Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1935, Page 35

LOBBYING ANTEDATES FOUNDING OF CAPITAL Investigations Come and Go, but Prac- tice Persists—Modern Campaign Has Qusted Old Methods, However. OBBYING in Washington has a long and merry past. In fact, the seed from which the city grew was planted at a dinner given by Thomas Jefferson and staged in a manner which set the vogue for the earliest American type—the social lobby. Side by side with the lobby has flourished that perennial, the lobby investigation. ‘What Washington and the country watches today as the result of the pressure on Congress for and against , the Wheeler-Rayburn utility holding company bill is a natural flowering, the two-way lobby investigation. Actually the lobby antedates the founding of Washington, and fos- tered it. Jefferson and his Virginians wanted the seat of government on the banks of the Potomac River. Alex- ander Hamilton preferred a more northerly site, but the first Secretary of the Treasury was most concerned with his plan for assumption of the State debts. The astute Jefferson arranged a dinner for the assump- tionists and loaded the board with his friends. A little log-rolling and Ham- ilton prevailed with his debt program, while Jefferson dictated the location of the New Capital. Thus lobbying began with the his- tory of Washington. It has remained ever since in one form or another, but persuasion by mere social tactics has been replaced by the modern pub- lic relations counsel. Mass Attack Favored. Tt is not clear whether the telling bhrase “death sentence,” as applied to the Senate version in the utilities bill calling for dissolution of “un- necessary” holding companies, was originated by those who directed the campaign against the proposed legis- lation. Nevertheless the Seventy- Fourth Congress became the target of a mass attack directed in the most modern manner. The mail bag, tele- gram, telephone campaign has defi- nitely superseded the older methods, although the so-called “lame duck” still operates in Washington under ! a shingle as general practitioner of law. But lobbying is never really curbed, perhaps because the technique of Con- | gress does not change. Every few * years something happens to bring about a lobby investigation. Most fre- quently it is sudden, as in the pres- | ent incident, when Representative Ralph O. Brewster, Republican, of Maine, charged that officials of the administration threatened to stop public works in his district unless he voted “right” on the utilities bill. Resolutions of inquiry are passed, money is appropriated, committee agents swoop down and snatch files from offices of those about to be in- vestigated, and this material is spread pefore the world. Unsuspected legisla- tive history is bound to be ferreted out, reputations ruined. and it again will be emphasized that business men who hire lobbyists are gullible. Game Goes On, However. When the reports are docketed, stressing some unusually raw piece of wire-pulling, everybody agrees that 4 this procedure will have a salutory effect in the future, and the game will go on. In the long list of lobby investigations, no legislation has been | an effective curb. The memorable and high-sounding corrupt practices act now serves only as a quarterly per- mission for persistent reporters to bur- Tow into the offices of the clerk of the House to learn what progress the Re- publican and Democratic National Committees are making in wiping out | their respective campaign deficits. ‘The fact is that members of Con- gress despair of a successful legislative lobby deterrent. They let things drift | until scomething unusually startling | « takes place. Then it is open season for an investigation, with all its pub- licity. _ Occasionally, as in the Mulhall in- quiry in 1913, when President Wilson fought with Congress over a tariff act, + Senators and Representatives are p: raded before an investigating commit- tee. This ordeal has been proposed egain by Senator George W. Norris, Republican, of Nebraska, as a trial by fire for members on their records on the utilities measure. Statute Is Recalled. Section 201 of the Revised Statutes, | _ which subjects administration officials to a $500 penalty or a year's imprison- ment by making their efforts to influ- ence votes a misdemeanor, is being mentioned as a possible weapon against persons guilty of charges of the type brought by Representative Brewster. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume that the present investigation will fol- low the rules of the ancient game. Dis- closures will serve only to show the variations the Rules Committee has prescribed since that last field day for lobby investigation fans in 1929, when the late Senator Thaddeus Caraway of Arkansas shared the news spotlight with the writing of the Hawley-Smoot tariff act of 1930. Senator Caraway's committee, which centered its fire on Bishop James Can- non of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, agreed that the social lobby carried little weight despite its glamorous traditions. The late Sena- tor, whose widow now occupies his <seat, was fond of saying: “Most Senators are like myself. At night they are too tired to go out much. When they are dragged to din- | to be lobtied with. However, when I do | go out to dinner, the question of im- pending legislation invariably is brought