Evening Star Newspaper, December 20, 1931, Page 29

GERMAN CREDIT DEFAULT | FORESEEN AS CERTAINTY Repudiation of Obligations Forecast| Ag Seven Year o Being Carried Out Now, Writer Says, BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. LMOST seven vears ago. return- ing from a long stay in Berlin at the moment the Dawes Plan had been made and the pacts of Locarno were being prepared, I wrote in my svndicate articles the Teasons my bolief that Germany fairly that 1 and criti 1 com- ria ized when In the present article I shall try to set forth the reasons why I believe Ger- many. similarly, will never pay the com- mercial credits and private loans which, t the moment. are suspended by the tandstill agreement” of last Summer, following the Hoover moratorium, $2,800,000.000 in Credits. These credits form a vast ggeregate indebtedness. their su excess of the total has just been disclose short-term _cred $2.800.900,000. T should like to make clea vance that the German course seem to m Iy accepted at Basel that the alone arount to in ad- in world vast and other has been the vietim alike ¢ and of stupidities in political and @nancial leadership without parallel in modern history What is true is that Germany never had any intention of paying repara- tions. that all-German policy has been dominated by the determination of the mass of the country—of the majority which controls the electorate—never to pay the vast sums levied as a result of military defeat and imposed in a treaty which *contained the notorious guilt clause. By all Germans this treaty was identified as the disclosure of the purpose of the victors to keep Germany forever helpless and the German peo- ple for all time a tribute-paying race German Evasion Cited. Thus the first stage in post-war his- torr was marked by the long-continued German effort, through every form of evasion and device. to escape from reparations payments. This stage lasted from 1919 to 1923 and culminated in the occupation of the Ruhr That momentous episode proved two s: first, that Germany could not her reparations obligations by ance: second. that France, ble to crush Germany by mili- power. nevertheles unable 1o coliect, reparations by ets. The second phase opened with the appearance of the financiers. largely American and British, who framed the Dawes plan. The deliberate attemp was to take the matter out of the hands the politicians and vest it in the neiers. But. after the inflation »{ 1923, following the occupation e Ruhr, it was necessary to make loans to Germany in order to en- her to stabilize the mark and start w bayor arge Sums Loaned. derable sums government. but far were the sums l°nt st cities and private the Reich. of londing by were ed of ‘the that, now that al world had intervened, the blems had been solved and required was to lend money Ivent nation. which was in all cts a safe investment, carly in this procedure the ns saw that 1j American and h banks continued to pile up in- ments in German securities they would very soon have a large stake in the German game. They saw equally clearly that the French, who were not sting in German securities but in- £ISting upon recovering reparations, weuld be thrown into sharp collision with the Anglo-Saxon nations the mo- ment it became clear that Germany could not pay both reparations and private debts. And the basis of all German_policy since the close of the war had been to precipitate a break between their old enemies, a cleavage between Anglo-Saxon and French in- terests. Meantime one other factor must be noted: While the Americans dipped heavily alike in_short and long term | securities, the British limited them. selves largely to short-term loans. But both the British and the Americans not merely lent their own money in Ger- many, they also took large amounts o1 French capital, paying for it 3 and 4 per_cent and re-lending it to Germany at 7 per cent. The result was that not only were the Anglo-Saxon powers heavily committed in long-term Ger- man loans and investments, but also they had adventured short-term money which they would be compelled to have on hand were any sudden demand made upon them to pay, particularly if the French asked their money back. Moratorium a Result And that was what happened last summer. The result was first the Hoo- ver moratorium and then the British fall from the gold standard. Britain was caught and America was gravely embarassed because neither could get back their short-term loans from Ger- many to pay Gemands from France. This situation remains today substan- tially unchanged Looking to the future, the situation s this: Germany now owes upward of $5.000,000,000 in commercial credit and debts. She also still owes reparations The United States has no direct con- cern in reparations: the British regard the Hoover moratorium as having can- celed cebts—that is, allied debts—to America. But all the financial interests In both nations are gravely concerned with the commercial debts, The French | have no concern with commercial and every interest in repartions debts. Even | if all but the unconditional part of the | reparations were wiped out, and allied debts similarly abolished, France would still be entitled to $100,000,000 a vear | from Germany under the Young plan. But German! tion, cannot pay the interest on I either the principal or er commercial credits and debts, ing in interest alone at 6 per cent upward of $300.000.000 annually. Nor can s her annual reparations, which. nconditional detail alone, amount to over $150.000,- 000 the process of private borrow- ing she has now expanded her obliga- tions to sums equal to nearly $500.000.