Evening Star Newspaper, December 8, 1929, Page 35

SCHOOLS TACKLE PROBLE OF CHARACTER EDUCATION District Faces Question as Result of|| Recent Controversy Which Divided Education Board. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. AN a boy or girl be taught to be sympathetic, honest and cour- ageous? . Can character be developed a public school technique of training and discipline, as well as the ability to read, write and do sums? These questions, of far-reaching sig-| nificance for the future of public| school systems, are engaging the men-{ tion of educators everywhere, They| may indicate the next step in the revo- | lution of educational methods and ob-| jectives which, for better or worse, has | proceeded so rapidly during the past quarter of a century. They now_confront the school offi- cials of the District of Columbia as an aftermath of the “dirty-neck” contro- versy which recently divided the Board of Education. Some members favored withholding diplomas from pupils who displayed certain marked character de- fects. A compromise was reached with a proposal to establish in the schools of ‘Washington a course in “character edu- cation.” During the past few years, it is shown by reports in the files of the National Education Association, several com- munities have experimented with this sort of training. But the methods have been different, there has been no estab- lished procedure, there has been little agreement as to a “character” stand- ard, and there has been little verified information as to the actual morality of the normal school child. The sub- Ject is still virgin territory for pioneers, and because of the intangible nature of the elements involved is extremely difficult to chart. Voyages Fall Short of Goal. ‘The human soul is still a misty un- known of dragons and devils to science, ‘where, so far as is known, the ship of research may at any time drop over the edge of the sea of knowledge into unfathomable depths. There have been some adventurous voyages, but they have not reached the land beyond. Perhaps the most colorful experiments to date have been the studies in deceit, conducted for five years at Columbia University by Dr. Mark A. May and Dr. ‘Hugh Hartshorne, in which the research ‘workers sought to determine by objec- tive methods the actual state of honesty among children, the factors contribut- ing to individual difference, and possi- ble remedial procedure. Large numbers of children were subjected to cleverly designed tests in which there was every cpportunity to cheat or steal, but in the scoring of which the dishonesty would be instantly apparent to the examiners. As a result of these tests, based on objective data, they reported that “no one is honest or dishonest by nature. ‘Where conflict arises between a child and his environment deception is a nat- ural mode of adjustment, having in it- self no ‘moral’ significance. If indirect ways of gaining ends are successful, they will continued, unless definite training is undertaken through which direct and honest me may also become successful.” Matter of Arranging Environment. Here is the principle of “character” education in a few words. Cheating and stealing are obvious ways for the child to solve its problems; that is, to adjust itself to its environment. Char- acter education, training in honesty, becomes a matter of so g the environment that the easiest and most satisfactory adjustment is by honest methods, thus building up a “habit” of honesty and gonditioning the individual against di y. Opportunities to cheat must be eliminated from the child’s environment and the system of rewards and punishments so arranged that it is practieally impossible for cheating to prove. a satisfactory solu- tion of a problem. ‘The two experimenters found little of educational value in “preaching” ap- pealing to the better nature of the child, expression of horror over deceit, weeping in -hypoeritical disillusi. ient by parent or teacher. “The mere urg- ing of honest behavior by teachers or the discussion of standards and ideals | general ideas have been emotionalized.” | they say, “has no necessary relation to| the control of conduct. The extent to ! which individuals may be affected, | either for better or worse, is not known. | | but there seems to be evidence that| | such effects as may result are not gen- | erally good and are sometimes unwhole- some. “The large place occupled by the ‘situation’ in the suggestion and con- trol of conduct, not only in its larger | aspects such ‘as the example of other puplls, the personallty of the teacher, etc., but also In its more subtle aspects, such as the nature of the opportunity to deceive, the kind of material or tests on which it is possible, the relation of the child to this material, and so on, points to the need of a careful educa- tional analysis of all such situations for the purpose of making explicit the na- ture of the direct or honest mode of response In detail, so that when the child is placed in these situations there may be a genuine opportunity for him to ptrncuce direct methods of adjust- ment.” Mistakes Are Pointed Out. One of the great mistakes in the past in the consideration of character train- ing, it is pointed out at the National Education Association, is the tendency toward too rigid classification of char- acter. That is, the boy or girl who steals is naturally characterized as dis- honest and unworthy of confidence— but this may be far from the case. The pupil who would steal without com- punction might die rather than tell a lie or cheat at lessons, just as the sol- dier who would run in the face of the enemy might be an outstanding hero in countless other situations. The bank president who cheats at poker or on his golf score is by no means necessarily a dishonest custodian of other people’s money while the sanctimonious fellow in the same position who holds up his hands in holy horror at the very sug- gestion of falsehood