up.” Social Lobby Summarized. At the time Prof. E. Pendelton Her- ring of Harvard University, in his book, “Group Representation Before Congress,” summarized the social lobby as follows: “All that may be said of it today is that it demands a certain amount of political agreement at the price of social intercourse. If this is refused, the weapon is ostracism. The social lobby is not organized. Taken as whole, its influence is decidedly sec- ondary: the results, if any, are quite intangible. The lobbyists acting as the spokesmen of the great associa- ’(lnns‘ have more powerful mediums for attaining their ends.” The late Senator William S. Ken- yon, Republican, of Iowa, once said | that Senator Truman Newberry of Michigan had come into the Senate on “a flood of tea.” It is an accepted fact that the ratio of lawyers in Washington to the rest of the population is higher than in any other city in the country. A large number formerly were on the Govern- ment pay roll, and not a few were members of Congress. Men go out of the House and Senate and even the cabinet to be spokesmen for groups. The “lame-duck” lobbyist empha- sizes his former membership in Con- gress. His stock in trade is his right as a former member to go on the floor of the House or Senate, where he wanders, talking to members, while his employer sits proudly in the gal- leries watching him. Former Presi- dents Coolidge and Hoover both had former Representatives as secretaries, and President Roosevelt has Charles West, former Democratic Representa- tive from Ohio, &s liaison officer be- tween the White House and the Capi- tol. Mr. West's activities, and those of Thomas O. Corcoran, counsel for the Reconstruction Finance Corp., are subjects of inquiry in the present in- vestigation. The Caraway inquiry of 1929-1930 also disclosed the existence in Wash- ington of the Monday Luncheon Club, an organization of highly paid repre- sentatives of business organizations. Presided over by Nathan B. Williams, its members were inclined to regard themselves in the nature of “ambassa- dors of American industry.” The method of influencing Government, Jescribed by members as “wholly above 20ard and legitimate,” briefly was this: An “ambassador” was employed by a business organization to represent | it in Washington. Unlike the lobby- ist of the past, who worker under cover for a single corporation, the “ambassador” represented an asso- | ciation, and his job was to keep watch | on every committee of Congress. Every | line of the Congressional Record was | scanned. At the slightest sign of danger or benefit, there was action. Speaking with full authority of & group, the “ambassador” bombarded | Congressmen with petitions, warnings | and arguments. Card Indexes Used. | The National Woman's Party, an | organization which fought for adop- tion of the suffrage amendment even to the extent of picketing the White House in the days of Wilson, used a card index on Congressmen with tell- ing results. There was a demand in the Caraway investigation that it be scrutinized, as it was being main- | tained concerning members’ attitudes on the equal rights amendment pro- posal. | It was contended that, in addition to being a record of the official mem- bers of Congress, it contained infor- mation concerning their private lives. Others said it was merely a guide to small traits and weaknesses of in- dividual members. It was said that after a young and pert blond lobbyist had been unsuccessful in persuading a Congressman, she would write on his card, “He must like brunettes.” Only the most trusted workers in the woman’s organization had access to the card index. Woman lobbyists in organized form first appeared in Washington some 35 years ago with the growth of the club movement, prohibition and the suf- frage agitation. It became a well- paid profession, and still is. Many Come and Go. But not all lobbyists in Washington flash diamonds. Many causes are promoted by individuals who come and go. Names of some organizations whose representatives have interceded with Congress tell their stories. Once there were the American Pedestrian Protection Association, the Anti- Cigarette Alliance and the Anti-Blue Law Association. When members of Congress now dipping into the efforts to influence the proposed holding company con- trol legislation look back several years, they are inclined to acknowledge that there was nothing more hammer-and- tongs than the warfare waged for and against prohibition. First came the powerful Anti-Saloon League, and then its adversary, the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment. Infinitely more words were said and written in this contest, which lasted a decade, than will come of the utili- ties inquiry. If Congress failed then to legislate against the lobby, it ap- pears unlikely that concrete law will be enacted to correct conditions now. ner they get mad and are in no mood (Copyright. 