Evening Star Newspaper, May 24, 1931, Page 29

EDITORIAL SECTION he Swundwy Star, MORNING, MAY 24, Special Articles 1931. MELLON CALLS BORROWING TEMPORARY Scrétary, Speaking Impending Deficit Whether Tax System Meets Needs. HE text of Secretary Mellcn's ad- dress last night in the National Radio Forum, arranged by The Washington Star and broadcast over a Nation-wide network of }ohe Columbia Broadcasting System, fol- cdhy During the last two years the Treas- ury has faced a varlety of prcblems. The Government's financial position has changed from one of great ease to one of increasing difficulty, due to the widespread business depression which has afflicted the world. Revenues, particularly those derived from income taxes, have abruptly de- clined, and at the same time expendi- tures have increased, owing largely t> measures unaertaken to alleviate the @epression in agriculture and industry. As & result we shall close the current gscal year with a large deficit. We | fiice the prospect of a deficit again | Rext ye¢ar, although we do not yet know jdat how great that deficit may be. ‘When time comes, we shall be ible better to assess the situation and e what may be necessary meeting our immediate needs. Meanwhile it is well to remember that the financlal position in which the Government now finds itself is not un- favorable for dealing with the present emergency and that it is due largely to the fact that since the war, and particularly in the two years since the present administration began, the Gov- ernment has overlooked no opportunity to set its financial house in order and, in & manner of speaking, to prepare for the rainy day that was sure to come. First and foremost, we have pursued & sound policy cf debt retirement, with beneficial results that are clearly a parent. On June 30, 1919, our total terest-bearing debt outstanding amount- ed to $25,235,000,000. erage interest rate was 4.18 per cent, and the annual interest charge came to $1,054,- | i 000,000, which constituted a heavy burden even for so rich a country as this. On June 30, 1930, the total interest-bearing debt stood at $15,922,- 000,000, showing a reduction during the of over $9.313,000,000. Of this atter amount $1,132,000,000 was re- tired since the of the present administration. The average interest rate had been reduced to 3.81 per cent at the end of the 11-year period, and the saving in annual interest charges accomplished by reduction and re- of the debt amounted to Must Look to Two Sources. In the future we must lock mostly to two sources of debt retirement—the sinking fund and foreign debt repa: ments. In view of the interest which discussion of this subject has aroused it is well to bear in mind the provisions of law governing the payment of the public dett. In the war loan acts g obligal of the United States, and such obligations as have been delivered to this Government have been tely retired and our pub- lic debt reduced by corresponding | amounts. Interest paid by foreign gov- | cash, as has been done | past ~year, sutomatically | becomes available fcr current expendi- | tures. - | During the fiscal year 1930 the | AID IN SLUMP in Forum, Finds Raising Question a permanent peace-time structure, de- signed not for one or two years, but with regard to the revenue requirements over & long period and with a view to its ultimats effect on the country as & whole. The situation in which we find our- selves at present, with a serious deficit facing us at the end of the year, raises the question as to whether we have yet developed a sufficlently well balanced system to provide the revenues on which the Government must be able to count from year to year. ‘We depend today largely on two sources of revenue—first, internal reve- nue taxes, including individual and cor- poration income tax:s and such other taxes as those on tobacco and estate taxes, and, second, customs duties. Customs duties are fairly stable and, in spite of all we hear to the contra may be relied on to produce an even flow of revenue, except in the most ab- normal years. Taxes on tobacco are also a very dependable and important source of Government revenue. The individual income tax, however, has become so restricted in its application that it has become & class rather than a general tax, with its incidence limited to a comparatively small number of taxpayers. Out of a total population of 120,000,000, there are only 2,500,000 individuals and about a quarter of a mfllbn’monunm ‘who pay an income tax. iermore, some 380,000 indi- viduals pay about 97 per cent of the total amount received from individual income taxes. Yet we depend on this limited number of taxpayers for so large & part of the revenue needed for the support of the Government. Treasury Aware of Defects. In times lik» the present, when in- comes have fallen off, such a system in- evitably results in a severe shrinkage in the Government's revenues, and this fluctuation in the revenues is further ncreaséd by our treatment of capital ains and losses, which tend to increase abnormally current income in times of rising prices and business expansion and to de:rus it in periods of falling prices and business contraction. = The surpluses which have arisen in the past and the deficit which we face today are due in large measure to the fact that we rely for two-thirds of our tax revenue on the income tax, which is subject to sweeping variations and de- gefnds on a variety of circumstances, ut principally on the upward aad downward swings of business. The Treasury has for some time been aware of the defects in our tax struc- ture, and while, in my opinion, we could not possibly have