Evening Star Newspaper, April 10, 1932, Page 25

EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday Star, TON, D. €, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1932. p— Part 2--8 Pages PAN-AMERICA DAY TO FIND INCREASE IN GOOD WILL [ of Dislrust{ WASHING e What’s Wrong With the World? Rising Tide ARMS CONFERENCE SUCCESS 'REMOTE ON REASSEMBLING Latin Nations’ Sentiment Against U. S. Giving Way to More Diplomats May Seek Speedy Action, but of Population Accentuates Many Woes—Africa May Be Safety Valve. | Such Convention Would Be lnsignifi- . . | vmpathetic Understanding. ‘ | BY GASTON NERVAL. EXT Thursday is Pan-American day. April 14 was selected last year by the Governing Board of the Pan-American Union to symbolize “the sovereignty American nations and the voluntary union of all in the con- tinental community.” It was on April 14, 42 years ago, that the Pan-American Union was originally established. Pan-American day was observed for the first time last year throughout the Western Hemisphere. In the United States President Hoover isued a spe- cial proclamation calling upon the schools, civic associations, and the people in general, to chbserve the occa- sion with appropriate ceremonies, thereby giving cxpression to ‘“the spirit of continental solidaritv and to the sentiments of cordiality and friendly feeling which the Government and people of the United States enter- | tained toward the peoples and govern- ments of the other republics of the | American Continent.” | Similar pronouncements were made | by the Chief Executives of the 20 American republics of Latin origin, and official acts commemorated the day | from Santiago de Chile, the southern- most capital, to Washington. Auspicious Circumstances. This year Pan-American day will be observed under even more auspicious circumstances. A series of {riendly steps recently taken by the Government of the United States—avowedly intended to correct wrongs done by previous | administrations to the soutnern coun- | tries lying on the other side of the Rio | Grande — has given evidence of the | existence of a new Latin American policy in the State Department. | Such steps have been repeatedly men- tioned in these columns. So has the | good will which they have engendered | for Uncle Sam in Latin America. The | sentiment of distrust and fear which, | was characteristic of the Latin Ameri- | can attitude toward the United States | is gradually giving way to a less prej- | udiced and_more sympathetic under- | standing. This change, of course, is but the reflection of a parallel evc- | of the | terests to the detriment of others. | ternal peace and friendship which no | other international movement can as-| sure them. A fundamental misunderstanding has | until recently deprived the countries of the new world of the benefits which complete success of pan-Americanism would mean to them. A misunder- standing nearly as old as the present pan-American movement. And one which, though considerably corrected in recent years, still influences the opin- ion of & large number of people in the Americas of Latin origin. When Simon Bolivar, the George Washington of the Southern Hemi- sphere, spoke for the first time in 1826 of the pan-American ideal, no one in Latin America thought of muysterio: designs, of evil intentions, of imper | istic ambitions hidden behind the name of pan-Americanism. Nobody thought. then, of any of the nations on this continent usinz the pan-American scheme for furthering their own in- Years later, however, when the statesmen of this country rescued the pan-American idea from oblivion and undertook to carry it out and make it | a reality, the lack of understanding of | the purposes of Uncle Sam resulted in a sentiment of fear and suspicion on the part of the Latin republics. Thus, at the very outset, ever since Secretary of State Blaine proposed the first Conti- nental Congress, pan-American moves were regarded by the Latin Americans with a certain amount of misgivings. They were afraid of the enormous | disproportion in potential resources and economic strength between the “colossus | of the North” and the still unorganized republics of the South. They could not understand the enthusiasm of the Unit- ed States for pan-Americanism, except on the supposition that it veiled designs on her part for obtaining political domination, or at least financial con- trol, over the rest of the continent. This was the origin of the “Yankee imperial- ism” legend. one which has greatly im- paired Uncle Sam’s prestige in Latin America, and in the spreading of which propaganda of jealous parties is said | to have played an important role. | This misunderstanding, a consequence of the mutual lack of knowledge which lution in the Saxon American’s at- | has been characteristic of inter-Ameri- | titude toward his southern brother of | can relations, has been augmented by Spanish or Portuguese descent. A | political mistakes of this country in the greater interest in, and a more broad- | Caribbean region, by the distortion and minded appreciation of, Latin Ameri- [ misuse of the Monroe Doctrine, and by can politics