1935.) .John Bull’s New Outlook I (Continued From First Page.) for the belief that it is the personality of Mr. Baldwin which will dominate the whole cabinet to a considerably greater extent than did Mr. MacDon- ald’s. If this surmise should prove accurate, the results will be interesting to watch; for the two politicians, al- though they have worked amicably enough together since 1931, are of completely antithetical types. MacDonald is a Celt; imaginative, nervous, sometimes moody; usually doctrinaire; suspicious and sensitive; a man with innumerable admirers but few close friends. Baldwin is English ©of the English. Where his predecessor is spare and lantern-jawed, Baldwin is chunky and round-faced. He is a pragmatist rather than a theorist; his test is not, “Is it logical?” but “Does it work?” Slow, self-sufficient, quite im- pervious to eriticism, absolutely sure of himself and of his place in the English scheme of things, Stanley Baldwin has established a reputation for honest but not very brilliant states- manship—a reputation which he has admissions as, man.” No greater mistake could be made than to accept him at this valuation. Cleverness is a matter for definition. It is quite possible that Mr. Baldwin acts first on his instinctive feelings and only later thinks up reasons to justify them. However that may be, the fact remains that in many respects this outwardly laconic, placid, pipe- smoking man of 68 represents much that is best in post-war England. He regrets the shift in the balance of power that has forced his class to justify itself instead of merely exist- ing; but he accepts it. In his heart he probably deplores the necessity for the great British Empire to work through the League of Nations rather ‘than through its frequent “You be damned!” attitude of former times—but he real- izes its inevitability. He is, in other words, an English- man who has accommodated himself about as well as any of his country- men to making the best of a world which persists in misbehaving itself; a personification of the English tendency “I am not a clever > gone out of his Way to foster by such somehow to “muddle through.” T THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D€, JULY 14, 1935—PART TWO. D3 'ROME’S AFRICAN GOAL COSTLY, BRITON AVERS New “Balance of Power” Expert Who Helped Mark Abyssinian Frontier Fears Both Sides Have . Alliance With Red Russia Has Given France Strange Planner—May Restrain Germany. BY PERTINAX. HE treaties of mutual assistance between France and Soviet Russia and between Soviet Russia and Czechoslovakia were signed on May 2 and on May 16, respectively, They differ from other treaties of security signed by the great powers during the last 15 years in that they implicitly provide for military co-operation of the signa- tories; they aim to form a combina- tion of physical forces which in case of need would check the aggressor | and keep him within the bounds of international law. In other words, the characteristic feature of these treaties is that they | have the “teeth” which the Kellogg- | Briand pact for outlawing war and, more generally, all the conventions of non-aggression, conciliation and consultation so sadly lack. | It is true the Franco-Belgian and | Franco-Polish military ~conventions | of September, 1920, and February, 1921—the conventions which gave rise | to the “Little Entente” of Czechoslo- vakia, Yugoslavia and Rumania—and, more recently (February, 1934) the Balkanic pact—Rumania, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece—have been built on a more or less similar pattern. But those associations between a major power and a minor power or between secondary states cannot bear compari- son to the partnership formed on May 2. At first sight the Locarno treaties also fall within the same category. but in a military sense they cannot be effective because, in ‘peace time, the guarantor powers, England and Italy, are debarred, by the spirit and even by the letter of their commit- | ments, from making military arrange- | ments with one of the powers against the other. Let us therefore place on | record that the Franco-Soviet treaty is the first of its kind to be concluded between great powers. Outcome of Failure. Thus, as the outcome of the undis- guised failure of the League of Na- tions, we are brought back, with the moral approval of the British cabinet, to the old alliances of the pre-war type, to the system of the balance of power. No other system can be re- sorted to by a power weaker in popu- lation or in industrial capacity which wants to insure itself against the at- tack of a stronger one. It has often been noted that Pre- mier Laval, minister of foreign af- fairs, did not wish to follow such a course. Up to a short time ago he was rather inclined to feel that some kind of European settlement could be reached with Adolf Hitler, and he talked endlessly with the German Ambassador in Paris on the subject. But he never realized that no Franco- German agreement could be arrived at unless France were ready to leave Germany a free hand in Eastern and Central Europe. He naively believed that his native shrewdness and his gift for deft maneuvering and wire- pulling would enable him, in a man- to-man talk, to reach some sort of compromise. It took several months of disap- pointing experiment, and it required all the brutality and outspokenness of Adolf Hitler’s conduct to convince M. Laval that he could not run the risk by rejecting the offer of Russian co-operation for the sixth or seventh time, of throwing the government of Moscow back toward the government of Berlin. Such a step would have paved the way for a resumption of the Russo-German collusion initiated at Rapallo in 1922, which for a full decade seriously threatened France and her associates in Central and Eastern Europe. Until the last