anticipated the ex- tent to which revenues have fallen off, the has not failed to call to the attention of Congress and the coun- try the advisability of providing safe- organiza ness men #od other individuals to grant a greater reduction of taxes than seemed 7= GERMAN ARMY OFFICER ‘LAUDS YANKS IN FRANCE -'Undue U. S. Losses Charged by Author| of New History Praising Dough- boys for Courage. eral tax structure. But if the situa- tion should be reversed and prosperity should begin to recede. it might resuit n such a sl in incomes that the Government's revenue would be rlously affected. Obviously, we should | sel retain some other taxes which can be | ‘Treasury received from all foreign gov- | relied on in times when a slowing up | ernments the sum of $239,565,000 on | of prosperity may cause a falling off in account of incipal and interest. Of incomes and a conseq drop in this amount the sum of $160,185,000 was paid by Great Britain, l57,751,000‘ by France, $5,000,000 by Italy, and the Temainder of $17,129,000 was paid by Belgium, Poland, Rumania and nine| other debtor nations. | The other basic provisicn for retire- ment of the debt is established on July 1, 1920. That fund | which we find ourselves, either as re. | ®mployed in consists of a permanent appropriation of amounts fixed by law and made annually from the general revenues| for the purpose of debt reduction. For the current fiscal year, ending June 30 next, the expenditures for this pur- pose will amount to $391,660.000. ‘The deficit for the current year will be such that for this year there will| be no net reduction in the debt. There i will, on the contrary, be an increase. | But in bad times, as in good, like the | man who tightens his belt and keeps | up payments on the mortgage, we shall continue to make the payments pro-| vided by the sinking fund, as author-| ized by la By not deviating from | that prcgram we have already light- ened the burden of the debt by reduc- ing the annual interest charges by nearly half a billion dollars, the effect of which is now felt at a time when| such saving is most welcome. | It is not to be expected, of course, | that reduttions can be made in the fu- ture at such a rapid rate as in recent | years, when surplus revenues have been avallable to be applied on the debt in addition to the regular payment from the sinking fund. The amounts to be provided from the sinking fund are not 80 large as to be unduly burdensome, and by adhering strictly to the sinking fund program, we shall maintain the | principle of ord:rly debt retirement | and will in time eliminate the great drain which the debt now makes on the revenues. Tax Cut Program Pursued. Along with debt retirement. the Gov. ernment has pursued a steady program of tax reduction during periods of prosperity, so that today, when adversity has come upon us, the burden of Fed- eral taxes has been reduced to a mini- mum. In a 10-year period there have been four continuing reductions in taxes and one temporary reduction for the 1929 returns. An elaborate war- time system, with heavy taxes on many commodities and activities, has bren gradually converted to a peace-time basis, with the result that we have a the present time an internal revenus system of few and relatively light taxes. Lower rates have been substituted for | excessive ones and, true to sound tax principles, have proved more productive in revenue than were the higher rates. By raising exemptions and credits and allowing credit for earned income, the small taxpayer has been almost en- tirely relieved of the burden of Federal taxes. Both normal rates and surtaxes have been reduced; the war and excess- | | a profits tax on corporations has been |y public funds merely for the purpose yemoved; the estate tax has been low- ered and excise taxes on the sale prices ©of many articlss have been eliminated. In the successive revisions of the rev- enue law, the Federal Governm-nt has not only relieved the taxpayers of a very Jarge part of the burden of taxation, but has eliminated some of the most in- equitable and unscientific taxes in. herited from the war. In recommend | of grave concern. The present deficit |t ¢ | Ployed on many of these projects, and | ho taxes from this source.” I have referred to these views at this time, first, because they seem to be per- tinent now when the tax system must come under careful scrutiny, and, se:- ond, because I do not wish the country to think that the Treasury views with gards the lack of balance in our structure or the inadequate amount revenue which it produces under ad- verse conditions, Any Government deficit is a matter tax | of | may be met, as it is being met, through | borrowing, but such & source is only a temporary expedient. The handling of the problem of Government revenues | for the future must depend upon judg- | ment at the proper time, in the light of | all possible information which can be developed, as to how long the adverse conditions which have brought about the deficit will continue. The strong | credit position of our Government | makes it possible to take care of a temporary decrease in the revenues. But the continuing policy, addressed to conditions as they may be expected to | prevatl over a considerable period of | time, can only be the maintenance of the sound principle of closing each fiscal year with a balanced budget. | The existence of a deficit has added | materially to the problem of current | financing. Fortunately, money condi- | fons have been unusuallv favorable, so that the sums needed have been ob- | tained without difficulty andat low | cost to the Government. Public Building Program. Now T would