by Senator Copeland of New York about (Continued on Third Page,) Q f_.runm BY THEODORE TILLER. NCE a newsboy selling Washing- ton papers on the streets, Julius H. Barnes, today a dy- namic business figure of Du- luth and the Northwest, will this week begin direction of mobiliza- tion of the industrial forces of the country in a drive to maintain national prosperity. (The paper sold by the boy Barnes was The Washington Star of the perrod whnen President James A. Garfield long lingered after being shot by an assassin.) ‘Thus, with the approbation of Presi- dent Herbert Hoover, Mr. Barnes now will become virtually a “director of prosperity.” He and about 200 associ- ated leaders of American industry, finance and commerce will get together here on December 5. They will fully survey the business of today and the outlook for the eoming months; diag- nose and X-ray the business structure to ascertain where there are weak spots and to prescribe remedy therefore; and, finally, will likely set up a permanent economic council to guard constantly against any disturbing fluctuations in the pulse of trade. As the prospective dominant person- ality in the forthcoming conference, which will closely follow recent meet- ings at the White House of the captains of industry, labor and agriculture, Mr. Barnes is drafted again in the public service. His personality first flashed across the national horizon soon after the United States entered the World War. Remarkably enough, the now President of the United States, then food administrator, assigned to Mr. Barnes his initial great public task. ‘When this Nation entered the world conflict in 1917 Mr. Barnes was just “‘another big business man.” But as the wartime Wilson administration began to call upofi the men and ma- BY LOIS HAYDEN MEEK, Ph. D. HE movement for the education of parents in the United States is not new. In the 1880's and '90’s, when child study had its great impetus under G. Stanley Hall and the German psychologists, mothers wanted to learn more about their children. Most of these women had a background of education which made it possible for them to study with some profit the conclusions of these early investigators. Indeed, some were ambitious enough to attempt keep- ing records of their own children under the direction of Hall and other pesy- chologists. In spite of these beginnings and the consistent effort of such organizations as the Child Study Association and the P.-T. Association, it has only been in the last five or six years that any real strides have been made in thinking through the philosophy underlying the education of parents and the problems which must be approached. Today the education of parents has a significant place in several large uni- versities, notably Columbia, Minnesota, Iowa, California, and Toronto and Mc- Gill in Canada. Programs for parent education are being promoted by a large number of agencies, both national and local. Among the national organi- zations are the Child Study Associa- tion, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers and the American Asso- ciation of University Women. In local communities one finds social agencies, religious groups, health agen- cies, colleges, public schools, Juvenile Courts and clinics sponsoring and pro- moting educational work for parents. In Philadelphia such agencies have joined together under one co-ordinat- ing parents’ council. Parents Call for Education. In universities and colleges men and women are learning to study parents' need, to lead parents in discussion groups, to reorganize scientific infor- mation, so that it may be used by parents. Several of these universities now are offering diplomas in parent education for advanced work, and a few doctorate dissertations have been published in the fleld. But why educate parents? Primarily because the parents want to be edu- cated. At least the mothers do. There are today many more mothers who wish help in the problems they face as mothers than there are people trained to consult with them on these prob- lems. Social Conditions Changed. ‘This demand of parents for help in part to the changing social conditions of the last two decades, When genera- tion after generation of children is very similar to the environment of the preceding generation there are rela- igle’ly few difficult problems for parents ace. ‘The methods used by grandmother in rearing her chil effectively by r theirs. The life and customs of the pre- ceding generation have changed so lit- tle that parents may feel adjusted and | secure in their understanding of the " life of their children. Associate Professor of Education, Columbia. | their “job” is prog:bly due in large | | | | | | i s 5 i SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 1, JULIUS H. BARNES. teral of the country Mr. Barnes, out in Duluth, felt that somewhere in the vast machinery of war-waging there should be a place for him. So he came on to Washington and met Food Administra- tor Hoover. Evidently, an