minute Mr. Laval showed a good deal of hesitation. As late as April 19 he nearly broke the word given to Mr. Litvinov, but finally had to bow his head before a superior necessity. Ferment of Revolt. In the second week of May I fol- lowed Laval to Moscow and made the acquaintance of the leaders of the Communist regime. During my stay in the Red capital the following ques- tion haunted me day and night: Will it prove really practicable for the French republic, so uncompro- misingly conservative in its social structure, to work side by side in a spirit of trust and confidence with a country which has mercilessly de- stroyed its higher classes, reduced its remnants to untold misery and throughout the world, whatever it does, must necessarily act as a fer- ment of revolution? It is all very easy to declare that Bolshevik Russia is changing apace, that complete equality doesn’t really exist there, that a new social hierarchy is rapidly being formed. It may be worth while to observe, by the way, that the profits made by writers and artists of all descriptions are prac- tically unlimited, subject to a 3 per cent tax levied by the Communist party. It remains very doubtful whether, 88 long as the present Communist suftanate obtains, Russia will reas- sume & more or less normal appear= ance, from the point of view of West- ern civilization. Is it, therefore, rea- sonable to expect that the two allies of May 3 can avoid a clash which could hardly fail to reduce the treaty of diplomatic and military defense to nothing? To that query, the answer is, on the whole, in the affirmative. “In spite of our differences and antinomies, we can unite toward a common aim for 10 years'—that was the answer of Karl Radek. This| prominent Russian writer, once exiled | to Siberia because of his opposition to the policy of Stalin, now having made his submission, is permitted to function as the organ of what in| Moscow is called “auto-criticism"— the criticism of the Communist man- agement by an out-and-out Com- | munist. Radek added this remark: “A sen-] sible statesman does not try to look | ahead more than 10 years, unless he wishes to behave as a philosopher and | no longer as a practical politician.” | Rulers Dominated. 1 entirely agree with that view. For the time being the rulers of Soviet Russia are entirely dominated by the memorandum that the term vice | chancellor of the German Reich,| Hugenberg, laid before the London | Economic Conference in June, 1933. | It will be recalled that this memo- randum emphasized the urgency of solving the population problem of | Germany by the means of schemes of | colonization which, according to him, the Berlin dictator ought to be author- | ized to carry out, under a moral man- | date of Christian Europe, at the ex- | pense of Bolshevik sovereignty. Hugenberg was promptly disowned | and even dismissed from his post, but MEXICO DRAFTS 9-POINT DECLARATION OF POLICY Ceniceros Formula son for All Latins to Seek Leader- ship in His Government. BY GASTON NERVAL. IOR many years Latin Americans have looked up to Mexico for | leadership in internal matters. Since the constructive period of the Mexican revolution began, Mexico | has set the pace, as it were, for many of the other Latin American repub- lics in educational reforms. in agrarian policies, in social legislation, even in economic planning. Now it begins to look as if Latin Americans would do well to, also, turn to Mexico for leadership in interna- tional affairs. Of course, the word leadership is used here, not in its im- plications of subservience to a hege- monic policy, but in the sense of af- fording inspiration and example. In recent years, Mexico has set forth in- nbvations in her foreign policy which progressive governments in other Latin American countries could study and adopt with profit to themselves and to the international community at large. First, it was the Estrada doctrine, which eliminated one of the most troublesome and dangerous problems in international politics: the recogni- tion of revolutionary governments. Latin Americans were particularly fit to appreciate the advantages of the new policy, for they had suffered for decades the injustices of the tradi- tional system which hallowed foreign governments to pass upon the sound- ness and legitimacy of their own. Non-Recognition Weapon. The annals of inter-American his- tory were full of instances in which the weapon of non-recognition had been used to oppose and often to de- feat a regime which did not seem triendly enoughgto foreign interests, to exact political and economic conces- sions, and, generally, to interfere in the domestic affairs of supposedly in- dependent countries. The excesses to which that policy was carried under the Wilson theory of constitutionalism were still fresh in the memory of Latin Americans. The Estrada doctrine, intended to correct those excesses and to avoid their repetition in the future, was ad- vanced by Mexico in a formal state- ment announcing that, thenceforth, Mexico would not exercise the privi- lege of extending or withholding rec- ognition of revolutionary governments, but would consider all such govern- ments as automatically recognized upon assuming power. The Mexican diplomatic representatives, explained Senor Estrada, are accredited before the government of the country in which they reside, not before the par- ticular men