like to turn for a mo- | ment to ancther and happler problem of the Treasury, having to do with a subject of general interest throughout the country. In many places public buildi are being erected, or soon will | e and even if one has no direct con- | ern with these projects. all of us feel | | is being done at Washington to make | the Nation’s Capital more beautiful. One of the subdivisions of the Treas- | ury is the office of the supervising archi- | | tect, and it 1s in this office, in collabora- | tion alto with the Post Office Depart- ment, that the plans are being made for carrying through the exiensive public | building program authorized by Con- | gress. Outside architects are being em- | contracts are being let as rapidly as pos- | sible in order to provide employment | and stimulate activity at the present time in many lines which are affected, directly or indirectly, by the building industry. Purthermore, by buflding now, when contracts can be made on a basis materially lower than a few years ago, the Government will save money in erecting needed and permanent improve- ments. It must be borne in mind that the bullding program is not in any sense N uUnnecessary or extravagant use of of meeting an emergency situation. On the contrary, the bulldings contemplated or now being erected in Washington and throughout the country are needed to use the Government's varied activi- ties, and will make it possible to avoid the payment of expensive rentals, as at present, for buildings which are fre- quently unsuited to the Gov ernment’s In sccordance with BY ANDRE SIEGFRIED. ASTON DOUMERGUE will be known as one of the great presidents of the French Re- public. As influential in poli- ties as was Grevy, as demo- cratic and simple as was Loubet or Fallleres, he has been perhaps more French in the full sense of the word than any of his predscessors. His term of office restored to the presidency the vrem‘: of which it had been deprived in_192: 1t is often said that the Fre&ldznt of the French Republic is nothing but a puppet, to whom any personal action is forbidden. And in fact the consti- tution of 1875, the letter of which con- fers upon him all of his power, virtually does not give him any—for the real political power is entirely in the hands of responsible ministers. The presi- dent is not there to rule. But many Frenchmen, inoculated with the Cae- sarian virus, are rfluctant to under- stantl this, All the presidents of the republic who have gone to the Elysee with the mind and ambitions of presidents of the council have been failures. We can name them: Casimir-Perier, Millerand, and, in a certain sense, even Poincare. ‘When these too vigorous characters, who were born to command and to administrate, ran up against prime ministers whose power was based on the confidence of Parliament, they found in front of them a force greater than their own. They either had to retire or else to champ the bit im- potently, and they gave the impression of magnificent minds wasted at the wrong place. Doumergue Influential. On the contrary, those presidents who took their job as one of presiding, who came to the Elysee not from the gov- ernment, but from the presidency of an assembly, succeeded in their task: and in most cases if they had chosen to do so they could easily have been re-elected for another term. Thus Lou- bet, Fallieres and also Doumergue had been prepared by the presidency of the | Senate to assume the highest office in the country; Jules Grevy, president of the Natlonal Assembly and later presi- dent of the Chamber of Deputies, had followed the same path. It can be said about Doumergue that he has been, with Grevy, the most in- fluential of our presidents from a politi- cal point of view. Endowed with ex- ceptional political skill, Grevy had the firm intention of retaining an active part in the government. His influence on ministers was great: no decision concerning the general line of French litics could have been taken without im, for he considered himself morally responsible for any action whose im- portance exceeded a certain average. A clever tactician, he always kept in- formed of everything said and done in the lobbles of Parliament; the abuses comfuitted during the last period of his presidency, when his son-in-law exercised a deplorable authority at the Elysee, must not make us forget the GASTON DOUMERGUE—ONE OF FRANCE'S GREAT PRESIDENTS. —Drawn for The Bunday Star by 8. J. Woolf. important role which, in his time, was played by this great bourgeols, so extraordinarily prudent, subtle and as- tute.. His interventions at the council of ministers—I was told by some of his contemporaries—were usually de- cisive; it was the country which talked through him, not the enthusiastic and often a trifle truculent country repre- sented by Gambetta, but the sensible and shrewd country of our peasants. Knows Regime's Spirit, It is an Influence of the same kind which Doumergue has enjoyed. diplomat, familiar with parliamentary negotiations, brought up in the depart- ment of Gard—that Roman south of | France where politics are a tradition and most refined of all games— had been prepared by a long career in Parliament to understand the true spirit of the regime. He knows all of its twists and I would say, if the word did not sound slightly disrespectful, all of its strings. e French people, who have read La Fontaine's fables, like honest fellows to have their eyes wide open. Doumergue The ! | has always refused to be “bamboozled” |in politics. One of the most delightful pages of his career is the day on the eve of the 1924 elections when he bowed out— turning the laugh against