and culture is replacing the | certain complications of a financial disdain prevalent yesterday in the mind | nature for which a few unscrupulous of the average citizen of the United | gentlemen of Wall Street should be States for his materially less fortunate neighbor to the south. On the other hand, the world-wide economic depression has served to em- phasize the physical advantages of the | continental friendship and co-opera- | tion which pan-Americanism repre- | sents. The benefits of unified action stand out more clearly in times of distress. Although much is yet to be accom- plished in_the economic and in the | poiitical field—and even.much more in | the intellectual aspect of pan-Ameri- can relations—it would be unfair to deny that the 12 months elapsed since | the first celebration of Pan-American day have witnessed a substantial gain. Curtis Will Preside. | This gain adds significance to the exercises which will commemorate next | ‘Thursday the second Pan-American day. In Washington Vice President Curtis will preside at the ceremonies and address a large assemblage of stu- dents from the schools, colleges and universities of the District of Columbia on the sggpe and benefits of pan-Amer- icanism. Other acts designed by the governing board of the Pan-American Union—an extraordinary session of the board, a tribute by the Latin American chiefs of mission to George Washington, a concert of Latin American music in the Hall of the Americas, and so on— will mark the celebrations in the Capi- tal of the United States, while official functions, exercises and parades are being held from one extreme of the Continent to the other. This celebration of “Pan-American day” by the governments of the 21 American republics seems an especially | appropriate occasion on which to stress once more the merits of the Pan-Amer- ican movement and to point out the misunderstandings which still stand in its way. The New World is day by day, in proportion to its cultural and economic growth, attaining greater influence in the political affairs of mankind. The other continents look to us on this side of the Atlantic for solutions of some of their major problems. It may seem venturesme to assert that the decline of Europe has begun, but it is no longer possible 1o refuse to acknowledge the development of a new and powerful in- | fluence in the Western Hemisphere which is giving it a privileged position in world politics. At present the United States is at the climax of her international pres- tige, and therefore is almost exclu- sively representing that influence, but not far in the future lies the increas- ing participation of the American re- publics south of the Rio Grande. To- day the importance of these republics 1s purely nominal, but when their eco- nomic resources have been properly developed, their co-operation will be indispensable in the influence of Amer- | ican idealism on the other countries of the world Great Economic Importance. In this lies the real value of pan- Americanism; in paving the way for unification and for joint leadership. ‘The true hegemony of the new world seems 1o depend upon the success of the pan-American scheme. As for the United States, regards it, scorning the friendship and co-operation of the other American nations, she may have difficulty in con- tinuing that material and political de- velopment which is winning peacefully for her a pre-eminent position in the world. Prejudices and opposition in the countries of the south would con- stantly hemper her policies Moreover, aside from its political value, pan-Americanism has, also, 8 great economic importance for Uncle Sam, affording a solid basis for pro- moting the sale of his products and the profitable investment of his capital, ‘There is no secret about the worth of pan-Americanism in dollars and cents. It is needless to repeat here statistics, which are too well known, of the tre- mendous commercial value of inter- American relations. 8o far as the Latin American coun- gries are concerned, they should derive even greater benefits from pan-Am- ericanism. In accepting it, they be- come parties to (hat American hegem- ony which is bound to result in their economic betterment. The material ad- vantages resulting from their friendly relations with the United States, the most powerful economic unit in the world, cannot but help their economic growth, their industrial development and improve their standards of life. Politically, the Latin American countries find in pan-Americanism—in the real kind of pan-Americanism—a of security, a source of demo- &—M & basls for ex~ if she dis- | held responsible In late years, it is true. a great change has bee~ brought about in this regard, and the Latin Americans seem to be awakening at last to a fairer in- terpretation of Uncle Sam's aims, but there still remain in the path of friendly relations many brambles to be cleared away. | Six Conferences Held. Six continental conferences have been held since the Pan-American Union was founded on April 14, 1890. The first five were of a decidedly po- litical character and therefore did not | s sufficiently the