imstantaneous attach- ment sprung up between the two men— each desirous of fullest service to coun- try and without price. At the time Mr. Barnes was the largest exporter of wheat from the United States. Food Administrator Hoover, with far-spread territory, needed some one to allocate and direct the flow of wheat and bread to the civilian and military forces of the allles. Three days after the Hoover- Barnes meeting Mr. Barnes was drafted as directing head of the United States But when changes take place which greatly affect the lives and living con- ditions of the people, then parents may well be concerned about what to do with their children. They no longer can understand easily the lives which their childrern are leading. Such have been the social conditions of the last 20 _years. Less than 20 years ago a girl gradu- ated from high school in a nainsook dress elaborateiy trimmed with Jace and insertion. Her long hair was piled high and arranged in small “puffs.”” She perhaps had friends with automobiles, but a ride was a real event. She went to a motion picture for 5 cents in a hall that seated 200, the larg- est in town. She had never heard of a radio or television. She had never seen a woman smoke. Only sophisti- cated men of middle age carried flasks. She was not yet regarded as a poten- tial voter. She had never seen an air- plane. She had not gone through a World War. Inventory Suggested. It was a different worid. That girl of 20 years ago is a woman ncw. She has married and has children 7, 10 and 16 years of age. What a differens world they live in! The World War, auto- mobiles, airplanes, radios, prohibition, woman suffrage, congesied cities, sub- ways, jazz, talkies, rouge and lip stick, short skirts, woman’s smoking, are only a few of the things that have helped to change our lives these last two decades. Parents might find it elpful to make a list of social conditions under which they lived when children—size of city, nearest neighbors, number in family, income of family, recreation, school, church, excursions, toys, size of home, locaiton of home, play space, room, servants, household responsibilities, etc. After this broad inventory of social and family conditions is made, then in a second column let parents check every factor which is identical or nearly 50 in the life of their children and add any additional items in the modern social environment, but not present in the older. This would give an excel- lent starting place for discussing the problems which parents are facing. More Scientific Information at Hand. A second reason for the development of the parent education movement is that there has been accumulated dur- ing the last decade some information which_might be of much help to par- ents. Investigations in nutrition, physi- cal growth, learning, behavior prob- lems and the education of young chil- dren have brought together some knowledge that is valuable and scien- tific. Furthermore, the experiences of educators, psychologists, physicians, psychiatrists, nutritionists, heir | work with chile born in a rather simple environment | {fnched the stage of scientific evalua- on. ‘The opportunities for parents to edu- cate themselves for their “job” are manifold today. One of the easy ways of access to information is th literature. During the last five years a great deal of material has been pub- lished—books, pamphlets, magazines and articles. This literature 15 of two kinds—that rough | Underwood Photo. |Grain _Corporation. Thereupon, he | promptly liquidated his private busi- | ness to forestall any possible eriticism that he might use his official position to advance personal interests. Before this came about the grain markets of the world had been thrown into great confusion and American grain exports, as badly needed as they were abroad, almost come to a halt. There were large in reserves in this country and the allies were des- perate for them. But overseas trans- portation was dificult and hazardous. | ‘There were many seizures of grain ships at sea and exporters were never certain of the fate of their cargoes or investments therein. Meetings of the troubled exporters had been held and a protective committee formed. | and that which is written for teachers or specialists, but which contains ex- cellent content for parents. There has been a good deal written on some as- pects, such as proper foods for chil- | dren; how to get children to eat cer- tain foods; sleep; anger and temper tantrums; fears; affection and jealousy: and obedience. Literature Available. ‘This literature has been developed in response to demands of parents, for these seem to be the kinds of problems upon which parents want help. The University of Toronto and the Univer- sity of Minnesota both have published books which deal with these and simi- lar problems. Leaflets and pamphlets may be had from the United States Children’s Bureau and the American Association of University Women, Wash- ington, and the Child Study Association, New