them-—the three solemn emissaries of the Cartel | him that it was his “republican duty” to withdraw in favor of Painleve. The three envoys returned empty-handed and discomfited. They were obliged to recognize, according to the popular ex- pression, that they had had to deal | with & “downy” bird.” ‘We may not have noticed it at the moment, but we can clearly see it today, that without Doumergue’s subtle and patient political game in 1924 and 1926 "—ht great Poincare cabinet which saved the franc and France would not have | been possible. M. Poincare could not have taken over power in 1926, and could not have gathered the almost unanimous votes of a chamber which had been unwilling to support him only :1:0 mntl"u i'lflt]er l{ lnl;fl;s lof"n:l:,u'.e ps—perfectly and legitimate— had not proved mc any other com- des Gauches who had come to prove to | Doums bination was impossible and had not | worn out, in & manner evident to all, | the other competitors standing in the | way of the country’s salvation. Let us do honor to the politieal genlus which the outgoing President has shown | and to the responsibilities which he | has chosen to assume. And yet never has he pretended to be governing; he has simply been presiding, and he has | thus shown by the very exercise of his | high functions the immense influence which they can eventually have. There is, however, in M. Doumergue's popularity something else than the mere recognition of his remarkable political tact. “Gastonnet” (the French diminutive for Gaston and the friendly nickname which was given Doumergue) hes undoubtedly touched the soul of the people. This southerner, of good family and respected in his village, has been at the Elysee the aathentic repre- sentative of the people, I would even say of the small people, of Prance. By his simplicity, his absence of all preten- tion, he has closely related those of his predecessors who have best expressed the idea of democracy under the third republic. Is Cultured Man. He has charming manners and cul- ture—belonging thereby to the intellec- tual elite—and the French people, who, whatever may have been said about them, love greatness in their chiefs, are thankful to him for it. But at the | same time he does not intimidate the crowd by that aspect of the great bour- geols which has been characteristic with some Presidents, Carnot for instance, | Casimir-Perier and Millerand. People | like the modesty of this man’s life, sense of proportion, the fact that he | has been wise enough not to get mixed | up in business. And then he has a smile! He is an accomplished type of chief such as the French like—I could say also the Americans. English people would be proud to see one of their former rulers retire to his country seat and be served by liveried butlers. French publie opinion is grateful to Doumergue for choosing to retire to his small south- ern farm. ‘That, however, is not everything. If I did not throw the limelight on the “national” side of his presidency an essential trait would be missing. M. ergue has acquired in the high administrative and political posts he has held in France and the colonies, a lively consclousness of France's great- ness. At the Elysee—every one has felt it—he has never omitted to do every- thing which might contribute to Prance's greatness, Conservation of the political and moral heritage is one of the most difficult, but most necessary, tasks of & chief of the state. At an exceptionally agitated time of our political history the outgoing Presi- dent has thus ht this element | which is essential to every regime which | hopes to live: The impression of the | security, the continuity and the peren- | niality of Prance. Many of us did not | think that the Elysee would allow such an action: the experience of Doumer- gue's presidency has made us change our minds. BY EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER. ERLIN. — “The Star - Spangled Banner Against Black, White, Red,” a picture of great battles (grosskampfbild), is the title of a contribution to military his- tory which has just appeared from the typewriter of the retired German lieu- the sinking fund, | complacence the present situation in | tenant colonel, Emst Otto, at present the national German rchives. According to its author, this is just about the first attempt made in Germany to describe and appraise op- erations of the American Army, and it =ims to be the “hymn of the front-line | | soldier, and to honor the incomparably bravery with which both sides fought. Furthermore, it seeks to Tescue the German soldier from the aspersion of having fought badly against the Ameri- cans. “Against the fresh attacking masses of the Americans, who, confl- dent of victory, threw themselves reck- | lessly into the machine gun fire, con- témptuous of death, our tired. shat- tered decimated remains of companies hurled themselves again and sgain, Lieut. Col. Otto writes. Lieut. Col. Otto has chosen to de- scribe two battles, the struggles around | Belleau Wood in June, 1918, where the Marines played the decisive role, and the longer October Blanc Mont in Picardy, in which the uthor personally commanded & Ger- man unit. Needless U. S. Losses Charged. ‘The book is made for military spe- clalists. There are admirable maps and each detail is traced lovingly, with all possible regard for source material, both official and private. view of the recent publication of the Pershing memoirs, all Americans must oe interested in the general descrip- tion and appreciation of the American troops which it affords, For this appreciation is one of the most flattering that American soldiers have ever received. The Germans