importance of ex- stress plaining misapprehensions and differ- ences, both psychological and economic, which lay at _the root of all misunder- | standings. The importance of these | problems, however, was realized by the | sixth conference, gathered in Havana in 1928, which, side-stepping controversial | issues, devoted most of its time to the | preparation of a series of special all- Z1aerican conferences on_ technical, material and intellectual subjects. Such conferences, dealing with high- ways, railroads, commerce, agriculture, public health, sanitation, child wel- fare, women's rights, scientific prob- lems, customs regulations, educational affairs, intellectual co-operation, inter- national law and arbitration in the American continent, have been taking place, from time to time, in the last | four years. Endeavoring to solve prac- tical problems of inter-American rela- | tions and to promote a greater mutual knowledge among the peoples of Saxon | and Latin origin, their contribution to the pan-American cause will certainly | be of larger advantage than the end- | less, irritating discussion of political | differences which had marked these gatherings in the past. | Particularly those conferences deal- ing with educational and cultural mat- ters should be frankly encouraged They can afford the only real basis for an actual understanding, for they endeavor to remove that mutual lack of knowledge which is the chief source of all misinterpretation and antago- nism. Peoples who do not know each other cannot understand each other It is the same with nations as with individuals; a mere superficial ac- quaintance cannot form the basis of a deep and sincere friendship. Intimate knowledge and, above all, a spiritual communion of ideals, is necessary for true friendship, The success of pan-Americanism—I must say it once again, and what bet- | ter opportunity to say it than the commemoration of Pan-American day? —depends primarily upon the better cultural knowledge of each other that peoples of different points of view and different psychology may have, This commerce of the things of the mind is a substantial element in promoting | international good will. In it. states- men of both Americas will find the only path to pan-Americanism, a re- | glonal organization of human socety |in a continent where history has not | left hatreds, bitterness and old ani- | mosities among its components. (Copyright. 1932.) First Filipino Talkie [ Stirs Manila Audience MANILA, P. I—Manilans the other day profusely hailed the premier of the first talkle made in the Philip- pines. Called “Sa Pinto Ng Langit" (At Heaven’s Door’), the film was produced by the Malayan Pictures Corporation here, This initial product the local | producers may not be so “hot” in| plain American lingo, a&s compared | with the best that America’s Holly- wood turns out, but all interested in | the future of the industry, as well as | | the local movie fans, are agreed that |it (the first Filipino talkie) is a| | splendid beginning. | ~One principal difficulty that Pili- | pino motion-picture producers are en- | countering in manufacturing talkies is | the language problem. It is not defi- nitely decided whether to produce talkies in English or in Tagalog, the | most popular native tongue. It is| argued that were the former to be | | adopted the product could not very | well be termed 100 per cent Pilipino, | although its appeal thus would be wider and more universal, English, n-| | placing Spanish, being used through- out the islands now. By adopting Tagalog or any other native dialect, |it is argued, the would nat- urally be limi Tagalog, however, was the dialogue used in the Philippines’ maiden ef- fort at talkies. by Goomia B2 iz | BY JOSEPH CAILLAUX, Former Prime Minister of Prance. OES not our trouble consist in having made the world tco small?” asks M. Paul Valery in his brilliant book, “Reflections on the Way of the World,” which was published a short time ago. That phrase defines one of the causes of the crisis from which, we are suf- fering. Taking a wide view and ignor- ing all unimportant details and all ef- fects that the public cften regards as causes, it 1s not difficult to discover the real origin of the crisis; it s due to the rising tide of technical progress having overwhelmed humanity, and it 6 Virginia’s Fighting Senator |is aggravated by the extraordinary in- | crease of population, Europe. I have written and spoken a great deal, particularly in recent months, on the need and the difficulty of reconcil- | ing the interests of man with technical progress, and I shall never tire of % subject. However, I will deal with 1 here only in conjunction with a second and still more important problem—that of the population of the world and of Europe. Most particularly in of my contemporaries have ignored the breader aspects of this question: the technical statistics which they examine periodically, and which abound in detalls but do not give the —Drawn for The Sunday Btar by F. Strothmann. wider view, are considered by them only in the light of their own prejudices. They deplore the stagnation in