- 000 annually. At the same tlme she has literally “gone bust” at home. Upheaval Approaches. In this situation there is approach- ing an upheaval in German domestic ;mitlcs. The Bruening government has made a last stand in its recent decrees and laws, involving the imposition of new and vast burdens upon a people which, in its own mind at least, already is at the very last extremity of suffer- ing. Unless every sign fails, the Ger- man Fascists will soon take control. The change may come in February, it may come in May. but all obscrvers now be- lieve a change is inevitable. The Hitler people have already an- nounced their purpose to repudiate reparations. That brings them in- stantly into collision with France. But repudiation of reparations Wwill not touch the commercial debts, which Hitler announces he recognizes. But neither now nor at any time until there is an adjustment of the Franco- German situation can there be debt payments ahead of reparations. And mot for & long time to come is there in_her present condi- | |any hope of any recovery in Germany | which would enable the payment of $350.000,000 on account of commercial debts. Moreover-—and this is the cardinal point-—precisely the moment the reparations debts are scrapped—assum- ing that this place—the mass of the German are bound to see in the pr exactly the same form of 'he whole German people in a mood in which they are dominated by a delusion of perse- cution a resolution to esc paymen which in the case of the private debts represents to them an ex- ploitation of their misfortunes. They are sullen, despairing, literally in re- volt against burdens of all sorts which the war and post-war years kave fixed upon them Even to meet the private debts now the German people would have to con- sent to a very serious lowering of the standard of living and to the most rigid economy. And control in Ger- many is about to pass from reasonable to unreasonable men. from statesmen to demagogues. The Hitler crowd motley mob backed by certain busi- ness and financial elexcnts who are more concerned with driving the Social Denocrats cut of power znd 2 the social leg m of years than with anything 0 put Germany on her f start her again so that she could even undertake the task of paying her com- mercial obligations, needs new capital She needs it the more because ever since the moratorium German capital has been in flight from the mark. The Germans have themselves rushed all available funds across the frontiers. The gold reserve in the Reichsbank is sinking steadily to the vanishing point. Must Quit Gold Standard. Despite all reports to the contrary, financial circles in New York have ac- 3 0w, to cepted the fact that Germany must go ! off the gold standard shortly Only very considerable new loans could save the Reichsbank situati Only large loans could enable G n NV to star again industrially Neither is available. In the eves of the world Germany has become a bad zain, no loan could be forth- while the French are op- posed. They have the enormous veto power of their legal rights under the Yeung plan cist control in acefully or may revolution. ~ All i son made in wvhich controls the German ists. But in either event ihe al of the Hitlerites will produce encrinous repercussion in_ both e and the allied states of Poland Cre ovakia. It will produce apprehension and unrest politically ich’ must render even more acute the financ: crisis in Europe. Fascists to Stop Borrewing. When—and if—the Fascists get con- trol there is nothing that they can do about the economic and financial crisis. which is a world phenomenon But their very coming will abolish the chance of new foreign borrowings will find themselves masters of a Germany they have promised to res- cue. without the least chance of get- ting the means to improve the situa- tien. The flight from the mark will continue. The resentment of the Com- munist and Social Democrats. even if it does not take the form of open re- istance. will be consistent and crip- pling. A passive. if not an active, civil war is assured Before Germany emerges on the one of com hand from the consequences of a do- | mestic political upheaval and on the other from the effect of the world eco- nomic depression both political and economic factors will have made next to impossible to reopen the ques tion of the present commercial debts. There is going to be a real and com- plete bankruptcy of the German na- tion. unless every present sign proves | inexact. In my judgment the day is not very far distant when German securities, both governmental and pri- | vate, will have no other value than that which in my childhood attached to Confederate sccurities and Fenian bor us. (Coprright. Hawaiian-Born Chinese Go to China to Study 1931) HONOLULU—Reflecting the interest of young Chinese-Americans in the af- faits of China, many Hawaiian-born Chinese youths' are leaving Honolulu, bound for Chinese schools and colleges. Recently the local Chinese papers printed a letter from a former Honolulu young man, now in Cantcn, ing the desirability of young people here being familiar with™ Chinese iife