first | & deep and proprietary interest in what | met the Americans on June 3 near Belleau Wood, entirely unexpectedly. Even more unexpected were the Ameri- can modes of fighting. As one German wrote, you can't hope to escape losses if you enter battle “in close groups, with rifies on straps around your neck, pipe in mouth and hands in pockets” Again and again in these reports we read of American at- tacks being made “in thick masses,” “in close columns.” under heavy fire “the American rifie- men ran together in heaps like shee) when it thunders.” i o American Officers Blamed. This absurd manner of fighting the Germans laid to defective tr-'tnln 4 and made the American officers and lack of experience responsible. Gen. Persh- ing, in his memoirs, refers to his fre- quent efforts to prevent his troops from adopting the “trench method tactics” of the French, Ci French trained troops in the middle of the fourth year of war, have offered such & target to their enemies, and it is pos- sible Pershing would have spared much b“lolod had he harkened more to his allies. Onntn!:‘ '?:lher‘mhlnd. were y impressed by American bravery. Mown down by machine gun fire, the men pressed on, “to kill or be killed,” as one prisoner told the Ger- the program carefully worked out by wl . Page.) (Continued on Fourth { 4 man officer. But especiaily in| As soon as they came | struggles around | the Germans | Wi | habit of confusing the Germans by | Germans considered the Americans re- | liner Maui, and the passengers aboard mmmmumm “much too high,” but their courage was equally high. And as Col. Otto implies, it was this courage that won the war. For both allles and Germans were waiting breathlessly to see whether the new | American soldiers would be able to play | & decisive role. A German army order during the | Belleau Wood battle warned the Ger- | man commanders against allowing the | Americans even a temporary advantage, | which would be used by the allies as a | proof that the new Army was “equal to or superior to the Germans.” Once it | was proven that in courage at least tion made by Minister of Justice Rocco. | | they were equal, the fate of the war | was decided. American superior num- | bers reconquered Belleau Wood and a | in higher Pascist circles regarding the | hundred other losses. Doughboys Impressed Teutons. On_August 18, the official report of | he IV German Reserve Corps con- ained the following decisive admission: Nothing but training is needed to make | he Americans a foe to be feared. | Especially their prowess at close quarters impressed the Germans. general the German soldier, as the| uthor says, “owing to the Teutonic | ury described by Tacitus,” was with a bayonet superior to the Latin or the| Slav and _equaled only by the “sport | trained Englishman or Australian.” | The Americans were at least as for- | midable as the latter and this impressed the Germans. | Author Omits Hatred. Furthermore, it was difficult for the | Teutonic soldier not to remember his relatives in the United States or to feel America as a real enemy. This Impres- sion reinforced by the America places, regardless of | shouting orders in German during the fight. The result was that although the | sponsible for their losing the war, in all reports, both official and private, there is no single word of hatred or dis- paragement. “The German soldier saw in the American opposite him not an enemy, but merely an opponent who was as willing as he to give his life for his country.” (Copyright, 1931.) Dust Cloud Aboard Ship Blown 300 Miles to Sea | HONOLULU.—Dust rising from the ocean was a new experience for Capt. G. B. Wait, commander of the Matson his vessel & few days ago. The dust was first sighted 300 miles off the Califor- nia Coast, whereas between that spot and the coast all was clear. The dust cloud through which the liner steamed was as thick as a heavy fog and made the taking of sights and observations im) ible. . Ipl,m:'u first thought the dust cloud was the result of volcanic activity in far-off Alaska, but reports later from hington, Oregon and Northern Cal- ifornia indicated that heavy off-shore winds, sweeping from the interior, had carried huge clouds of dust far out over the ocean. The phenomenon is unique g mm-fl»— lnzhchmoryo?); [ ITALY’S SPECIAL TRIBUNAL GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE Signs of Milder Penalties by Court, Which | Has Been Terror of Anti-Fascists Since 1926, Are BY AUGUSTINE BEAUMONT. ROM’E, May 23.—A new lease of life' was accorded last week to the special military tribunal nists a report submitted by Premier Mussolini which, since November, 1926, has been the terror of Commu- was enacted into law for another five- year period by & show of hands in the | Chamber of Deputies. “We Pascists understand why this | tribunal is needed, and no more need be said about it.” was the brief declara- At the same time signs of an im- portant change in the views entertained special military tribunal are beginning to appear. message delivered by Premier Mussolini suggested consider- able changes in a return to milder measures by subjecting the tribunal's decisions to the ordinary penal code. New Code in Force July 1. The new penal code, which has taken years to revise, will go in force on July In i and, while it increases the penalties upon the matting itself. He eats from for certain offenses, it also es.ablishes ordinary penalties for offenses against the security of the state. This, accord- ing to the suggestion of Mussolini, is >nough to make its provisions applicable to the cases tried by the special military tribunal, which will continue to apply the special