popula- tion here and desire an increase of population there. Few of them are able to visualize the vast problem which the following few figures will make clear: In 1810 the world had only 680,000,- 000 inhabitants; by 1913 the number had increased to 1,750,000,000. Thus, the population of the earth increased by over 1,000,000,000, having more than doubied within the space of a single century. And Europe? In 1810 it had only | 180,000,000 inhabitants, while by 1913 —in 103 years—its population had near- Iy trebled, to 450,000,000. That is & surprising phenomenon, and | | one which provides ample food for thought. We know that after the fall of the Roman Empire, Central and | | Western Europe was well populated, yet it Look more than 15 centuries for that population to increase from 100,- | 000,000 to 150,000,000. Then suddeniy, in a single century, the population of the continent grew by 270,000,000 souls! | . What is the explanation of this unique | development in the history of the world? Is it the almost total elimination of | famine, or progress in the matter of | hygiene. or the diminution in the ‘whoksflle slaughter of human beings? (Continued on Fourth Page.) Carter Glass, Former Secretary of Treasury, Has Been Battling His Way Through Life Since a Mere Tot. BY OLIVER P. NEWMAN, Former Commissioner of the District of Columbia. BRITTLE, waspish, little man paced angrily back and forth before an ornate mahogany desk. Sharp brown eyes, set slightly close together, glared out from under drawn brows above an eagle- beak ncse One vagrant wisp of andy hair reared up on his a rooster's crest, giving him appearance of a fighting cock— 1l, wary, belligerent—quick to see and quick to strike—gamey, un- ‘em 1 won't do it!" rasped the ow, wiry and alert, but hardly more than 5 feet 5!, inches tall. As he spoke his lips curled in scorn. He talked—as s his perpetual habit—out of the right ccrner of his mouth. In- stead of drawing the corner down, how- ever, like a curbstone tough, he drew it up. His speech would have been a snarl except for its rich, full, mellow South- ern tones, which often rise to pene- trating vibration, but which cannot be disguised or made harsh even by what testy temper. " protested his politi- cretary (one ear to the ground and one eye on the next elec- tion), “this petition is from the Amer- ican Legion. It's signed by thousands and thousands of voters. You can't turn it down.” A quick ges waved the secretary's caution impatiently aside. The pene- trating voice from the twisted lip con- tinued. “I've got it." rolled out of the up- lifted corner cf the grim mouth. “Take this: ‘Dear Mister (whatever his name is): 1 have received your petition to vote for the soldiers’ bonus. I am against the bonus and shall vote against it. I would vote against it even if your petition were signed by every man, weman and child in Virginia. Enigma of Politicians. There was more to the letter—reason- ing, logic, argument—but this was the gist of it. and it was signed, sealed, stamped and mailed. Its author was Carter Glass, the political paradox, the enigma (and horror) of politicians who assume that a man must be a trimmer, a bluffer, a lcg-roller and a back- scratcher if he wants to hold his job: and who cannot understand how Glass can be elected and re-elected in the face of his disregard of the feelings and opinions of his constituents—a dis- regard which at times ventions. Carter Glass' caustic sarcasm, his contempt for blufl and pretense—vig- orously expressed—his scorn of igno- rance in individuals pretending erudi- tion, his impatience at delay or evi sion, his personal manners which times seem almost boorish, his flat re- fusal to “soft-soap” any interest or person and his frequent moods of &p- parent grumpiness would seem to be caleulated to drive friends and sup- porters away from him. But despite all these and many othes | s —From a Lithograph by Eric Pape. ENATOR GLASS-THE BULLDOG FIGHTER OF AMERICAN FINANCE. rough edges, he today appears for the and he hated to be twitted about it. second time—after a lapse of nearly 20 years—among the foremost of the doctors who are endeavoring to cure the Natlon's sick finances. In 1913 he the minority party of the Senate—tak- | ing a leading part in helping to frame | the country’s emergency financial leg- |islation. Instead of driving men away | from him, Carter Glass' “oneriness” (as | 1t is called by those against whom it is reared) has brought him a strength and following. Perhaps the explanation of the suc- | cess of this paradoxical statesman may be found in the nickname of his boy- hood, spent in Lynchburg, Va. where he was known as “Pluck” Glass. His small stature wi. s to him, amounts to | wrote the Federal Reserve act; he is| he was as violent flaunting of sacred political con- ; now, at the age of 74—a Democrat in | fists then as he has been with his He retaliated by fighting. From the | time he could toddle he fought other boys. He was quick in resentment. He had the temper of the red-head and furfous in attack with his tongue during the 35 years of his pub- lic career. Keeps on Fighting. As a boy he