York. However, the literature which deals with family relationships, with the in- teractions between mother and father, mother and children, father and chil- dren, children and children, is not so prolific. Such relationships are ex- tremely subtle and difficult to . Few studies have been made and few authors have attempted to write about these problems. Lillian Gilbreth has dicsussed it from one point of view in “Living With Our Children” and Ernest his several hooks. It is difficuit for parents to choose among ali that is being written that which is best and most trustworthy. Parents are in danger of exploitation ig they do not use their best judgment. Several agencies, such as the universi- ties and national organizations before mentioned, publish lists of approved books for parents, which may help in guiding them. Study Groups Popular. Probably the most popular method at present used in the education of par- ents is the study group. For the most part these groups have been composed of mothers, though groups of fathers and sometimes groups of fathers and mothers together have been organized. They meet at frequent intervals to dis- cuss problems and develop principles of family adjustment. Sometimes the leader is a specialist, but more often a parent whose experi- ence and training in other groups has equipped her to take leadership. Upon the efficiency of the leader and the active participation of the members in study and discussion depends the suc- | cess of the group. | ~ Child guidance clinics, clinics for be- havior problems, clinics for pre-school children and clinics in connection with Juvenile Courts are also engaged in edu- . Often when a child is brought tq the clinic because of some } behavior problem 1t 1s found thatthe difficulty lies 3 | _ Parents may be too indulgent or too | harsh, oversolicitous _or neglectful, | tyrannical or vacillating in their de- mands. They may know a great deal about diet, but very little about how | to make children like the right foods. :The{ may stir up jealousies in the | family. ey may not be in harmony | with each other with a consequent at- \\‘l}lch is written primarily for parents mosphere of emotional strain in the sex education; play and toys; discipline | Groves has made a real contribution in | 1929, “Director of Prosperity” Julius H. Barnes Will Guide Mobilization of Country’s Industrial Forces to Aid Nation Mr. Barnes quickly sensed the or- ganization needed to meet the crisis and make effective the United States Grain Corporation. there was the allies. Since Napoleon had wisely told the embattled world long before that “an army fights on its belly” Mr. Barnes, in thus effectuating the flow of wheat, contributed inestimably to the eventual victory of the allies. So this first meeting between Herbert Hoover and Julius H. Barnes was a for- tuitous thing. It threw together, under stress of war's emergencies, two men whom nature seemed to have endowed with almost the same qualities and tem- peraments in both big and little_ traits. Like President Hoover, Mr. Barnes gets his greatest stimulation when en- gaged in the solution of some pressing gzoblem. Neither has a distracting bby, although Mr. Hoover likes fish- ing and the building of little rock dams at his Summer camp on the Rapidan River, and Mr. Barnes takes a horse- back ride almost every day there is a horse handy, and has an occasional early morning swim in the pool of an athletic club. Mr.. Barnes asserts he owns the best riding horse in the coun- try. ‘Through no design of either tailors or themselves, Mr. Hoover and Mr. Barnes dress much alike. They are partial to blue double-breasted suits. But neither man, each long identified with Ameri- can industry, has ever felt the urge of the average business man to put on knickers and spend a day on the golf inks. Each is a man of rapid, though not hurried, decision and action. Neither maintains strict “office hours”; that is, they'd just as soon tackle a job at mid- | night as at 7 o'clock a.m. if the emer- (Continued on Fourth Page.) Parents Held to Blame Misbehaving Fathers and Mothers as Much of Modern-Day Social Problem as the Youngsters house. They may be puritanical and ashamed of life processes and evasive or lying to children about sex relations and sex information. ‘These are only a few of the ways in which parents may be responsible, all unknowingly, for the misbehavior of their children. The clinic must deal not only with the misbehaving child, but also with the misbehaving mother and father, brother and sister and sometimes with the grandparents. It is the problem of family relationships with which they are faced rather than an individual child problem. Consultation Centers Developed. Closely related to the work of the clinic is the consultation center for parents, which is just beginning to be developed. The consultation center 1s for the purpose of giving individual help to parents on their problems. It is not for the parent with a child who is an extreme