laws of 1926 only in the more important cases. The new penal code, says Mussolini, might almost dispense with the appli- cation of the laws of November, 1926, | but it is expedient to continue to main- tain the special tribunal because its | mechanism is more rapid than that of an ordinary court and specially adapted in certain grave cases. Mussolini evi- dently has in view possible bomb out- rages and political crimes in the fron- tler zones. He alludes to these by say- g: “The reasons for keeping up the spe- cial tribunal are found in the fact that certain hotbeds of crime continue to exist in some frontier zones, fed and encouraged by elements on the other side. It will be necessary to continue to repress these crimes of foreign origin in a drastic and efficacious way, which ;ln.]cmly be done by the special tri- unal.” Heavy Sentences Imposed. In the last few weeks the tribunal, following out the rigid laws against Communists, passed some heavy sen- tenc\s and condemned in one fortnight alone 148 prisoners. Two days later it sentenced 19 others to . It was possible alto to detect a change of view in the case of a Communist and his son of Bologna. They had not only taken part in Communist anda, but resorted to counterfeiting emall coin, yet the father was sentenced only to one year in prison and the son was acquitted. ‘The general public has become ac- customed to ignore the special tribunal decision almost entirely, but to a cer- tain number of people, even those who wear the black shirt, it began to appear that the sentences often were exces- sively severe. For holding secret meet ings in some barn or around a tree in a field, groups of eight or ten Com- munists found themselves condemned to five or six years in prison, while men guilty of homicide and perhaps delib- erate murder received Jighter sentences. The time nd anti-Fascist conspirators. A} me may not be far off when I Seen, However. the special tribunal will be abolished altogether, 1any ago Mussolini declared that he hoped soon to be able to diminish the rigor | of existing measures. (Copyrigh as three years 115 |Changes Predicted In Japanese Customs | TOKIO, Japan—The thick matting| universally used on the floors of Japa- | nese houses is a menace to health, in| the opinion of Dr. Danjiro Nagami, di- | rector of the Medical Exp:rimental De- partment of the Tokio Municipal Hy- glenic Laboratory. He belleves the Japanese manner of living is bound to undergo considerable change in the next two decades, due to economic causes, and he thinks that, in view of this fact, the Japanese might adopt foreign tables, foreign chairs and foreign floor cover- ings. Japanese homes have no chairs. One sits upon a cushion placed on the thick, | springy matting, called “tatami,” or | a table only 12 inches high, and writ- ing desks, telephone stands and other | furniture 'are scaled down accordingly. | Shoes, if any, are left at the entrance, i but felt slippers are provided for walk- ing over the highly polished floors of |the corridors. Dr. Nugami asserts that the thick matting provides a haven for germs. Dust settles in between the mats and works under them, he be- lieves, and regardless of how carefully the rooms are swept this condition ex-| ists. Investigations have shown that some good is done by wiping the mats | with carbolic solution, but even this is | not entirely effective. “Another disadvantage” Dr. Nagami added, “is that continual sitting upon the floor with the feet drawn up under | |the body retards a child’s growth and| makes his legs short in proportion to| the rest of his body. But the Japanese are gradually getting away from this. Children nowadays wear foreign clothes and sit at foreign-style desks while they are attending schools, at least in the cities. Many find the Japanese desks uncomfortable. “‘Other ts of Japanese life are on the point of changing. Girls wear for- eign clothes at schools and find them so conducive to freedom of movement that they object to adopting the kimono again after they have grown up. The same applies to the intricate mode of hairdressing that the Japanese women effect. Men wear Western suits at their offices, and they, too, in many cases, hate to go back to the kimono and wooden clogs in place of shoes.” German Society Begins U. S. Economic Study BERLIN.—The German Society for “World Economics” has founded a spe- cial section for the study of the eco- nomic situation in“the United States. This is the first organization of its type in Berlin. The first meeting took place April 20. Prof. Horace Taylor of Columbla University delivered the" introductory address on “The lication of Eco- nomic Science to Business in the United States.” Special courses on the If Properly Di BY MARK SULLIVAN. HE aim of this article is to show the reason—or rather one rea- son, for there are many—why | the name of ex-Governor Alfrad | E. Smith remains persistently | | in the fgont of the Democratic prezis | dential picture. If the article is to avoid misleading it should begin by saying that at this | moment the most likely Democratic nominee next year is Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York. That Roose velt is well on his way toward the nomi- nation, that his fortunes go well, that | he has so far neither committed ar: fatal mistake within himself nor en- | countered any ferious misadventure | AL SMITH BOOM PERSISTS ON G. O. P. REVOLT HOPES Only 473,000 More Ballots Than in 1928, stributed, Are Needed for Election. Smith lost Virginia in 1928, but only by 24,463 votes—24,463 out of a total of 304.755. It is reasonable to doubt that might get the extra 24,4632 A switch of less than 13,000 ‘“Hoovercrats,” 12,232 to be exact, back to the Demo- crats, would give Virginia to Smith, T Smith should win Virginia he would have 11 more electoral votes. Smith lost Connecticut in 1928, but only by 44,674 votes—out of & total of 548,654. 