could not be defeated. He could be licke | “ban the bugs of war,” | the idea that he is licked as a fact. | | He never does accept it; he keeps on | fighting. He is a bulldog for hanging on—and herein lies the explanation of some of his apparently bad manners. When Glass is fighting or hanging onto a position of advantage with a death grip he is not conscious of any- | thing else. He can—and does—meet | his best friends face to face and never see them. On the streets of his home town of Lynchburg, in the corridors of the Capitol, he passes by men and | women whom he knows well without being conscious of their existence. His | friends long ago stopped taking offense | | at such seeming affronts. Virginians, | in fact, are a little proud that they | | have a Senator so important, so im- | mersed in big events that he doesn't know they're on earth. This personal | | characteristic, a natural evidence of a | power of terrific concentration, has ac- | | tually become something of a tradition | | in the Old Dominion, where men take | pride in telling stories of how Carter Glass ignored them. | That power of concentration explains | many things in Glass' career. It ex- plains, for example, the part he is playing today in helping to shape finan- cial legislation of the most critical character. Who is this little fellow? | Why s he possessed of such power? | Briefly, Carter Glass has simply made a better mouse trap than anybody else, | and the world has worn a path to his| door. And he's done his job by con- centrating on it. Curiqusly, he became | a financial economist by accident. | ‘When he was elected to Congress in | 1902 he knew no more about finance than the average small town ecditor. He | had a smattering of knowledge of the | subject (as he had of a mousnnd‘ others), but he really didn't care much for “figures.” He loved history and | knew history. He'd been reading history | ever since he was a boy—world history, | as well as American—and he thought he'd like a place on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Guessed He Could Learn. John Sharp Willlams was at that time minority (Democratic) leader of the House. He took an instant liking to the peppery red-head from Virginia. Glass was put on the Committee on Public Lands, about which he knew nothing and cared less. Weeks after, 8 Western man who wanted to on Public Lands arranged to have Williams and the Speaker transfer Glass to & Banking and Currency vacancy in order to make a place for the Western mnin_uon ?fl.fllc Lands. o i = put you on Banking an = mfi“nfiu wo“nu'-m&pu h th e o replied throug] e corner of his mouth, “Ix don’t know bout banking and currency, but I guess I can learn.” “I'm sure can,” Williams assured him, and “you'll find it much mmmmnmnnym Sourselt - He Ritle. dreamed of the of that wiu Bniseod his cant—Cuts Would Be Meaningless. BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. ARIS —For the Disarmament Con- ference, which reassembles on Monday, the outlook is bleak alike from the peint of view of ultimate achievement and im- mediate action. The Prussian and the French elections coming immediately, the latter involving two turns and reaching into May, insure that both. the attention of the European publics and the efforts of the German and French tatesmen will be concentrated upon he home front. Thereafter the ap- proach of the Lausanne meeting will claim first rank, while the aftermath of the Prussian election may change the face of European politics for weeks |and even menths. In that situation the Disarmament Conference will have almost at once to make several important decisicns. Chief among these decisions will be the answer to the question whether it shall seek to do a little quickly and adjourn early or drift along until middle or late Summer, when the cther prob- lems presented by the elections and Lausanne may be out of the way. If the decision is in faver of some quick action—and it is clear that pres- sure in this direction will be exerted both by London and Washington—it is not less plain that such acticn will be wholly insignificant, however much is claimed for it by governments eager to escape criticism at home. In reality, any such program involves abandoning all pretense at so-called quantitative disarmament and concentrating on qualitative. Disarming Distinctions. ‘The distinction between qualitative and quantitative disarmament, terms beloved of Geneva, but little known elsewhere, is simple. The former in- volves the renunciation of the use of certain forms of warfare, the latter the reduction in the numbers of men and | material now maintained by the vari- ous nations. Thus, in practice, early agreement involves throwing overb-ard the whole program of reduction of armaments and limiting action to the attempt to forbid the use of such things as submarines and bombing planes and in general endeavoring to humanize warfare. But the obvious and fatal objection to any such limitation is that, as the last war demonstrated, conventicns agreed upon in advance of war regu- lating the use of various weapons and pronouncing some fillegal do not hold, once