who happen to be exer- cising such government; if the people of that country decide to substitute other men for these, even by the use of violence, Mexico continues its re- lations with the foreign government, as if no change had occurred. Peace Code Drafted. Another recent important Mexican contribution to the advancement of international relations was the Reyes- Sierra peace code submitted to the seventh international conference of American States &t Montevideo. Drafted ) with a desire to overcome the sh , both practical and juridical, of the existing treaties for the maintenance of international peace, the Mexican peace code was an intelligent combination of the out- standing features of such treaties and others suggested but never enacted, together with the additions necessary to prevent their violation. It was & summing up, revised and improved, . Cited as New Rea-| of the pacifistic attempts made to date: an all-inclusive program, co-or- dinating and perfecting the action of the different agencies which had in the past proved insufficient to pre- serve international peace. Although, for reasons easy to un- derstand by any one familiar with | so-called Pan-American conferences, the Montevideo parley avoided a dis- cussion of the Mexican peace code. no scheme for the organization of | peace has yet been drawn which sur- | passes it in coherence or in practical | possibilities. On the eve of the Montevideo con- | ference, Mexico took unother step for- ward in the field of foreign affairs. | Foreign Minister Puig Casauranc sug- | gested, in a memorandum to Ambas- sador Daniels of the United States, an “actualization” of the Monroe | Doctrine which would have converted the old-fashioned and discredited for- mula of 1823 into a continental doc- trine of self-defense, at the same time forbidding its further use as a cloak for intervention. Nine-Point Policy Drafted. To these repeated expressions of | a progressive and liberal foreign pol- | icy which have come lately from | Mexico, now we must add the nine- point declaration of policies formu- lated last week by Senor Jose Angel Ceniceros, acting foreign minister in the present Mexican government. The student of inter-American affairs will easily recognize behind each of these points some situation in the past which it is intended tc avoid, and in all nine of them he will find a pro- gram comprehensive and essential to the success of any Pan-American scheme. The nine points may be sum- marized thus: 1. International solidarity and equality. 2. Mutual respect for one another's sovereignty and absolute elimination of wars of conquest, or of pressure to acquire territorial advantages. 3. Suppression of all armed, diplo- matic, commercial or judicial action for collection of international debts. 4, Arbitration of international con- | flicts. 5. No intervention in internal af- fairs by any country and suppression of the system of prior recognition of governments. 6. Effective rapprochement founded in realities and public treaties pub- licly arrived at. 7. Suppression of purely juridical and traditional formulas and fictions and substitution for them of social and political living realities (Monroe Doctrine). 8. Equality of foreigners with re- spect to damage produced by civil wars, considering indemnification as a voluntary act not constituting prec- edent. 9. Economic co-operation in inter- national problems, principally labor, tariffs and immigration. It is hard to conceive of any of the | errors and abuses which have, in the past, marred the relations of the United States with Latin America, and among the Latin American coun- tries themselves. if the principles now outlined as the bases of Mexico's for- eign policy had been individually and collectively accepted then. Obviously, the best way to insure that the next few decades of international relations in the Western Hemisphere be more successful than the past four or five | it, saving whatever could be saved of | quirements of full national independ- | same way the army of the French | | always lived on a battlefield of some is to look for a general adoption of the Mexican nine points. (Copyright, 1835 By Radio to The Star. the plans he had put forward seemed | to tally pretty closely with what was known of Hitler's ideas on the sub- ject. Stalin and his friends never | ceased to interpret them as the true revelation of what the Third Reich had at the back of its mind. In that respect, the London conference ap- pears to have been a decisive turning point in the post-war history of Europe | —very far removed, indeed, from the one its promoters had in view, It is probably not a mere coinci- dence that within a fortnight Russia had made its peace with the three states of the Little Entente which are | the most energetic opponents of pan- | Germanism (their mere existence, as a matter of fact, amounts to a chal- denge to “Mittel Europa™). Since that time the relations of the | Little Entente with the huge Slavonic power have become so close, not with- standing the clash of their social ideals, that they are moving as a single block, whatever the international problem confronting them. In the last resort, French diplomacy pain- fully had to realize that it must choose between two alternatives: Either it would cast its lot with Bolshevik Rus- | sia or it would have to part with its associates in Central