behavior problem and who should be taken to a clinic. The parent consultant attempts only to dis- cuss with the normal everyday man or woman problems which they may en- counter in their “job” of being parents. The nursery school as it has devel- oped in the United States is_another agency for parent education. It is im portant that the school exert its influ- ence on the home and the parents of the children under its care. It is essen- tial that there be a consistent regime and policy in the total life of a little child. This can be accomplished only | if parents and teachers have common | objectives and similar techniques. | _The regime of the nursery school, | physical and mental examinations, | group activities, meal hours, sleeping |pcnods. outdoor playtime are all used as opportunities for educating parents. Mothers are required to keep home records, to observe in the nursery | school, to co-operate in home regime, to confer regularly with the staff and in some cases to join a study group. Comprehensive Survey Made. Those who are especially interested in the parent education movement will find a comprehensive survey in a re- cent book, “Pre-School and Parental Education,” published by the National Society for the Study of Education. It contains a discussion of the history of the movement, underlying principles, survey of programs being developed, methods used and the training of lead- ers for the field. ‘The National Council of Parent Edu- cation, which is composed of the lead- ing agencies developing programs in this fleld will furnish information on request. It is located at 41 East Forty- second street. Parents of today and tomorrow should be greatly encouraged, for science is gradually coming to their aid not only jn the accumulation of more knowledge about children, but also in suggestions as to the best use or this knowledge in a philosophy of family life which aims toward the hap- piness of all its members, They Won't, Won't They? Prom the Worcester Evening Gazette. ' ‘The women, having announced in no uncertain terms that they are not go- ing back to those long skirts, are now quite cer going back to them, devolved the plan whereunder there | went forward a steady flow of grain to Separation of Coal HE announcement of the opening tention again to a region which plete economic interdependence of Euro] arated by frontier posts. As a separate entity the Sarre Basi | the reign of Louis XV, in compliance, wit When Napoleon abdicated in 1814 | | his conquerors, by the first treaty of | | Paris, left to Prance all of the Sarre | | territory on the left bank of the river, | including the fortress town of Sarre- | Lous, which had been taken by Lou XIV, and was the birthplace of Marsha! Ney. After Waterloo, however, the | Prench frontier was pushed back from | the Sarre and the new frontier thus created was re-established at the peace conference, when Alsace-Lorraine was restored to France. In 1815 the Prussian anxiety to ac- | quire all of the Sarre Basin was based upon knowledge of the existence there of great coal deposits, which constiture | the economic value of this region. The | settlement of 1815 thus deprived France | of what would undoubtedly have been | the second largest coal-producing ter- | ritory within her frontiers. | Iron Mines Cause Jealousy. | In 1871, by the treaty of Frankfort, when Germany took Alsace-Lorraine, | she also acquired enormous iron de- | posits in all the region about Metz. At | the moment it was believed that Ger- | many had seized all the iron in the| | east of France. But a few years later deposits equally rich were discovered in the Briey region, within sight of the | new frontiers. One of the avowed aims | of the Germans during the World War | was the annexation of the Briey dis- | trict, which was occupied during the first days of the struggle. After the German defeat France de- manded not alone the return of Alsace- Lorraine, which was required in the armistice terms, but also the return of the Sarre Basin, lost a century before. ‘The French claim was based upon the forcible annexation of this region by Prussia and Bavaria. In addition to the historical claim, the French also presented strategic and economic reasons for their demand. Strategically, possession of the Sarre Valley would give them a considerable river barrier stretching across the north- ern frontier of Lorraine. Even more impressive was the economic reason, for | the Sarre coal had become a vital ele- (ment in the industrial life of Alsace- Lorraine, now to be returned to France. And France, poor in coal, could not make up the deficit if Lorraine and the Sarre were separated by tariff walls. Finally the French asked for the Sarre as recompense for their own coal regions, which had been ruthlessly and wantonly devastated by the Germans during their retreat or wrecked by more | than four years of fighting. Wilson Upset French Plan. No sooner had President Wilson ar- rived in Paris, however, than he inter- posed a strong