and customs, and pointing out the op- portunities for positions which a rising China cffers. This has helped to stim- ulate the movement of Chinese boys and girls. born here, to the land of their ancestors. The fact that the great Dr. Sun Yat Sen was educated in Hawaii, and it | was here that he formulated his early | principles of political and soclal free- | dom, has been a tremendous stimulus |to contacts between the “new China” and Hawail All over China there are Hawaiian- born Chinese in government and busi- ness and the professions. Many young men and women educated here are teaching in Chinese government or pri- vate schools. An outstanding example of the rise of Hawaiian-born Chinese | e recent selec- | in the public service is tion of Moon Yin Chung. who was born in Hawaii and educated here, as super- intendent of the government mint un- | Another | der the Nanking government. Hawalian-born Chinese was recently named mayor of a large city, another runs a railroad. The careers of these tunities which China holds for Amer- ican-trained men and women. 3an on Soviet Imports Proposed for Canada OTTAWA, Ontario.—The unrestricted | imporiation into Great Britain of Rus- sian frodstuffs and raw materials should be banned, acccrding to a resolution | parsed by members of the British Em- | pire Service League in Toronto recently. This resolution has gained strong sup- port in Canada. At the present time only 40 per cent of the wheat imported into Great Brit- ain comes from the British Empire. In 1931 Russian wheat was sold in consid- erable quantities in Britain and at a somewhat lower price than wheat from |Canada. 1t is expected that an even | larger quantity will be sold this year. So far as Canada is concerned, should | action be taken by the British govern- ment to ban Russian wheat, it would be | some help in increasing Canada’s sales in Britain, but it would not be very material unless protective duties were placed on importations from other for- | ecign sources, rs Russia i3 not respon- sible for more than 10 per cent of Brit- | is ion, 1 e feeling in Conservative party cir- | cles here is that when the present gov- ernment in Britain breaks up the situa- tion will call for a general electicn, with the strong probability of Lhi return |of the Conservatives to power.” Then, ‘I‘flh Baldwin's triumph at the polls, Britain would be definitely committed to some degree of tariff protection, whereby it is expected that foodstuffs | would be one of the first groups to re- celve atteniion. ) ape foreign | is a | abolish- | he post- | it | suggest- | and many other men born in the Ha- | waifan islands has shown the oppor- | THE SUNDAY. | | BY G. K. CHESTERTON. 1 HE first and most curious thing about Christmas is that the very | name has a note of its own, | which is really and truly unique Christmas does mean Christmas | and nothing else, even if we could not | logically define what it means. It cer- | tainly does not merely mean “Yule’ I nor docs it merely mean “Christ-tid though that title was suggested by a certain Mr. Thomas Massey, & | Popery man who was horrified at the |1ast s llable: whereupon Daniel O'Con- nell reminded him that he himself {ought to b> known as Mr. Tho-tide | Tidey [ 1t ‘has a connotatton and an atmos- phere. and only very cheap and crude ieritics will imagine that it is only the atmosphere of :age and onions or burnt brandy. Wherever it lingers. s> long as it exists it carries with its mere name a very distinct suggestion or savor which men may like or dis- Wy gl wx\%} 4 STAR, WASHINGTON, D ehery ones like, but will seldom misunderstand. | as they can misunderstand much more | central and important words in the same connection 1f, instead of saying that I mean to keep Christmas, 1 say I mean to pre- serve Christendom, I shall really be referring to something that is still a very practical political fact. But any number of prople will vaguely imagine that Christendom was something that existed only before the fifteenth cen tury, and ‘will eagerly anticipate mj wearing a tabard or g in A tourna- ment or exhibiting mysel{ in the grace- ful exerciscs of falconry Ch If, instead of s I were so incautiol tianity.” then. curic <hould find the e tianity often ceem that can exist only century ngel Understood. Christendom to say “Chris- nough, I Ct somethi the fifteenth lough, there was stmas ving 'RUSSIA’S SCHOOL SYSTEM - IMPEDED BY EXPERIMENTS Much Done to Decrease llliteracy of Take Active Interest in Governmental | Masses, but Reckles and Propaganda Ra ALEXANDER NAZAROFF, Author of “Tolstoy, the Inconstant Geniu N the educational policy of the So- viet regime there is a striking con- tradiction which runs through all of its ramifications and which cannot help arresting the atten- tion of a student. On the one hand the Soviet government attaches a colossal importance to education: on the other it itself often injures education with | the brutality of Caliban Its efforts to combat the ignorance of the Russian masses are undeniable. In 1925, when the worst of its financial | difficulties were over. the Soviet passed a decree calling for the gradual in dustion of universal primary education in Russia, This decree has not been fully carried out vet. but a great deal Fas been done toward it Thus. in the Moscow region alone, 443 new schools have been built in the course of the last vear. and