the struggle has opened. All cf this is old ground, and the experience in the matter of The Hague conven- Hons signed in 1907 is illustrative of the whole fallacy of this form of limi- tation of armaments. If the present conference, therefore, did nothing but as was wittily observed at Geneva, when it had been | expected to “leash the dogs of war," disappointment and disgust in the world would be general. Evep supposing eertain really drastic resolutions were adopted in the matter of weapons and practices of warfare, every one recalls that similar agree- ments, made again before the war and | embodied in the once notorious decla- rations of London, were obstinately re- Jjected by the British Parliament. And. of course, all conventions signed at Geneva would have to be ratified by all the several nations of the world before they could become effective. There- fore. any convention made now in Geneva would be no more than the first In a long series of steps which would certainly postpone definitive re- sults for months and perhaps for years. Thus while for the professional dip- lomats the signing of any convention would spell a successful conference, it |is plain that in view of the utterances of various public men, and notably President Hoover—asserting that the way out of economic depression and budgetary crisis was the far-reaching reduction in the size and costs of armies—restrictions in the use of gas and poisons would hardly constitute an impressive achievement. Budgetary Cut Possible. There is, however, one other con- ceivable line of escape. That is a uni- versal budgetary reduction of 5, or at most 10, per cent. But again this is an apparent rather than a real thing, because many if not all European states have deliberately marked up their bud- gets above the necessary points solely to be provided with slack to take in by budgetary agreements. Again the gen- eral fall in prices in the world has really constituted an increase in appro- priations, because war departments can now buy more with the same appropri- ations than two or three years ago. In the case of France, for example— and the case is not unique—a 5 or 10! per cent budgetary reduction would not involve suppressing a division or dis- banding a battery. And in the same line of thought British papers are pointing out that continental nations have set the size of their air fleets well above the reality in order to have imaginary squadrons to abolish if any real limitations were even discussed. Viewed them simply and solely from the point of view of real reduction of armies it is unmistakable that budgetary diminution would be no more than an obvious deception unless it involved cut- ting to the bone and not the elimina- tion of superfluous fat. And that, of course, is what is totally out of the question at the present hour. More- over, the Germans have announced they will sign no convention unless their right to equality in armaments with all nations is acknowledged specifically, while the French have similarly af- firmed they will not reduce a dollar or a man below present establishment un- less new forms of security are insured. Thus a deadlock here seems already complete If the conferen therefore, does not decide to pass resolutions against the use of bugs and gas in war and adjourn quickly, it seems almost cer- tain that the sessions can drag on, not only for months, but for years. What was clear on the first day of the meeting and has remained patent | ever since is that the armed nations of Europe will not reduce their arma- ments materially while they feel their security and territorial unity threat- ened by their neighbors. And that threat does exist and, with the prog- ress of the Hitlerites in Germany, can become more and more menacing. If the conference is thus protracted, however, there is real danger that it may become what, happily, it has so far escaped being—namely, the battle- ground betwesn opposed nations. And the debates and discussions can gravely exacerbate resentments and rivalries between states and contribute to making the present evil situation in Europe infinitely worse. That is why under cover there was in the closing days of the March sessions a growing feeling that indefinite postponement, if not adjournment sine die, was the only proper solution for a situation which was at once ridiculous and | dangerous, a situation which had re- solved itself into a game of ping pong between various committees, or, as we |in America say less elegantly, a | process of “passing the buck.” | United States Role Is Unimportant. As 1 have tried to make clear before in my dispatches, the role of the | American delegation in this conference is at once inconsiderable and a little humiliating. While other countries are tepresented by prime ministers and ‘(urelm ministers, our delegation is headed by the Ambassador to one of the smallest European states. More- over while the statesmen of Europe | are surrounded by men of political | importance in their respective coun- | tries, Gibson is supported by Norman Davis, Senator Swanson and Miss | Woolley. | Thus we are destitute of all prestige. In