may be crooked as a snake with his accounts. & ‘When such facts are considered, those interested in character education point out, the subject becomes almost. in- finitely complicated with the only hope of outstanding success depending almost entirely on a series of objective tests to determine the characteristic ethical re- actions of the individual. Then each pupil must be considered as an indi- vidual case to be dealt with by a series of especially designed “situations.” But such a procedure would be long -and costly with neither the personnel nor the technique available. Some- !hln%of this nature was attempted in the D. C. schools last year by Harold Fyfe, principal of the Gales special school, with boys who offered specific moral problems, but he operated with his own technique which depended to no small degree on the personality of the teacher. . Neither Held Unified Traits. “Neither deceit nor honesty,” say May and Hartshorne, “are unified character traits but rather specific functions of life situations. Most children will deceive in certain situations and not in othera. Even cheating in a class room is rather high specific, for a child may cheat on an arithmetic test and not on a spelling test. Whether a child will practice de- ceit in any given situation depends in part on his intelligence, age, home background and the like, and in part on the nature of the situation -itself, and his peculiar relation to it.” Striking examples of “character edu- cation” as introduced in Ame public schools, as furnished by the' files of the National Education Association, are the programs in the high schools of Los Angeles and . Oakland, - Calif., which work. ‘almost :entirely by the “situation” method. Boys and girls are conditioned against immoral behavior by having their- environment so ar- ranged as to make this the unnatural adjustment. The consensus is that little can be accomplished in the line of character education by the traditional “teaching” by books or precepts. It must be along lines partly embodied in the practice of such organizations as the Boy Scouts, which make use of the gang tendencies of boys, which in the past used to result in hoodlumism and of honesty, no matter how much such Porto Rico in Dire Straits (Continued From First Page.) ment situation there. Housing facili- ties, of course, are woefully inadequate. Six or seven people sometimes live in one small room. In some of the poorer quarters I have seen as many as 10 housed in a makeshift board room not more than 12 feet square. Of course, disease has spread, for living conditions of this sort always beget disease. Be- sides, the lack of funds and the in- creased work have rendered it impos- sible for our health department to cope_satisfactorily with our increasing problems. Children Suffer Most. As usual, the children have suffered most. Less able to bear privation than their elders, they have felt it even more keenly. The basis of health is ade- gquate food, and this the children of Porto Rico have not had—and do not get today. Hundreds of thousands are on starvation diets. Our local Parent- ‘Teacher Associations, composed of peo- ple many of whom are very poor, have provided certain meals at the schools. In this they have been aided by the Junior Red Cross. Unfortunately the funds at hand are so limited that we are able to take care of only a very few children. Even these resources are rapidly dwindling now. In the last six weeks I have traveled all over the island, I have been through school after school, I have seen hun- dreds of thousands of children, and I write now not of what I have heard or read, but of what I have seen with my own eyes. I have seen mothers carry- ing babies who were little skeletons. I dhave watched In a class room thin, pallid, little boys and girls trying to spur their brains to action when their little bodies were underfed. I have seen them trying to study on only one scanty meal a da: meal of a few beans and some rice. I have looked into the kitchens of houses where a handful of beans and a few plantains were the fare Jor the entire family. Here in San Juan, our capital city, there is a public school near one of the poor districts. The enroliment is 710 boys and girls. Of those 710, 223 come to school each day without break- fast; 278 have no lunch. We are able to provide in the lunch rooms now 2008 for just 54. The rest go hungry. ‘The tunds tor this are raised in vari- ous fashions here among ourselves, but our means necessarily are very limited. And now this school is faced with h ing to close down even this scanty L ‘The parents of more than half of these children are now out of work. 77 Per Cent Underweight. Nor do these figures I have given llustrate the full malnutrition of this =chool. Many of the other pupils are given for breakfast only a cup of black coffee. Sixty-seven per cent of the students are underweight. In other words, 67 per cent of those children Bre strugghing | against -malnutrition. Four hundred and seventy-five children in this one school are underfed and weakening day by day. This is one of our bad schools, but many others have similar records. The Redemptorist Fathers, whose work takes them into the small villages and coun- trv districts, advise me that they con- sider that fully 75 per cent of the chil- <ren “in the sohools with which. they turn them into constructive channels. come in contact are suffering from mal- nutrition. The Red Cross of the island, which is in perhaps the best position to know what conditions actually are, for it has trained workers visiting the fam- ilies, tell me they estimate now that 60 per cent of the children of the entire island are undernourished. Of this 60 per cent, a large number are literally slowly starving. Of course, the result is obvious; in their weak and depleted condition they go down before attacks of any serious disease. the roads time and again I have passed pathetic little groups carrying