1In the meantime, in 1930, Connecticut has gone Democratic on its governorship. 1Is it reasonable to doubt hat in next year's election Smith #eht get his needed 44.674—which Wuuld only be a switch of 223387 1f 4 ol | he should get Connecticut that would I o (At 418 ihe general | give him 12 additional electoral votes. vex;:eriencxed pofimdnnshinh both pan.les(. | Gain Would Be 93 Votes. |a fraternity who watch the progress of | g, far we have Smith | getting 93 more | presidential possiblities as old race | ejectoral votes than the 80 he got from |course men watch the training and | Siates he carried in 1928, (Aetuaily | “try-outs” of horses. | g Carried . __(Actually, But and nevertheless, these me | Smith's eight States had 87 electoral “old-timers” among the politicians o | Yotes in 1928: since then reapportion- both parties doubt whether Rxxuevelt‘ will really be the man. They admit, in | the words of Frank Kent, in the Demo- | cratie Balttmore Sun, that “as things stand now, Roosevelt has a long lead. He is in the strongest position and on form should be named.” Roosevelt Leads Field. But, they add, again in the typical judgment expressed by Mr. Kent: “The | plainer it becomes that the Democratic | party’s presidential nominee will not be | known with much more certainty when | the conventifon meets than now. What | seems sure is that the question of ticket ; and the question of platform will both be fought out on the floor of the con- vention.” If we look on the race as between Gov. Roosevelt and “the field.” more politicians would bet today on the fleld | than on the New York Governor. “The fleld” may be considered to include ex- | Governor Smith, Newton D. Baker, | Owen D. Young, Gov. Ritchie of Mary- | land, ex-Governor Cox of Ohio (the candidate in 1920). Some would in- clude in the fleld two outstanding drys, | Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas | and ex-Governor Byrd of Virginia. And within this “fleld,” among the | names other than Roosevelt, the one | most often mentioned is Smith. Smith Boom Persists. ‘The reason, or one reason, for the persistency of the Smith idea rests on a very concrete thing. Smith's friends and followers, numbering literally mil- lions, believe, many of them passion- | ately, that Smith, if nominated, could | be elected next year. Believing that, they think ardently that he ought to be nominated. They think the nomina- tion is due to him, as a right, or &s a courtesy, or as a rTecognition of his leadership, or—and this counts particu- hrl{——u an opportunity, as an oppor- tunity to make a better record next year than he was able to make in the less favorable year 1928. Let us then turn to the facts and figures. Let us consider what would be the chances of ex-Governor Smith, if nominated, to win the election—as- suming that conditions in November, 1932, will be as they are today—assum- ing, that is, that some Democrat can be elected. - Needs 473,000 More Votes. Such an examination of Smith's chances comes out rather sensationally. ‘It can be stated thus: If Smith next year could get 473,000 more votes than in 1928—if. that is, he could get the votes of 473,000 people who in 1928 voted for Mr. Hoover, he would be elected, provided (and, of course, this is a large “provided”), the votes are properly distributed among the States. That is a startling fact. A switch of 473,000 votes in a total national vote | of 36,403,000 is not great. It is far short | of a landslide. It could readily happen. Does any one doubt that as many as half & million voters are ready, under present conditions, to switch from Re- publican in 1928 to Democratic in 19322 | Hardly any one will doubt that. Hardly | any one will question that the business | depression would, as of today, account for a switch of 473,000 votes from Re- pulican to Democratic. But whether the extrp would be so distributed as to carry the necessary | States is a more intricate matter, Smith States Held Safe. Let us go at it in detail. The election goes by States. There are 531 electoral votes, each State having as m-ny;‘{l:c- toral votes as it has Representdtives and Senators in Congress. The success- ful candidate must have 266 electoral votes. Let us, as & starting point, assume that Smith next year would carry the same States that he carried in 1928./ These States with their respective elec- toral votes in 1932 are: Alabama ...... 11 Massachusetts.. Arkansas . 9 Mississippi. | Georgia 12 Rhode Island... 4/ Louisiana .+ 10 South Carolina. 8 Surely it must be safe to say that Smith would not lose in 1932 any of these eight States that he carried in 1928. (There are some, including Tom Heflin, who sclaim that Alabama, al- though Smith carried it in 1928, would g0 against him in 1932. It is true Smith's ‘margin in Alabama in 1928 was extremely narrow. He was credtied with 127,797 votes to Hoover's 120.725. Tom Heflin insinuates and some others claim that this narrow majority for Smith in Alabama was due to an ex- rertnw in counting, practiced by the ocal Democratic machine in Alabama. As the record stands, however, Smith carried Alabama in 1928, and in any fair calculation must be credited with ability to carry it in 1932) Starting with those eight States that Smith carried in 1928, let us explore where he could make additions today. Smith lost New York in 1928, but he only lost it by 104,481—out of a total vote of more