a few thou- sand of them have arisen during the same period in the rest of the country. According to the Soviet statistics, up to 15,000,000 children from 8 to 11 years old—which is about 94 or 95 per cent of the total number of children be- tween the ages mentioned—attended primary schools in European Russia this vear. This is an increase of more than 20 per cent over the 1930 figure, and at least 50 per cent over that of 1925 Yet one will fully understapd the significance of these gains only when one thinks of 1918 and 1919. For in | the chacs of the revolution, civil war. terror and famine of these vears edu- cation in_Russia was crushed almost entirely. It was only seldom that starv- ing teachers (the bankrupt Soviet gov- ernment could not pay them more than | two or three dollars a month) could | gather in a crumbling, unrepaired and | unheated school a few tattered pupils and make them write the A B C's with | charcoal on the floor (for there was, neither paper nor pencils nor books). Others Are Opened. Moreover, a large number of new secondary and lower technical schools. as well as universities and polvtechnic inctitutions, have been opened. To these are to be added the “Rabfacs” or “Workmen's Faculties”—that is to say. | special courses for workmen who, not | having received sufficient general edu- cation, want to learn some science or profession. The ‘“campaign for the liquidation of illiteracy” is being ener- getically pushed on; in special evening schools {illiterate grownups, _chiefly ! peasants, are taught the three R's. True, at closer examination these less as the Soviet leaders, loudly adver- tising their “colossal educational victo- ries” wish us to think. One gathers |landed on the rockbound coast of the privilege of selling meat or coal or | from the Soviet press that the educ: tional statistics for 1931 are a bit too | optimistic. Moreover there are cases | when some of the schools recorded as opened proved to exist on paper only Perhaps, if we place the actual attend- ance of primary schools at somewhere ;around 80 and not 95 per cent of th:> { children we will be nearer to the truth. However, onec must admit that the Soviet government works zealously and | sincerely and that, at least quantita- tively speaking, its “educational victo- | ries” are by no means an empty sound. Such, then, is one side of the picture, Its other side, unfortunately, is en- tirely different. In its educational activities the Soviet government is reckless, i.conse- quential and terrifically wasteful. ‘Worse still, it is addicted to the most daring experimentation, which often costs the country too dearly. Decrees pour from the commissariat of educa- tion ‘n a torrent, their authors some- t'mes giving little thought to whether they cen or cannot be carried out. Such procedures began in the very first days of Bo'shevism. One day | (that was in 1919). prompted by the Communist idea that it is better to have children educated in governmental “children’s hom than in families where they are lemoralized by ego- tistic, anti-social tendencies,” Soviet government proclaimed the campaign of *nationalization of chil dren.” ~Such homes were hastily or. render their babies. Soon about 500,- 000 of them were thus taken over by the state. The Soviet government, . Slipshod Methods e Difficulties. however, overlooked one detail—penni- less in the midst of the prevaling an- archy. it could supply the homes with neither milk. nor money. nor medica- ments. Covered with insects, in terrific dirt, hunger and disease, the babies died by the thousand. Finally the campaign was called off, the whole idea dropped. Three Major Themes. Then, dissatisfied with the ‘“an tiquated subject method of teaching used in the schools (and inherited from the old regime). the Soviet government replaced it. in 1923, by a special Soviet Russfan complex method. All school work was divided into three major themes—labor. nature and society. It was suppesed that. while receiving in- formation on mining and other indus. tries (labor). on the geological natu of coal and other minerals (nature) and on the village Soviet and Red Labor Union society), which would broaden with every year, children would get both excellent general education and enough knowledge in mathematics, grammar and other such subjects worked into the “cycle” . . . Yet no sooner was the reform intro- duced than alarming reports began to pour into the Commissariat of Educa- tion: “Children did not do anything at all: teachers did not have the slight- est idea of how to apply this method and cried with despair: complete an- archy reigned in the schools.” . . . In- deed, before introducing this method. no one had troubled to train the teach- ers for it. Finally, in 19 it was dropped. and the once haughtily re- jected old system was reintroduced But four academic years had been wasted | What an endless number of other | such experiments the Soviet govern- ment has tried and still is trying! Time and again it undoes with the left hand that which it does with the right. __But_experimentation is not_the only (Continued on Fourth Page) | DECEMBER 20, Bod bless s - Drawn for The Sunday Star by J. Scott many an honest man who had actual- ly called himself a Christian because he hated Christmas Sometimes he would say that he had to give up Christmas ale because he was now a Christian—by