small homemade coffins. Statistics Compiled. An investigation by the \Red Cross not many months since of a poorer sec- tion of this city gave the following sta- tisties: Eighty per cent of the children under 3 years of age were found to be suffering from chronic intestinal trou- bles; two-thirds of the children were both underweight and - undersized; 70 per cent had decayed teeth; as milk was too expensive, the bables were fed black coffee or boiled herbs, ‘Sweetened with a little sugar. Rice and beans in small qunnémn were the principal nourish- men All of these children could offer but little resistance to diseases, especially tuberculosis. The Von Pirquets test showed that 95 per cent of the children in that section of the city gave posi- tive reaction. In another section of the community 95 per cent of the chil- dren examined were underweight and undernourished. The same percentage had intestinal parasites and 72 per cent had trouble with their respiratory systems. Our infant mortality in the island 1s approximately two and one- halt times that of the United States. In one house in this slum which my wife visited there was a family of eight children. The father was sick, bedrid- den and out of employment. The mother was in a hospital. The eld- est child, a girl of 13, was not only attending school, but looking after her seven brothers and sisters as well. I have seen in the same quarter a 12-month-old baby in with its mother, who was in the last stages of consumption. Tuberculosis is one of our worst menaces, and under the present condition of Irs fasten- ing on the children, who have no strength to resist it. Sanitation Lacking. In one poor quarter there was a munlclrfll hospital which consisted of a couple of ramshackle board huts. In them were men and women in the last stages of tuberculosis. Sanitation and means for preventing contagion ‘were almost entirely lacking. In addition to the patients, there was an 8-month- old baby. Around the hospital crowd- ed families in the little board huts, the children unquestionably being in- fected by the disease. We have suc- ceeded in arranging for the moving of this hospital, but there are others like ‘It. and there are thousands of infected individuals for whom we can provide no hospitalization. ‘The death rate on our island from THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON,. D. .C, DECEMBER 8§ | How Good Saw the Army An Important Article by the Secretary of War, Written Before His Death, November 18. 1929—PART TWO. BUILDING THE PANAMA CANAL—ONE OF THE ARMY'S GREAT PEACETIME ACHIEVEMENTS. Note—“I had no idea what the United States Army means to the American people until I became Secretary of War. It is one of the great peace-time departments of the government.” Secretary Good made this remark a few weeks before his death. He willingly consented to write what he had found out about the army, be- cause he believed the civillan should know the facts. ‘The day before he died Secretary Good added a paragraph, dictating it to Lieut. Com. Boone, physician to the President, who was attending him. Speaking as a peace-time man, a loyal, undersundmg servant of the people, in sending this message he performs an important service to the nation. l found a well trained .Regular Army of 12,000 officers and 10,750 men. It was obviously modest in size, there being less than one sol- dier for every 900 of our population. It was well balanced, well fed, well equipped and in process of being well housed. % Because of the widely varying char- acter of its duties, the Army is spread BY JAMES W. GOOD. OU ask me what I found in the department when I assumed the duties of Secretary of War. I thinly over the entire extent of the United .States, in groups ranging in size from a few regulars on duty with the civilian components of the Army to the 5,323 officers and men stationed at Fort Sam Huston, Tex., our lar- gest military post. In addition, we must keep approximately 30,000 men or about 25 per cent. of the aggregate strength, on duty beyond the seas. Much might be said of the Army's mission in the Philippines, of how it guards the Pana- ma Canal, of how in Hawaii it makes secure the crossroads of the Pacific. It is'also on duty in Porto Rico, Alaska and even in far-off China. But we should not lose sight of the fact that this department serves the civil interests of the country in many substantial ways. For example, commercial and military flying are growing up together in this country. Because of the impetus im- parted by the World War and also be- cause of its own rigorous flight require- ments, the Air Corps has been steadily in the van of aeronautical development. Crop dusting, aerial seed sowing, aerial photography—all of which are now recognized commercial activities—were pioneered by the Army. Numerous technical advances of enormous civic value, such as the earth inductor com- pass, are Army Air Corps developments, Until comparatively recently aviators ‘were confined to two classes—men who were self-taught and those who learned in the military and naval services. y the Army possesses no mono- poly of training flyers. Efficient civil aviation schools are in existence throughout the country. In their methods and organization, however, these schools are patterned after the Air Corps model. The attainment of Army standards of proficiency is practical goal of their courses. Few civilians know that the Army Signal Corps developed the Weather Bureau. PFrom a small beginning this service steadily grew _until in 1890 it had become so important that it was installed in a separate governmental bureau. At the present time the Signal Corps is operating the entire commer- cial communications of Alaska. This system, consisting of 2,800 miles. of sub- marine cable, 500 miles of land tele- lllg:l lines and 34 radio stations, is probably the most modern of its size in the world. \Last year it handled 11,605,011 words, 81 per cent of which