and Eastern Eu- rope. ‘This great decision has now become an accomplished fact. If France had failed them, Soviet Russia and the Little Entente powers might have de- spaired of ever being able to resist Ger- man hegemony, and, at the expense of the western states, they might | have endeavored to come to terms with | their independence and autonomy. | Today they consider that they are in | a position to vindicate their national | cause, and they will subordinate every otHer consideration to the major re- | ence. On that ground, Karl Radek’s | watchword can be trusted to prove effective. Building New Army. In Soviet Russia the commissar for | war, Voroshilov, can be taken as the embodiment of the spirit of national defense. Next to Stalin, he is prob- ably the most popular man in the country. Assisted by Gen. Tucha- chevsky, formerly a lieutenant in the Imperial Guard, he is patiently build- ing up a force which retains many of the traditions of the old army—in the | Revolution emerged from the royal troops of the preceding era. | The western student of politics | cannot but be impressed by the innate | strength of such leaders, who have kind and have always been ready to | face death at a minute’s notice—in short, are fully trained in the art of living dangerously. Mr. Voroshilov has personally struck me as a Lloyd Goerge of the sterner type. The Red army has all the outward appearance of a professional force; it looks like the old Prussian Guard or the Royal Guard in London. But are there to be found, in the background, the industrial plants, the roads, the railways, the transport facilities which really make up an army? The answer of some men on the spot is that a heavy industry has been put on its feet out of nothing; that, at the pres- ent time, Russia herself turns out on her own soil 99 per cent of her war material, and that the problem of transport, stupendous as it may be, | may be solved in the same manner | during the forthcoming years. Is this forecast too optimistic? cannot judge. However, the military organism is already the pride of a| people which every day is told that sooner or later it will be called upon to défend its freedom against the assailants in the west. A society of contributors to all forms of national defense” has been started, under official auspices, and numbers no less than 12 or 13 million members. It is sponsoring the new sport of parachute jumping, enlisting thousands and thousands of young men and women who leap from air- | planes for the fun of it. Many of | them go out from their work, at the noon-time lunch hour and spend it | taking a plunge from the sky. Population Gigantic. T | won his position in battle. Much to Lose. Ma). Gen. Bir Charles Gwynn. Brit- ish Army. retired, is & distinguished military tactician whose regimental ca- Teer was spent with the Royal Engi- neers. He was head of the British com= ‘mission for delimitation of the Sudan- Abyssinia_frontier and is authorita- tively familiar with_conditions in the Ethiopian Empire. From 1926-1931 he was commandant of the British Staff Collese, From 1023-24 he was A.D.C. e King. BY MAJ. GEN. SIR CHARLES GWYNN, K. C.B, C. M. G, D. 8. 0. (Copyright. 1935. by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) ONDON, July 13.—After the Bat- tle of Adowa had established Menelek's position as Negus Negusti (King of Kings), he set to work to extend the borders of his empire by conquest. As Great Brit- ain then was engaged in the reoccu- pation of the Sudan and in develop- ing her East African protectorate, it became of urgent importance to ar rive at a frontier agreement in what, at the time, was practically unex- plored country. 1t fell to my lot to ascertain the lim- its of Abyssinia’s effective occupa- tion, and survey and suggest a fron- tier line in some detail, approximating | to a vague line which the British Min- ister to Addis Ababa had negotiated with Menelek. Off and on, over the | first 10 years of the century, I was engaged in the work, and, as Menelek was unable to produce or unwilling to pay for a qualified commissioner, I had to represent the interests of both | countries in laying down a wor]ungi frontier. | In the course of my duties, I twice spent several months in the capital, and came in contact there with Mene- | lek, and with many other Abyssinians | in traveling through the Southern and | Western parts of the country. My ex-| perience, though somewhat ancient | history, gives me an understanding of Abyssinian matters and mentality. i Live on Plateau. | It is not easy to define what truly constitutes either _the Abyssinian people or territory. For practical pur- poses, we may say that the Abyssinian people are the inhabitants of the Abyssinian Plateau, the northern end of which is included in the Italian colony of Eritrea. Abyssinia is divided into a number of subkingdoms and provinces owing a certain allegiance to the Negus Negusti, but the Abyssinians say they will not acknowl- | edge any Negus Negusti who has not Menelek to an exceptional degree, fulfilled this qualification, and he established a de- | gree of unity not previously reached It was not until the early eighties | of the last century that a threat 0, Abyssinian indepenaence developed. | Under the partition of Africa among | the European powers which then was agreed upon, Abyssinia fell within the sphere *of influence allotted