which he meant a tee- totaler. In the future, for all I know, he may give up Christmas turkey be- cause he is a Christian, meaning what we call a vegetarian. Words like Christian and Christianity are used in the most varied and fantastic fash- lon, so that England Puritan and a Bavarian peasant would be ut- terly at cross purposes about the sam word. But nobodv ever seems to have missed or taken the meaning of the word Ch whether he re ted it like the Puritan or accepted like the peasant can be apprec even an s ison, with the other orld. We might ¥ Turk or Jew was a it The point compartson thetie col ns of th this or that ted by mp li- that tru q 1931—PART TWO Christmas Still Is Menace Having Survived Many Attacks Through the Ages, Great Holiday Still Is Beset. williams, Christian, but we should hardly say one of his native feasts or ceremonies was a true Christmas. It would not ceeur to us to expect it to be, and in {act it would not be. “A Merry Christmas” Out of Place. Economical Stre By GASTON NERVAL URING the last 18 months, a number of Latin American governments which were known for their personalistic character, their contempt for individual liberties, their abuse of pow- er or their careless use of public funds have been falling down, one by one before an firresistible wave of popular reaction. Social, economic, and psychological reasons have been advanced to ex- plain this widespread revolutionary fever, which left very few Latin Ameri- can administrations untouched. Such factors were, at one time or another, largely discussed in these columns, un- til the conclusion that all of them had a part in the recent Latin American upheavals has been, I hope. well im- pressed upon the mind of the reader Prevailing abnormal political condi- tions, and a reaction against auto- cratic rule, aided bv financial difficul- ties arising from the world-wide nomic depression, were in general mentioned as the major elements be- hind this continental unrest. This ex- planation made the current revolu- tions on fhe other side of the Rio Grande different from the typical, old- fashioned “coup detat” for pure selfish and personal purposes, which until some years ago had been char- acteristic of Latin American politics Phenomenon Discovered. Although at the beginning this dis- tinction was not clearly made by news- papers in this country. later on, when the circumstances were explained and the results of the various revolutions studied, it appeared evident that these were an_entirely new phenomenon in Latin America One revolution has just occurred | however, which by the facts surround ng it—it seems to me cannot very well be placed among those more or We might assist respectfully at some | ritual in a Tibetan monastery celebrat- ing the birth or last incarnation of Buddha and see that smiling and seem- mgly sleeping image of calm and power, surrounded with whatever might seem most fitting to its serenity, rolled in narcotic incense wreathed harmo- niously with the lotus or the lily, but we should not expect to look up and see written across it in bright red letters, A Merry Christmas.” We should feel that something. with quite as strong a as incense or opium. was min- with the sacred moved with not a little inued on Fourth Page.) STUDENTS ARE MAINSPRING OF POLITICS IN EUROPE Affairs in Contrast to University Life in America. BY DR. W. M. KATSCHNIG, General Secretary of Int Service NE of the most striking difier- ences between American ¢nd European university life is the different attitude to politics found among studer In Europe political life without the par- ticipation of students is unthinkable. while in America students are in general indifferent to the political problems of their countries or to political issurs reised in international relations. It Europe students are to be found in every political administration. in 211 party or- ganizations and at every political mect- irg Very often the politic ried into the university serious 1iots. The riots sity of Vienna, which were partly di- rected against Jewish students. but which really originated in tension be- tween Nationalists and Socialists, are still frest in our memory. In recent months smaller disturbances have taken place in German universities, and at the University of Paris there is con- tinuous friction between students be- longing to the conservative Action Francaise and the more liberally- minded students. While these out- bursts of political passion in the univer- sities are regrettable in themsclves, thy are an indication of the European stu- dents’ great interest in politics. F: from being remcte from the political field. as are students in_America, they educate theselves in political thought and thus when leavirg the universities are on the whole better cquipped for political leadership than are their American fellow students. Reasons for Difference Manifold. The reasons for this difference in American and European university life are manifold. To begin with, European students have a long tradition of po- litical activity behind them which American students lack. A few exam- 1 fight is ca and results i ot the Univer- Racketeering Leading to Extinction of Corsican Bandits With Machine Guns PARIS.