was commercial traffic. , The Signal Corps cable ship Dellwood, which laid the Alaska cable, is now lent to the Philippine government for the purpose of relaying the inter-island cables of the archipelago—cables which them- selves were installed by the Army after the Spanish-American War. It is customary to think of the Quar- termaster Corps as an organization de- voted exclusively to supplying the needs * ~—Prom a painting by W. B. Van Ingen. of the Army. Such s its primary func- tion. But by the very nature of its tivities, it is enabled to serve the Na- tion outside the limits of its military sphere and frequently does so. In times of floods and other disasters, supplies and camping facilities are furnished from quartermaster stores. Nor is this service confined to relief work; it has been available on occasions to impor- tant national gatherings. For exam- ple, the 1,600 Boy Scouts who consti- tuted the American delegation to the recent “Jamboree” in Great Britain were outfitted with camping equipment; at the last American Legion convention cots and blankets were supplied for 10,000 persons. ‘The Army Ordnance Department has contributed consistently to our com- mercial, metallurgical and industrial development. The principle of inter- changeability of mechanical parts was practically established in this country in the course of the manufacture of firearms. Similarly the Ordnance De- partment was a pioneer in the intro- duction of alloy steels and in scien- tific shop management. Today we see the country’s industrialists tu to this same organization by virtue of its advances in such technical processes as atomic welding, centrifugal casting and the X-raying of steels. Due to Army research, it is now ‘pos- sible to substitute welding in many (Continued on Fifth Page.) The Story the Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNK.| ‘The following is a brief summary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended December 7: UNITED STATES.—The first regu- lar session of the Seventy-first Congress opened December 2. The next day the President’s message was read to both houses. The annual presidential mes- sage affords an unexampled oppor- tunity of a grand survey of the na- tional scene; therefore, the followi paper is exclusively devoted to an abridgement thereof, including what seems to this writer its chief state- ments and recommendations. Notice of the “outcountry” developments of the t week—even the fantastic Sino- jussian business—may well go over to next Sunday. 1. “In January, 1926, the Senate gave its consent to adherence to the Court of International Justice with certain reservations.” The statute establishing the court having by the action of the signatory nations been .amended to meet these reservations, our adherence should be consummated. 2. “We still have Marines on foreign soil. In the large sense we do not wish to be represented abroad in such a manner. About 1,600 Marines remain in Nicaragua at the urgent request of that government and the leaders of all parties pending the training of a do- mestic constabulary capable of insuring tranquillity.” We are anxious for such improvement of the situation as to Justify further withdrawals. We still have 700 Marines in Haiti, but the problem is a much more dif- cult one than the Nicaraguan, “the solution being still obscure.” The Presi- dent proposes, Congress approving, to send a commission to Haiti to study the problem “with a view to a more definite policy than the present one.” It is hoped to reduce our remaining force in China (about 2,600) to the normal legation guard. The President proposes to improve our relations with the Latin American countries by strengthening the diplo- matic missions thereto, heads of mis- sions to be appointed who combine long diplomatic experience with mastery of the languages of the countries to ;‘Ach they may be credited. 3. The President’s remarks on na- tional defense will set the Army and Navy dovecotes a-flutter. He sets forth the mounting costs of those services, in- cluding the National Guard “and other forms of reserves” He recommends that “Congress give earnest considera- "Onl_w the possibilities of prudent ac- tion” toward reducing said costs. The remark that “improvement in the Na- tonal Guard and the advance of avia- s n as that of the Uni year there were 4442 deatys. seporio from this cause, and there were doubt- less many unreporgd. Probably today 0) ing from this dnease, /e ullers e root of all thi (figzn. 2 is trouble is malnu- r island will turn t the near future, and wnhh:nol;:r[‘l'e,;“:: tries and intensive cultivation, greater prosperity will be spread through the rank and file of the people. But that is the future, not the present, It will come too late to save the lives of many of our children. It will come too late to prevent disease from permanently dam- aging the others who will live, The present need now is for food. If we can get it we can distribute it thr&xg‘;\ our xchouls.h At least by that ‘met we can reach th o(Ta}:]r a:fi;ll’enn . e vast majority e len Rule Founda United States is setting: mé‘e"'&é’.'.ym.: & “ay on which to solicit aid. I hope the response will be generous. These hundreds of thousands of children are American citizens. They are suffering tuberculosis has more than doubled in the last fifteen years. According to our Department of Health, it is now 301 to the hundred thousand—in other words, ,more than four times as great 13 more _than _any other children our flag. They deserve our .n.‘i.’