veto, first upon the larger French ambitions, which looked to making the left bank of the Rhine the military frontier of France from Switzerland to Holland, and then upon the more modest project of annexation of the Sarre Basin. The American President argued from the start that the population of the Sarre was Ger- man and desired to remain German, and that cession to France would be a violation of the prnciple of self-deter- mination. For many weeks the battle raged. Finally it was left to a subcommittee, which worked out an ingenious and complicated settlement. The ultimate disposition of the territory was to be determined by a plebiscite in 1935. This guaranteed application of the principle of self-determination. But until that date the district, administered by the League of Nations, should be included within the customs frontiers of France. And all of the coal mines and proper- ties were transferred to the ownership of the French government outright. ‘With the passing of time certain facts have become clear. In the first place, even the French soon discovered that the population was overwhelmingly Ger- man and that any plebiscite would be sure to produce a German victory, On the other hand, the economic interde- pendence of the Sarre and of Alsace- Lorraine was just as clearly disclosed. Region Enjoys Prosperity. Prench capital poured into the Sarre to develop the mines, never fully ex- ploited by the Germans, who had con- centrated their attention upon the Ruhr and Upper Silesia. Thus the Sarre en- joyed unprecedented prosperity. Alsact Lorraine profited by a cheap coal sup- ply. since the Sarre coal could be moved easily to the nearby French districts. French capital found a profitable in- vestment and France found in the Sarre a better market for French products than in any French colony save Algeria. But always the French perceived that in the end the Sarre must go back to Germany. ~And before such return FPrench policy considered the possibility | of meeting the ever-growing German | demand for an earlier return by some | counterclaim to a permanent economic adjustment. And it is at this point that the mat- ter now stands. The Germans argue that the moment has come when French troops should retire from all the occu- pied districts. They assert correctly that the treaty of Versailles foresha owed evacuation of the Rhineland fore 1935 if Germany fulfilled her obl gations, financial and military. They declare that once the Young plan is adopted. that moment will have ar- rived. And they insist that the Locarno | pacts give France security. —Finally, | they emphasize the fact that the Prench coal mines are all restored. French Opinion Divided. In France there is a division of opinion. All parties and leaders agree that evacuation can only take place when French material interests have been duly guaranteed. Beyond this point Briand and those who follow him believe that prompt evacuation of all German territory will contribute greatly to Franco-German reconciliation, while delay will play into the hands of the German Nationalists, who would over- throw Locarno and all the Briand- Stresemann adjustment. This is the| view of the Socialists and of the Radi- cal Left generally—that is, of the pres- | ent_opposition. On the other hand, there is a strong | Nationalist group which argues that the present time the French frontier | | 1s practically defenseless, as the Ger- | man forts in Alsace-Lorraine were built | | | nts of occupled Rhineland when the Young plan goes into effect, this group argues that France should keep at least a foothold in the Sarre until a new system ~* frontier defense is compjeted. of all the many struggles of the Paris peace conference. forthcoming discussion be less interesting as it discloses again the com- SARRE TROUBLE PERILS ' HOPE OF UNITED EUROPE Basin and Alsace- Lorraine Regarded as Working Harm to _Both. BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. of Franco-German negotiations looking to the return of the Sarre Basin to the Reich serves to call world at- was the occasion of one of the bitterest Nor will the pean regions which politically are sep- n dates only from the Paris peace con- ference. Before 1919 the district belonged in about equal parts to Prussia and | Bavaria. Before the French Revolution, too, it had been divided, only the west- ern half belongirg to France, to which it had passed with all of Lorraine during h a treaty made a generation before and as a detail in the settlement of a contest for the Polish throne. That part of Prench opinion which advocates preserving French treaty rights in the Sarre until they expire in 1935 does not look to any permanent possession. Nor can one escape the conviction that along with the military argument, which has a certain value, goes the appreciation of the fact that the right to retain the present advan- tages until 1935 constitutes a valuable bargaining point. Unhappily for Briand, he will eon- duct the present negotiations with