to Italy. while France and Britain acquired | certain coastal areas from which Egypt withdrew. At about the same time. the Mahdi's conquest of the Sudan ccnstituted a more immediate danger. It led to the death of King John of Abyssinia in battle and facilitated the occupation of Eritrea by Italy and her establish- ment on the plateau. When, however, Italy sought to extend her area of occupation southward and assert her claim to Suzerainty over the foreign relations of Abyssinia, resictance de- veloped, not a little assisted by supplies of arms obtained from France, who was far from friendly to Italy at the time and dreamed of establishing a French zone connecting West Africa with her Djibuti colony on the Gu'f of Aden. Disaster of Adowa Follows. As a result we know that Italy ex- perienced a crushing disaster at Adowa, a disaster which was followed by certain successes as reinforcements arrived, but which could not be al- together retrieved because popular opinion in Italy became virtually op- posed to the sacrifice of her conscript soldiers in a colonial war. Italy with- drew to the agreed frontier and Abyssinia was left with a somewhat ex- aggerated opinion of her own strength and with a marked xenophobia. Adowa, however, is an unreliable basis on which to form conclusions. It resulted from tactical blunders which dispersed a small Italian army and exposed it to defeat in detail by greatly superior numbers. Even more was it due to jealousy of the Italian commander, who attempted to bring off a victory before being superseded by a senior. If the situation had not been rushed. the greater part of the Abyssinian force would have disap- peared in search of food. Since the date of the battle Abys- sinian armament has improved, but to nothing like tae extent of that of Italy, and Italy has pained much ex- | perience of war. Waat numbers and what armaments Abyssinia could produce if a clash agein occurred can- not be estimated accurately. Nor is it really important, as tne number either side can bring into battle is deter- mined by commissariat questions. 100,000 Actual Fighters. ‘There are perhaps s million poten- tial fighting men in the country, and there are a great many rifles, vhough mostly of an obsolete pattern. These numbers, however, only indicate the sources from which armies could be formed. Owing to the fact that Abyssinian armies, for the most part, subsist on the couatry, with no organ- ized supply servicz, it ic unlikeiy that as many as 100,000 men could actu- ally be employed in any one theater of operations. Normally the fighting forces of Abyssinia are of three categories. First, a force of a few thousand, armed and trained on European lines, which forms the Empcror’s bodyzuard and insures internal security. Second, the Emperor’s army of men trained on native principles, perhaps some 50,000, generally distributed tc outlying dis- tricts. Third, somewhat similar forces, maintained in varying numbers by provincial sub-kings or governors. The whole is strongly reminiscent of the feudal system, 2nd, of the modern ‘weapons possessed by Abyssinia some When due account is taken of the formidable Russian manpower (the population increases by nearly 4.000,- 000 every year), it is difficult to avoid | the belief that in the long run & great military state will come into its | own. How will it evolve in the distant | future? Will it be devoted to the task of spreading Communism all over the planet? A good deal will depend upon internal developments which cannot be foreseen. But, for the decade sug- gested by Karl Radek, it will have to keep in check the German attempt at recovering its lost supremacy. The question need not be pushed further by Frenchmen, who since the first of the year have felt that war is an (Continued on Page 9, Column 2.) are wasted by being cistributed as the perquisites of feudel chiefs instead of to well-trained tac.ical units. The great assets cf the Abyssinian fighter are high courage and physical activity. He can crver ground at great speed, takinz advantage of natural cover, firing as he moves, but always seeking 0 clos? with his enemy and use his sword. He is no marks- man, but, working in swarms, seeks to envelop his opporent and push an attack. Could Not Resist Modern Troops. Such tactics might prove formidable against exposed detachments in guer- rilla warfare, but, employed in & decisive battle (the Abyssinian’s ambi- tion), could hardly prove successful aguinst well-handled troops with mod- ern armaments, assisted by air forces and perhaps armored vehicles. Nor are the Abyssinian armament end method of suppiv suitable to a pro- longed defensive act.sn, especially as the supplies of ammuuition are short. ‘The difficulties of ax invader would, I think, be measured by the extent to which the Abyssinians adapted them- selves to guerrilla tactics in harassing and delaying an advance whicn has to overcome great physical obstacles. The aim of the Abyssinian in war- fare is to close with the enemy and vse swords. What happens after that it would be difficult to say. Where the Emperor has spared his own peo- ple in raiding and other exploits, he has treated them very well and al- lowed them to establish their own system of rule. Only where resist- ance has been offered has he devas- tated the country with fire and sword, wiping out resistance com- | pietely—man, woman