—After several centuries of playing Robin Hood, Corsican bandits are being exterminated. Instead of re- maining true to the original principles of their honorable calling—a Corsican bandit used to be a gentleman even if | he did commit homicide—the last gen-| a racket. Which explains why there were| Red Isle armored cars, one tank, ma-| chine guns, 500 men of the mobile| constabulary, one general, and innu- merable rounds of ammunition. Which explains also why Joseph Bartoli and Jean Caviglioli have been shot in their tracks and a dozen other bandits fear that their bluff has been clled. Half a century or more ago Corsican bandits entered the domain of litera- ture. Prosper Merimee, in short stories that stand out today as masterpieces, and other writers wrote of men who after they had killed an enemy in a blood feud, took to the brush and re- mained outlaws to the end of their lives. They never robbed. The peas- antry, imbued with Corsican traditions, supplied them with food and drink, and also with the small funds which they needed. In return the peasants were pro- tected against domination, even if it were that of the government. No Corsican ever would betray a bandit. Gendarmes were helpless because the whole countryside was against them,| instinctively. ~ The bandit held sway. but his was a debonair rule and he| never demanded more than the poorest could give Wherefore every Corsican tcok the part of the bandit against the guthorities. Ten or fifteen years ago the last of | the patriarchal bandits breathed his last, His successors were exceedingly modern, looking upon banditry as a|being shot down because they were| rofitable profession. They held up | ?ounsu, vgereu the old school of | ganized, and mothers requested to sur- | bandits had entertained such with al-| Napoleone most regal grace. They no longer re- Med upon vnlunug offerings from the pessantry, but lewed their own tithe. | were mulcted in annual dues. | tradition, Instead of wandering through the brush afoot, they commandeered auto- They frequented the towns and raided hotels. From romantic bandits they became common-law rob- bers and from common-law robbers achievements prove to be not as flaw- | eration of bandits reduced banditry to | racketeers. Each one mapped out his district and levied 80 much a year for the market produce therein. Cars could not ply along the roads without pay- ing for the privilege. Seashore resorts There were developed & hundred and one rackets and all the bandits became racketeers. Then there came upon the scene one Napoleone Natali. Corsican born and bred, he had emigrated to the main- land to make his way in the world Like many of his fellow-islanders who become top sergeants in the army or lieutenants in the police force, he had placed his talents at the disposal of | the authorities. Back to Corsica he came as deputy commissioner of police. His Kouthrul mind had been filled with the exploits of the bandits of yore—the men who sided with the op- pressed against the oppressor, who took from the rich for benefit of the poor. He soon discovered that this race of bandits was dead and that its successors were mere racketeers. Dis- gusted with the prevailing disregard for Natali, a small, scholarly looking man, but with iron nerve and indomitable spirit, devoted his life to tracking down the racketeers. For years he studi i sl years e studied the sitvationyanddits| and thres years, S0 EE RoSyCr of | Ithe great Fascist Council, the body mainland | which today really d-termincs the fate |ation so entirely different, one which possibilities. Then when his plan of cempaign was complete he asked for reinforcements from the This explains the armored cars, the tank and the general. One after the other, the robbers are bandits in name alone. Corsica will seem strange without its outlaws, but atali prefers this strange- ness to an island which had developed bandits without honor. (Copyright, 19810 | the conception of economic determi- | than a ‘The movement for of Germany from the rule in 1813 had its begin- e universities. Fichte, as a rofessor of the University of Berlin, spiritual father of the move- Addresses to the German “Reden an die Deutsche Na- and the first vcluntary bat- talions set up were largely battalions of students. Again in 1847 and 1848 the revolution against the absolute rulers was initiated by students and among those who died at the icades were many who had exchanged their books When the first constitutional Parlia- me m°t in Austria a young student K Kudlich. introduced a law to erate the peasants, until then in feudal dependency. This proposal be- came law in spitc of the fact that when the Parliament was dissolved again Hans Kudlich had to flee for his life to America After the unsuccessful revolution in Russia in 1905 one of the first measures of the government was to close the universities, and several hundred students were sent to Siberia. The history of the liberation during the last 50 vears of a great many European nations from Turkish and Austrian rule offers amples of the European stude: to free Bul led by Chri dent in Pa student or; called aft students wer freedom for tical initiative of . a Bulgarian stu- today the largest ation in Bulgaria is Czech and Sorbian the first to claim tions. Politics Based Upon Principles. Anothi countries. For instance, it is_easily understood that in some of the Balkan countries in which universities were only founded some 30 or 40 years | country?” ago and where a large part of the|the Araujo population