éfo': equally with the children of the con. tinental United States, and it is our duty to endeavor to provide for them & decent opportunity in life, are in sound condition.” The public debt stands at $16,603,000,000, as against the maximum, in August, 1919, of $26,- 596,000,000. A budget surplus of about $226,000,000 is officially estimated for the fiscal year 1930, and one of $123,- 000,000 for the ensuing fiscal year. The President recommends that a portion (estimated at $160,000,000) of the 1930 surplus be returned to the taxpayers by way of reduction by 1 per cent of the normal individual income tax rates and of the corporation #hcome tax, re- spectively; these reductions, however, to be only provisional, in view of the small size of the surplus estimated for 1931 and the uncertainty of that estimate. (A bill In the above sense has already been introduced in Congress,) 5. The total funded indebtedness of foreign governments to our Government is $11,579,466,000. The President in- vites attention to *the measure of American compromise in ments.” 6. As the question on the ‘“general economic situation” is being universally quoted at length, I resist the tempta- tion to dwell on it. The President is convinced that the measures instituted by him in co-operation with business institutions and with State and munici- pal authorities have re-established the confidence threatened by the specula- tive bouleversement. ““Wages should remain stable. A very large’ degree of industrial - unemployment and 'suffer- ing which would otherwise have oc- curred has been prevented. Agricult- ural prices have reflected the return- ing confidence.” The prophylactic m res taken by the Federal Reserve system, together with the strong po- sition of the banks, “carried the whole credit system through the crisis with- out impajrment. The capital which has hitherto been absorbed in stock market loans for speculative purposes is now returning to the normal chan- nels of business.” 7. “The agricultural situation is improving.” The gross farm income these settle- continues substantially to rise; the rate of farmers' bankruptcies notably falls; the decline in land values seems to be arrested; the rate of movement from farm to city has been reduced; in gen- eral, optimism pervades the industry. The Federal Farm Board instituted pursuant to the farm marketing act of June 15 last is vigorously at work and already has made substantial head- way in organization of four basic com- modlltlu—mln, cotton live stock and wool. 8. The President's comment on the tariff situation is of a delicacy. He quotes from his message to Congress at the opening of the late special session his_statement of the principles which, in his view, should govern tariff modi- fication. He holds to those principles, which are sufficlently well known. He hints at the especial desirability of prompt action in view of the recent economic developments. Industry and agriculture, which are consulting vig- orously against the uncertain future, should know what the tariff rates are to be. A consideration very much at heart with the President finds expres- sion as follows: “I have been most anx- ious that the broad principle of the flexible tariff, as provided in existing law, should be preserved, and its delays in action avoided by more expeditious methods of determining the costs of production at home and abroad, with Executive authority to promulgate such changes upon recommendation of the Tariff Commission after exhaustive in- vestigation.” 9. “The development of inland water- ways has received new impulse from the completion this year of the canal- ization of the Ohio to a uniform 9-foot depth.” Realization of the Mississippt flood-control plan is being “vigorously prosecuted.” We await the action of Canada on the St. Lawrence waterway project. 10. Highway improvement proceeds substantially but not as rapidly as could The Big Parade BY BRUCE BARTON. LL this happened in one day! A 23-year-old boy came into our office to b. A apply for tion, he jumper. “I like the work all right,” he added, “but parachute jumping iy * %k ok | met a mother whose son is about to graduate from college. What do you think he wants to be? A bond salesman? A movie star? He wants to be an archeolo- gist. A man named Volk died in New York City. He claimed the distinction of having torn down i ngs than any i He wanted to tear down the Woolworth Build- ing. Think of it. - 8ix million peo- walking daily through the streets, each with his arate home and desire. Who would ever imagine that one of them was constantly saying to self: “Oh, if | could only t down the Woolworth Buil, That would crown my car * ok ok A man with a noisy wi seven grown children peared from his home in Brook- .- ng. (Copyright, 1f lyn;, and was discovered some months later in Hartford. Qui tioned as to why he left hi family, he replied that he hl: an little peace in his old age. had taken a job as night watch- man in a deaf and dumb asylum. Why do | take up valuable ite space to set down th apparently unimportant and un- ed incidgnts? Because, my friends, one of the biggest and xpensive of all pleasures ng the daily paper and marveling he fresh- ness and variety of the human Let those who are bilious rail andardization of mod- true that many standardize simplified in consequence. But have no fear that color and interest will Y spark t him different from every other. PR Life will be always amusing to those who have sense enough to enjoy it. Practice the good and inexpensive habit of being eternally entertained by your fellow human beings. Forget about yourself for a little while every day, and enjoy the big parade. be wished, despite that expenditures of Federal, State and local governments last year for such purpose aggregated $1,660,000,000. “Federal aid in the construction of the highway systems in beneficial. We must ultimately give tribution to these systems, particularly with a view to stimulating the improve- ment of farm-to-market roads.” 