than 4,000,200. That is & very narrow margin by which to lose so large a State. A switch of a little over 50,000 votes from Hoover to Smith in 1928, a switch of 52,241 votes to be gtlckt. would have given Smith New ork. Can it be reasonably doubted that under the changed conditions of to- day, Smith would take that extra 52,241 from the Republicans? If you doubt that, then we might as well say con- ditions have not changed, that there is no business depression or that the depression will not have any political consequences. Smith, carrying New York next year, would add 47 to his 80 electoral votes. Texas May Reverse Vbte. Let us turn to Texas. Smith lost ‘Texas in 1928. But he only lost it by 26,004 votes—26,004 out of a total of 708,068. The margin by which Smith lost Texas was less than 4 per cent of the total vote. A switch of barely over 13,000 “ . 13,003 to be ex- y back to 17 m hnnmure. or 'oallr:.lnuon and situa m lor students, 5 loyalty | Gastein. ment has reduced the number to 80.) That probability alone (and as of to- day it is not merely a probability but almost a certainty), is enough to ac- count for the strong wish of Smith's followers that he be nominated again. He would more than double the elec- toral vote he got in 1928. He would stand in history not as the worst-beaten Democrat who ever ran, but as one with & very respectable showing. One hun- dred and seventy-three electoral votes is considerably short of the 266 neces- sary to win; but—and this weighs with Smith's friends—it is more than Davis got in 1924, or Cox in 1920, or Bryan in two of his campaigns. That Smith could in all probability double his electoral vote is a sufficient reason for his friends to wish to give him the opportunity. But it 18 Wi easy to pass on to the assumption tha Smith could not only do that—but actually win the election. And this assumption, as of today, can be sup- ported by some striking figures. , Other States on Margin. Some other States, lost by Smith tn 1928, which he might have at least a chance to carry next year, are in the list below. In each case there is given, in round numbers, the number of votes Smith would need to gain in order to win next year—that 1s, the number of votes which, if switched from Repub- gf:;. to Democratic, would give him the States. Arizona Florida (oo k PRI - = carry all those States he would have 267 electoral votes and win the election. This compilation omits Illinois as & State that Smith might carry. Yet Tllinois last year elected a Democratic Senator who ran on Smith's wet issue. Tllinois has 29 electoral votes. Any one who wishes can substitute Illinois in the list in place of Wisconsin and Minnesota and North Dakota combined. Also, ug: list omits (z‘x;uo. ‘Yet Ohio does go Democratic rather frequently. ©Ohio has 26 electoral votes. ‘The reader will understand, of course, that if Smial nwugg win at all next year it would not be literally through making the precise addition lsted above, nor by carrying precisely the States mentioned. If Smith should win he would do so through a wid trend. All this article shows is that a trend need not be extremely strong in order to give Smith the victory. ‘The net of it all is that Smith's friends are by no means fantastic in their conviction that Smith, if nomi- nated next year, might win the elec- tion—assuming, of course, that the business depression continues. That he would do very much better than in 1928, that he would have more than twice as many electoral votes is almost & certaingy. Lifting of Art Embargo In Italy Causes Alarm ROME. — Recognizing the financial difficulties of two patrician families, Giovanelli and Dona dalle Rose, the government has lifted the embargo from their two valuable art collections at Venice, so that they may be sold and taken out of the country. ‘These two collections, because of their importance, were catalogued by order of the government and, under the' law for the protection of warks of art, could not be sent abroad. ‘The Italian press recently raised sn alarm at the news and conducted s campaign to have the auction of the two great collections held at Venice and not in Paris, New York or Amsterdam, as has been suggested. It is hoped that in this way the private Italian collectors and institutes will have a greater chance of competing successfully with foreign bidders. In spite of the high offers which al- ready have been made, the government has forbidden the sale abroad of the following works included in the two fa- mous collections: “La Tempesta” of lorgione (Glovanelll Gallery), the llegory of the Arts” of Tiepolo, the ‘hrist Dead on the Knees of Mary” of Giovanni Bellini and a “Madonna” of Sansovino (Dona dalle Rose Gallery). Austri:l;_]';)me C;rlos In Alpine Resorts Urged VIENNA.—Austria is going to have & little Monte Carlo all its own—perhaps several—if the schemes of private group endeavoring to procure a casino concession go through. The idea is to help retrieve the public finances and at the same time give a bit of private pleasure to visitors. A big casino would be installed, first of all, in one of the big hotels in Sem~ mering, the beautiful mountain resort tAv{o hnl‘:" !I‘Gm]d bevlenux‘l‘mh? :.ho St ps. woul equipj for tte, baccarat and other games and closely follow the great casinos on the French Riviera in style and method of operation. The Austrian state, how- ever, would be guaranteed a comfort- able slice of the receipts. Semme; visitors—though Austrians—and & casino improve tourist traffic to the Semmering casino is s others would follow at Baden and . But first permission of government must be obtained, in & constitutional amendment