is still illiterate any one who gets as far as the university should be drawn upon for leadership. Of course, this particular incentive to stu- | election met many more ex- | reason for the great Influ-| {ence ol stude | American movements. less “justified” violent changes of gov- ernment in other Latin American States A revolution which was not pre- ceced by vicible signs of popular dis- content. A revolution undertaken by a group of young Army officers against a government which. merely a few months before, had been inauguated as the result of an uncontested elec- toral victory. A revolution, in fact which any one who has been following in politics would feel inclined to classify in the kind of old-style, am- bitious “cuartelazo.” Revolution Discouraging. The Salvadorian revolution has brought to the ohserver of Latin Amer- ican affzirs not only surprise, but dis- couragement. for & had none of the characteristics which justified the pre- vious revolts of this and last year in South America The Salvadorians were not suffering from the arbitrariness and despotism of a dictatorial government. On the ~ontrary. if anybody had the sympa- thies of the Salvadorian masses. it was President Araujo. Always a decided friend of the working classes, the noor and the least fortunate natives. Senor Araujo had. since the beginning of his public life, been extremely popular with the voting elements. Thus it happened that, scarcely = few months ago. when he presented his name for the presidential contest. he received the largest plurality. and his with applause from one cxtreme of the countrv to the other Incidertally, this election was said to have been the “freest” o that the Salvadorian people had experienced in many a year. Mistakes Admitted. He might have committed certain mistakes during the few months of his administration which wrested from him some popular support, but these could not. by any means., have been suf- ficlent to change so radically the senti- ments of the masses and make the re- course to revolution necessary. There were other means, more legal and more logical means, which under n mal circumstances could have been used to correct his errors. Or. a least. to m3ke him realize the erow- ing dislike and opposition of the pecnle From a strictly political point of view, there were no principles. ideals or even party pledges involved. which might have given this upheaval some- thing in common with the other Latin The Salvadorian revolt resembles more the old-fash- foned, personalistic *‘coup.” the scheme which in years past created an unde- sirable prestige for Central American politics The first communique given out by the new recime pictures clearly enough the lack of principles and the person- In 1867 the first | ajistic character of the Salvadorian af- Turkish rule was fair. The pross reported such com- munique_as explaining the reason for the revolt in the following terms “The Arauio Government was dizzily leading the country to ruination. oblig- ing the voung army officers to fake energetic measures. ‘Ruination is it Questioned. How possible to believe that | in politics is the lack | 3 man who, only a few months back, of adequate leadership in a number of | had been inaugurated President amid great popular rejoicing could be now leading the country to ruination. What do the rebels mean by “ruination of the How are they to prove that administration was “dizzily leading” the country to it? The Salva- dorian revolutionists have copied. too | faithtully perhaps, the charge made by successful rebels in other Latin Ameri- dents to take part in politics is bound ‘can republics, but in those cases the to grow weaker in the course of time. | jnjistices, inefficien Of more permanent importance for and. in some instances, dishonesty. of the overthrown political life in the universities is the 'regimes were too well known abroad to ver, wcter of European politic: Continental political life is laigely | based on principics rather than on op- | portunity, as it is in the United States. Most_of the po | even make such explanation necessary In the case of Salvador, however, it may prove a bit embarra: g for the leaders of the revolt if they were asked tical parties have a |ty explain just how the Araujo gov- definite philosophy behind them. be it | ernment was “dizzily leading the coun- nism of Karl Marx or the ideas of the German philosophy of idealism, which inspire most of the nationalist parties in Europe today, or the system of thought of the Roman Catholic Church, which guides the Roman Catholic parties. In other words, politics offer material for discussion on a really in- tellectual basis, even if at one time or another the nations are not faced with sensational _issdes such as prohibition or crime. This probably explains better thing else the difference be- | tween the American and the European situations, for in America the majority of students are hardly able to tell the difference botween the Republican and | the Democratic parties, except that | thoy are represented in cartoons by different animals. During recent years, in Europe a fur- ther incentive has been added to make students interested in their politics. The various dictatorships which have been established have been in opposition to the conventional and traditional parties in which the older generation found its political expression. The