11. Since aviation development 1is perhaps at once the most important of latter day developments and the most difficult to keep in touch with, I quote at length the-admirable section on com- mereial aviation: . “During the past year progress in clvil aeronautics has been remarkable. This is to a considerable degree due to the wise assistance of the Federal Gov- ernment through the establishment and maintenance of airways by the Depart- ment of Commerce and the mail con- tracts from the Post Office Department. The Government-improved airways now exceed 25,000 miles—more than 14,000 miles of which will be lighted and equipped for night-flying operations by the close of the current year. Airport construction through all the States is extremely active.' There are now 1,000 | commercial and municipal airports in operation, with an additional 1,200 proposed for early development. “Through this assistance the Nation is building a sound aviation system, operated by private enterprise. Over 6,400 planes are in commercial use, and 9,400 pilots are licensed by the Govern- ment. Our manufacturing capacity has risen to 7,500 planes per annum. “The aviation companies have - in- creased regular air transportation until it now totals 90,000 miles per day—one fourth of which is flown by night. Mail and express services now connect our principal cities, and extensive services for passenger transportation have been inaugurated, and others of importance are imminent. American airlines now reach into Canada and Mexico, to Cuba, Porto Rico, Central America, and most of the important countries of South America.” The President recommends that Con- gress consider the advisabllity of au- thorizing further expansion of the air- mail services to South America. 12. “As a whole, the railroads never were in such good physical and finan- cial condition. We have, however, not yet assured for the future that adequate system of uumgomuon through con- solidations which was the objective of the Congress in the transporation act. Legislation to simplify and expedite consolidation methods should be enacted.” 18. “Under the impulse of the mer- chant marine act of 1928 the transfer to private enterprise of Government- owned steamship lines is going forward with increasing success. The Shipping Board now operates about 18 lines, which is less alf the number originally established. Construction loans have been made to the amount of lrnroxlmluly $75,000,000 out of the revolving fund authorized by Congress and have stimulated the building of vessels in American yards.” The Presi- dent notices with approval the recent recommendation by his “interdepart- mental committee” (the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster General and the chair- man of the Shipping Board) to the establishment of 14 additional routes, involving the construction of 40 vessels at the cost approximately of $250,000,000, toward wl assistance from the revolving fund should be forthcoming. 14. The President suggests a joint commission to consider advisability of certain modifications of banking legislation, in view especially of the problems presented by the devolpment of “group” and “chain” banking and of the proposal that national banks be authorized to engage in branch banking. 15. The Federal Power Commission is now composed of -three cabinet offi- cers, who cannot spare the time for the onerous duties involved. The President recommends congressional authority for appointment of full-time commissioners to replace them. Je also recommends conjunction with the States has proved | consideration to increase of our con-| BY MALCOLM WATERS DAVIS. EREMIAH SMITH of Boston dis- likes and shuns publicity, but public attention is constantly seeking him out. The things he can achleve and his way of achieving them are so unusual that they defeat his evident preference to be_unobtrusive. Dr. Julius Klein, for years Herbert Hoover’s right-hand man in charge of foreign trade affairs in the Department of Commerce, paid tribute recently in a radio address to Mr. Smith for what he did in the financial reconstruction of Hungary to disarm European criti- cism of the United States. Mr. Smith personified, Dr. Klein felt, the spirit in which Americans have stood ready to ald in Euroge'u recovery from the war. Mr. Smith accomplished the actual restoration of a ruined country in about half the time and at about half the cost that any one had thought possible; one of the spectacular successes of the period since the war. He ended his work by refusing to accept any personal payment. When Count Bethlen, the premier, offered him the Hungarian government’s check for $100,000 he calmly told the astounded statesman to keep it as a good-will offering to Hungary. That is why there is now the Jei.- miah Smith Scholarship Fund to send students each year to the United tes. And that is why Bela Alapi, managing director of the City Savings Bank of Budapest, re- marked on a visit to New York: “There is now only one monument to an American in Budapest. If we put up another it will be that of Jere- miah Smith.” Move Held Typical of Man. Characteristically, Mr. Smith ex- pressed surprise that when he arrived in London after having done this he found himself the subject of newspaper headlines. Europe was amazed, while friends in Boston and New York had smiled and said: ‘“Just like Jerry.” Mr. Smith seemed not to think that he had done anything worthy of un- usual notice, and for him perhaps he had not. It was all in line with his other activities and his manner of do- ing them. He was tralned to the idea of achievement; it ran in the family. His forbears were men who did things of importance. His grandfather, Jeremiah Smith, was a Revolutionary soldier, Congressman and Governor of New Hampshire. His father, Jeremiah Smith, 2d, was a New Hampshire jud Mr. Smith, born in Dover in 1870, af tended Phillips Exeter Academy, of which he afterward became a trustee, and the College and Law School at Harvard, of whose corporation he was lately appointed a member. He entered the practice of law in Bos- ton. International affairs, however, have frequently called him away. His avoldance of notoriety kept the general public from realizing the wide experi- ence he had to prepare him before he undertook his great work in Hungary. He helped to organize the Chinese loan consortium. He advised the Mexican government in the adjustment of the national debt. He served on the War Relief Commissicn of the Rockefeller Foundation, and during the war he was a captain in the Quartermaster Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces, at- tached to the staff of Gen. Charles G. Dawes. He acted as counsel to the Treasury Department and financial ad- | viser to the American Peace Mission during the negotiations at Versailles. So it was a logical judgment that led to | his selection when an impartial Ameri- | can expert ‘seemed most desirable in ! 