and child Italy Has Engineering Problem. Italy’s problem must be to co-or- | dinate engineering with military ef- fort. To maintain a striking force of, say, one or two divisions, adequate in numbers and equipment to over- come resistance, roads suitable for motor transport are essential. Roads in that sense do not exist in Abyssinia. | There are only mule tracks and. in many places, bad ones at that. The plateau rises to a height of some 6,000 feet in the west and south. Prac- tically the only valley line that gives graded access to the plateau is that of the Hawash River, which is in French territory, along which runs the railway trom Djibuti to Addis Ababa. In Eritrea Ttaly has a footing on the main plateau, much of which is undulating and not difficult, but at frequent intervals streams and rivers cut deep ravines, necessitating elab- crate bridging and road-making oper- ations. During the rainy season, which lasts from April to the middle of September, military operations are practically impossible, and good roads znd bridges would be essential to maintain an invader’s advanced troops. Owing to the height of the land, even in the dry season, the nights are very cold, and shelter, non- existent in the country, must be sup- plied if the health of troops is not to suffer. From her Somall coast colony, Italy could advance almost to the detached Harrar Plateau probably with less difficulty and meeting less resistance. but still heavy engineering operations certainly would be necessary. Addis Ababa Is Ruinous Goal, We are still in some doubt as to what Italy’s military objectives would be if Abyssinia stubbornly resisted her demands. Considerable rectification of her frontiers by force, especially in the case of her Somali colony, would not be difficult. It might even be pos- sible for her to annex the Harrar Province and extend her Eritrean col- ony in the course of one dry season. | If, however, she attempted operations | with Addis Ababa as an objective, to | be followed by establishment of com- plete control over the country, that would be an undertaking of the first magnitude, extending over an indefi- | nite period and ruinously expensive. Italy would seem to be faced with a dilemma. If she were content with limited acquisition of territory she would obtain little of value and would find it more difficult than ever to ob- tain commercial concessions of any value, for the Abyssinian is a master 'in devising obstacles which would make concessions valueless. Can Italy, | however, possibly afford a major un- | dertaking, and would the Italian peo- | ple stand the prolonged strain? How are the interests of other Eu- ropean powers involved? If Italy ac- quired a dominating position in Abys- sinia, that of France would not be much affected. It might, in fact, im- prove the commercial value of Djibuti’s | port and railway, as being the easiest | means of trade access. And France has abandoned her far-reaching am- bitions which led to construction of the railway. Nor do I think British and Egyptian interests would suffer. Would Have Aid in Quelling Raids. Mussolini himself cannot prevent the rain from falling in Abyssinia or the resulting flood-waters from reach- |ing Esypt. Abyssinia cannot divert | the flood, which runs through deep, unfertile gorges, nor does she require | it. She has no areas needing irriga- tion in the Blue Nile Basin. Lake Tsana forms a natural reservoir, of value to the Sudan if regulated to im- | prove the perennial irrigation of the | Sudan, but Abyssinia stands merely in | the position of a water company which can sell water at a price. Italy would not be likely to ask a higher price. In other respects, both Great Britain and France would have a neighbor competent to put down frontier raids and slave or cattle lifting. One has a natural feeling of sym- pathy with a nation threatened with loss of its independence, and, of (Continued on Page 9, Column 1.) —— Hungarian Politicians Fighting Regal Duels BUDAPEST, July 13 (7.—To be a successful politician in Hungary s man should be handy with a sword. The disposition of Hungary's poli- ticians to slash each other with blades as well as sarcasm was brought to the attention of the world anew re- cently by challenges hurled at Premier Gyula Goemboes by Tibor Eckhardt and Count Stephan Bethlen. ‘The adroit premier managed some- how to negotiate himself out of his difficulties. No blood or honor was lost by any one. But a number of deputies who took part in a parlia- mentary debate insulted one another so thoroughly that words couldn’t heal their injured feelings. Skins of sev- eral were punctured with cavalry sabers—and every one felt better. Duelling is forbidden by Hungarian law, but strangely, custom honored more than the law makes it necessary for army officers and even civil offi- cials to fight any one demanding a duel. If an army officer refuses to fight he loses his commission. If a civil officer declines, the chances are he won't be re-elected or reappointed. But if an official does fight he faces the possibility of being clapped into jall for violating the anti-duelling law. The usual sentence is three to thirty days, and the usual place of confine- ment is the pleasant political prison at Vac, where there are lace curtains at the windows and accommodations for receiving callers. It’s fashionable to have been jalled at Vac,