the Germans as a member of a cabinet which is Nationalist in its complexion and depends upon the votes both of the military and the economic groups for its existence. If he seems to make un- due concessions to the Germans, he is doomed, and Tardieu will crash with him. On the other hand, if he asks too high a price, the German resistance will be stiff and German resentment great. On the German side, too, the exist- ing cabinet 1S weakly constituted. With Stresemann gone, there is no one with | great prestige to enforce acceptance of necessary concessions. The great ma- jority of Germans believe Germany is entitled to complete evacuation at once and without further payments either in money or in tariff concessions. And the German cabinet might easlly go crashing down if it seemed too ready to yield to Prench demands. Harm Must Result. Meantime the fact remains that any conceivable separaticn of the two re- glons must work almost incalculable harm to both. Industrial Alsace- Lorraine will lose cheap coal, and the Sarre will, on its side, lose the only real market it can have for its coal production. Recalling all that has been written recently about the project of a United States of Europe, Americans may well follow with more than passing interest the progress of these negotiations over the Sarre. For here within a ridicul- ously narrow compass are regions eco- nomically bound to each other, depend- ing upon each other not merely for prosperity but for mere existence, but for political reasons threatened with division. If business cannot prevail over politics in this corner of Europe, smaller in area and population than Massachusetts, in which the Sarre, Alsace and Lorraine are included, then it is manifest that Briand's prospectus of unity for the whole Continent is de- void of mllz.fl | | ri 1920 Tokio Truants Number About 25,000 a Year In the Sprintime in Japan a young man's fancy is apt to turn to thoughts of running away from home, accord- ing to the head of the crime prevention section of the Tokio police. And, fur- thermore, he adds, neither are girls to much more of the stay-at-home turn of mind. Beginning with the first weeks in April, when the cherry blossoms are out and the first touch of warmth is in the air, the number of truants increases many times. Young men and girls aged | 19 are most apt to decide to run away | from home in Tokio because it is about at that age that they finish their pre- paratory school work and they feel that | they want to see something of the world. Also, the atmosphere of many is antagonistic .A large number of nts | cannot approve of dancing, movies and card wphy g, which have come from the West and proved so T:opuhx among the rising generation. ere are about 25,000 truants every year. Of these, 70 E;r cent return home or are taken there the authorities, 25 per cent find '.whork and las t&eglr p:enu know where ey are an other 5 per cent * | to the dogs.” o = Africa’s Bilingualism Amusing to Americans One of the first features to strike an American visitor to South Africa is the country’s bilingualism. As he steps off the boat at Cape Town he is confronted by the double admonition, “No Smoking —Nie Rook Nie.” Walking up Adder- ley street, principal thoroughfare of the city, he is told to “Keep to the left— Links houden.” If he wants to mail a letter back home to Chicago he must buy a “stamp—poseel,” and if he buys more than one stamp he will find tha while one is inscribed “South Africa” the next is marked “Suidafrika.” At the railroad station he will find that the name of the city is given as Cape Town and Kaapstad, and the dining cars are labeled “Dining car— Eetsaloon” on a railroad known both as South African railways and Suid Afrigannse Spoorweg. And so on. Every official or semi-official notice in the union is printed in two languages — English and Afrikaans. Meanwhile the Englishman grumbles about having to pay extra taxes to meet the cost of reprinting notices in Afri- kaans, and the Dutchman wonders why the expense of using English as well as his own language should be tolerated. Central Station Urged to Aid Radio Reception Over most of the Free State anybody who expects to listen in to the excellent program of the state broadcasting sta- tion requires a tube set. Only those residing in the immediate vicinity of Dublin and Cork can get results on a crystal apparatus. And as the stations are operated by the state and taxpayers everywhere have fo help to pay for them there is a demand for greater facilities for the poor man. be sets are costlier in the Free State tnan anywhere else. They are not manu- ctured here and there is a one-third import duty on all sets and farmers “im vill; could est tube set. The head of the post office has urged the ernment to erect a high-power station at Athlone, in the exact center of Ireland, from which crystal reception would be more than half the project has lonfi executive council is expected to it and authorize the erection of station at once. £