1924 to take charge of the economic and : financial rehabilitation of a practically | bankrupt Hungary. Faced Tangled Situation. The state of the country was des- perate. Separated from Austria, shorn industry disorganized, disheartened by the burden of reparations imposed on them and staggering out from the civil strife that had ended a Communist revolution and dictatorship, the Hun- garians had. more and more paper money unbacked by adequate gold re- serves in order to meet the demands of the population and of a national ex- penditure that was out of all proportion to the real income of the state from taxes. The finance commission of the League of Nations had pointed out this situation in terms of grave warning against the danger of an inflated currency and an unbalanced budget and the threat of a national economic collapse which would mean that for an indefinite time Hun- gary could not meet her obligations. Sir Arthur Salter and other members of the commission had drawn up & plan for the extension of the authority of the com- mission to “certain interstate phases of power regulation.” 16. The President recommends ‘“re- organization of the Radio Commission into a permanent body.” 17. The President again urges defl- nite settlement of the Muscle Shoals question. It is his belief that “such parts of these plants as would be use- ful and the revenues from the re- mainder should be dedicated for all time to the farmers of the United States for investigation and experimentation on a commercial scale in agricultural chemistry. By such means advancing discoveries in science could be syste- matically applied to agricultural need, and development of the chemical in- dustry of the Tennessee Valley could be assured.” But he “does not favor the operation by the Government of either power or manufacturing business ex- cept as an unavoidable by-product of some other major public purpose.” 18.- The President invites attention to conservation problems under three heads: (a) Conservation of our oil and gas resources. (b) Conservation meas- ures called for in consequence of over- grazing on the public lands. (¢) Recon- sideration of our reclamation policy as a whole. “The inclusion of most of the available lands of the public domain in existing or planned reclamation proj- ects largely completes the original pur- pose of the reclamation service. There still remains the necessity for extensive storage of water in the arid States, which renders it desirable that we should give a wider vision and purpose to this service.” 19. The President suggests ‘“some system of priorities within the immigra- tion quotas” with a view to securing what he “believes should be our real national objective; that is, fitness of the immigrant as to physique, charac- ter, training and our need of service.” 20. The President recommends that the Pension Bureau, the National Home for Volunteer Soldiers and the Veterans' Bureau be merged. 21. The President again urges action toward reorganization of the Govern- ment departments, but ‘“can see no hope for development of a sound reor- ganization unless Congress be willing to delegate its authority over the prob- lem (subject to defined principles) to the Executive.” 22. T avold comment on the long sec- tions on prohibition and law enforce- ment and observance, as ma'ter too del- icate !gr this m\ltg‘mn. ‘The most im- portant recommendation respecti & Ribition Is that of “transfer to the De- rrunent of Justice of the Federal unctions of detection and to a consid- erable degree of prosecution, now lodged in the Prohibition Bureau of the Treas- ury. ‘The District of Columbia shoul the model of city law anlornmm% : the Nation. of much territory, with agriculture and | 8 [FRIENDSHIP BEST-SALARY FOR GOVERNMENT MAKER |Jeremiah Smith, Who (Ref‘i‘lsed $100,000 Check From Hungary, Is “Repair Expert” for Nations of World. eorganisation of Hungarian finances. It provided, first, for a stabilized cur- rency; second, for a new bank of issue to control the currescs: third, for a bal- anced national budwet, to be established by June 30, 1926; fourth. for an interna- tional loan to Hungary to aid in her re- habilitation, based on the revenue from customs dutles, tobacco, salt and sugar, and, fifth, for supervision of the whole program by & high commissioner repre- senting the League. 5 Plan Had to Be “Sold.” ‘Three preliminary ? were essential. Hungary had to be induced to agree to the plan. The e reat and small, including Hungary's close neighbors, whose territories had belonged in whole or in part to her—Czechoslovakia, Ru- mania and Jugoslavia—had to be willin; not only to give their formal approval but to co-cperate for the success of the lan. And the allies had to agree to forego their first claims, set up by the peace treaties, upon Hungary's national income, in order to make feasible the international loan needed for her relief —since neither European nor American bankers would lend money for her use if other claims were to come ahead of theirs as soon as she developed any ca- pacity to pay interest and principal. The agreement of both Hungary and the interested nations was secured. The Reparations Commission was persuaded to waive the priority of allied claims against Hungary for pdyment of war damages. So the way was opened to float the proposed relief loan and put the plan