dictatorships turned to the young generation and, in particular, to the students in the uni- versities for support. Thus, in Italy, for instance, the universities became strong- holds of the Fascist regime. Roughly, 90 per cent of the students are mem- bers of the Gruppi Universitari Fascisti, and threo years ago their leader, a stu- of Italy. Student Movements Radical. As befits young lpcopk. mu Europe most of the political movements among students are of a very radical character, sometimes they are definitely out for a revolutionary overthrow of the govern- try to ruination.” And another thing. Who are these “young army officers” to take such “en- ergetic measures?” Who has given them the right to pass upon the acts of the legal administration, to declare it to be incompetent and to punish it for its alleged sins? Since when have the young officers of the army been ac- corded the task of judging the conduct | of the constitutionally elected govern- ment. and the privilege of altering it, according to their own judgment? Army in Prominent Role. It is true that in the changes hav- ipg taken place in other Latin Amer- jcan republics the army played a prom- inent role, but this was in countries where all means of political activity had been suppressed, where all legal opposition had been drowned with | force, where an arbitrary and despotic rule had enthroned itself in power and eliminated all the possibilities of a peaceful change. Then the action of the army was the only way left to crush with force such reigns of force. The army was the instrument used, though only in the last instance, to rescue public liberties and the spirit of democracy. It is regretful, indeed, that the atti- tude of the armed classes in other Latin republics had been so misinter- preted by the ycung army officers of El Salvador and had awakened to such an extent their ambitions that they should have used their force in a situ- did not call for their action, It may be proper to remember in this connection that the present young mil- itary leaders of El Salvador were at a ime pupils of a notable Chilean in- tructor who later on became prom- inent in Chilean politics. Some years ago Gen. Carlos Ibanez, then with an ELSALVADORE REVOLUTION NOT LIKE PREVIOUS ONES Upheaval Against Araujo Reg vated More as “Coup d’Etat” Than by me Moti- ss—Blame Army. | organizing the army of the small Cen- tral American state. Probably the in- tervention of Ibanez in the political situation of his own country, his more or less disguised “coup d'etat” his in- auguration of a strong regime which was to “build & new Chile,” aroused the enthusiasm of the young Salva- dorian officers who h ciples. But they bered, also, the Ibanez' political Had Long Peace. ‘The most discouraging feature of the Salvadorian revolution is, precisely, this return to power o military cast which had for suc a long tim out of politics. For 33 years El dor had enjoyed nternal pe as it seems, while other states were w domestic qua elected pe and had very haps it L it has brougl It can be President o dent. who as taking p led. the_President They hat nother treaty held a p thrown Exec previous to gnized Dream Causes € Over Religions P ROME. peasant. in the village because of a dream months of drought, w damage to the local living in An the local im: her and told her that lation m do Ita t reports was still to Name ect” City n recover a value of ziotti when a po other night P cow wandering dov pal streets. The alert poli AD- tured the difficulty, and after const ors turned her into a p cow repaid her captors for worth of hay she consumed each day by produc- ing two gallons of milk per diem. She d to live happily cr milk 1 t veeks. a d to sh ever afte failed which led the buic found. P Her own ) to is yet to be Prague Fair Proves Suceess Despite Lull | | PRAGUE. Caechoslovakia —Notwithe | standing the present eccnomic diffi I(’ulll?.\. the recent Prague International | Fair has proved of outstanding value to | the trade of Europe. More than 350,000 delegates from different countries | convened at Prague. While business in | general was not as active as last year, machinery, technical equipment, foot- wear and leather goods were quite satisfactory A special f: | the roac the auspices gress of Road B Contractors. Anc tion centored a hizitic 1 con of an ve trade. Other features included the furniture and piano sec- tion, the ideal home exhibits, etc The fair is generally regarded as a barometer of Czechoslovakian trade, and s0 far as it is concerned depression has touched the bottom and no further aggravation is to be expected. feature of this s to be the focus el |Quebec Plans to Spend l $7,500.,000 on Bridges | OTTAWA. Ontario—In order to fa- cilitate lir cf ccmmunications, the Taschercau government in the Province of Quebec will spend $7.500,000 on new bridges in different parts of the prov- ince : A bridge connecting the north shore of the $t. Lawrence River near Quebec City with the Island of Orleans, and the Caughnawaga Bridge across the St. | Lawrence, adjacent to Lachine near Montreal, are the two structures of chief importance to be erected Each of these bridges, it is estimnated, ment in _power. However, youth alone inferior rank, spent some time in El will involve an expenditure of more (Contined on Fourth Page.) Salvador, training the new officers and than $2,000,000.