addition we have no part to play because our Army and Navy have no importance for European countries and our refusal to join the League or agree | to any security guarantees leaves us entirely cut of the picture. We can contribute nothing either in the way of guarantees or of reductions and for all practical purposes our representa- | tives might just as well be sitting at a hotel in Washington as in Geneva. All European conferences are political befere they are anything else and this | is no exception. All the statesmen here | are talking politics, not abstract dis- | armament. Danubian customs union, | Mediterranean naval compacts, Soviet | non-aggression pacts, these are things | that are really under discussion be- | tween public men who come here nom- |inally to consider disarmament. And | in this cattle show of European politics | our delegation naturally has no place or part. Moreover, apart perhaps from Miss Woolley, all our delegation are |now aware nothing real will be ac- | complished just as our military and innval representatives have long ago recognized the same fact. Only the minor secretaries still wander about in the best State Department manner, as- suming portentous and even pompous manners, solemnly muttering about profound secrets and forecasting great achievement comprehended in some signed convention As these secretaries rarely know anything sbout what is going cn in foreign delegations and nothing ever goes on in our own, their little comedy is transparent, but it does visibly give them great delight even {f it costs the American taxpayer money. (Copyright, 1932 Railroad to Cross Sahara Desert, Long Considered, Pressed in France PARIS.—With th= duel object of de- veloping the French colonies in Africa and of giving work to a large number | of unemployed in France, 250 members of the Chamber of Deputies have in- | dorsed a resolution asking the prime minister to submit to Parliament a bill | that was drafted some time ago for the construction of a railroad across the Sahara Desert. The question of building such railway has been broached periodi- cally for many years. The scheme is an_ambitious one, for the promoters envisage extensions of the French line through Nigeria (British), French Equa- torial Africa and the Congo (Belgian) to connect with the lines of the South African Union. It is proposed alo to link the Trans-Saharan line eas ward with the existing railroads in British East Africa and westward with | the existing French lines. Thus Africa would have a network of railroads which would cover the greater part of the continent. By rail the majority of the French colonies would be several days distant from the homeland instead of several weeks, as they are today with connection by sea. The British East African possessions would be three weeks nearer to Europe than they are now. It is considered that the crossing of the desert would present no obstacles that cannot be overcome by modern engineering science. The route has been explored in detail; for that mat- ter, automobile traffic is possible today from Oran to Gao, on the Niger, which would be the first French section of the line, Many arguments are advanced in favor of the Trans-Saharan line. From the military point of view, it is pointed out that native troops could be brought to France more rapidly and more safely in case of war. From the economic point of view, it is urged that the line would, for example, bring beef from the Lake Chad region, where it cannot find purchasers, | were adequate means of communica- tion Finally, from the metropolitan point of view, it is calculated that unem- ployment would be greatly relieved by | the manufacture of all the material required for a railroad several thou- sand miles long | The opponents of the scheme take ‘mur stand principally on financial arguments. They assert that such a line could never be made to pay and | that in the long run it would be the | French budget that would suffer. (Cobyright, 1932) . ;NPW Babel in VAfriica In Government Change GENEVA —“How many languages do you expect us to have to learn?” is the burden of complaints brought unofficial- ly to the attention of the Mandates | Commission of the League of Nations. These complaints come from natives of | Togoland and the Cameroons on the west coast of Africa. For 30 years both were German colonies and the natives learned Ger- man. During the war British forces were more numerous in the army that defeated the Germans and occupled the territories, so that the natives began to learn English; many already had learned that language in missionary schools. The peace treaties mandated the former German colonies to France and the natives had to learn Prench. Now there is talk either of returning ‘Togoland and the Cameroons to Ger- many or of transferring the mandate to Italy, and the natives are wondering whether they will have to brush up their German or to start learning Italian. The vicissitudes of the two colonies are exemplified in many native families. The case is cited here of a minor Christian official with 12 children. The eldest have such names as Fritz _or