in operation. From the start it had been obvious that the Hungarians demanded a neu- tral commissioner. A representative of any of the European powers would face prejudice and suspicion, making it prac- tically im) ible to work. An Ameri- can_was indicated, and the choice fell on Jeremiah Smith. He was nominated as high commissioner for Hungary on April 6, 1924, and formally appointed by the Council of the League of Nations on April 8. In one week he turned over his legal affairs to others to on and set out for his new post, rugung Budapest on May 1. No sweetly inspiring task confronted . He was in the position of receiver for a failing nation, responsible for making it a ffl‘n‘ concern. His powers were those of a dictator, for he was to regulate national expenditure, and the man who pulls the purse strings runs the state. No foreign dictator, particu- larly a financial dictator, can easily be very popular. Furthermore, the old hereditary nobles of Hungary thought they saw in this envoy from republican America a menace to the return of monarchism, which they desired, Schemers Impeded Program. ‘The nation was being run under the regency of Admiral Horthy, which has prevailed since, although it is designed as an intermediary regi to last until the re-establishment of a monarchy. Former court circles were torn by feuds and intrigues of ambitious rival cmu& Foremost among these were two—the adherents of Princess Zita, wife of the ill-fated Emperor Carl, whose son Otto was urged as successor to the Hapsburg throne, and the supporters of the Dow- ager Isabella, advancing the claims of the Archduke Albert of the house of Croy. The schemes and the plots of these two noblewomen and their follow- ers and hangers-on impeded Mr. Smith's progress, ‘To them he was about as welcome, at first, as a Bolshevik finan- «ial adviser would be in Washington. On one of the rare occasions after his return when he spoke about his experi- ences—at a dinner gathering of leaders of New York's financial, industrial and legal world—he referred humorously to these embarrassments. “The trouble an American has fn learning about Hungary,” he remarked, “is that he just can't understand about the iron crown of St, Stephen and why Hungary can’t really prosper again until a king is crowned with it once more as mledx; of all the traditional Hi n jands. Mr, Smith proceeded on the assump- tion that, even if the Hungarian mon- archists could not be entirely satisfied, at least the Hungarian as a whole could be a little better off, even without a coronation and without some of their former territories now held by their neighbors. At the start he com- manded confidence and began to win liking by his direct and simple way of Tfl" about his business, was entatively set aside for him and his staff. He announced immediately that he would have no royal residence, nor yet any sumptuous suite in an e: - sive hotel. If it was to be his job to cut down the cost of running the - try, he was not going to start by s| - ing money unnecessarily on himself. The Hungarians appreciated that. Protests Greeted Retrenchments. ‘With the obstacle of compulsory repa- ration payments out of tm wWay lpn.d Mr. Smith at his post, the international relief loan was definitely launched th May and successfully floated that Sum- mer. ‘This put in his hands the sum of $50,- 000,000, with power to issue cash to the Hungarian government for its needs. ‘The authorities had to turn to him for everything they desired, for in addition to holding this sum in reserve he also controlled the collection and spending of state revenues. . ‘When he took charge the taxes did not meet the national budget—partly because the value of the paper currency had fallen so low and ly because appropriations and expenditures . were excessive. Three-fifths of all the pub- lic revenues were not enough to meet the pay roll of the swarms of civil serv- ants. Mr. Smith set himself to the task of cutting down the staffs of public employes. He investigated the actual necessities for service; and then came slashes in the lists of government and Ppolice officials and of the assistants of the coal, refugee and other boards and commissions. Howls and wails arose in various quar- ters and real hardships had to be met and overcome. But the tax-burdened people applauded and probably the re- sponsible heads of the administration secretly thanked the American hij commissioner for relieving them so effi- ;)‘l,;{\tly of an essential but distasteful New Revenues Provided. To meet the emergency caused by the low value of the currency from l:zt.her angle Mr. Smith saw to it that artifical support of the crown was terminated and that the projected new bank of is- sue, based on sound, conservative prin- ciples, was started. The economic plan laid down by Sir Arthur Salter and his associates of the League Finance Com- mission had meanwhile been put in efs fect, and under Mr. Smith's direction produced by September a new volumé of Tevenues in excess of the advance esti mates. With obstacles to trade removed, the unfavorable balance of imports over exports was. cut down and the curren: began to recover in value. The in requirements for a year on the interna~ tional relief loan were covered in No- vember, in a period of three months, ‘or nnpmulztfir l:‘ Iéhne“ rescribed time, so rapldly r. 's unremitting forts show results, g By January of 1925 he was ill, how= ever—seriol exhausted from over. wark. Reports began to circulate that he must relinquish his post. ‘Just rests ing,” he cabled to his sister in Boston, to quiet any alarm and settle stories. In two weeks he was reco sufficiently to dispose of any im that his health was in critical danger or that he was incapacitated. The reasons for the speed with which the news got around that he “must quit” became ap-' parent when, in Feb ‘diplomatis 1t 1s a message crammed full of meat. Tumors” began to circulate that he way (Continued on Page.) )