The evening world. Newspaper, May 25, 1920, Page 22

_ ESTABLISHED BY JOSEPH PULITZER. @ublianea ‘Gomi the Pres Publishing Row, New York. it, 03 Park Row, ii ANGUS SHAW, Tr r, G3 Park Row. PH PULITZER, Jr. Secretary. 63 Park Row. Daity Except Sunday by pany, Nos. to 63 “THE GREATER SLACKERS. R. GOMPERS'’S arraignment of both Congress and Mitchell Palmer is a powerful indorse- ment of The Evening World's unanswerable line of attack on the profiteers, ‘Their own figures are all that Is necessary to damn the gougers. If Congress‘and the Attorney General are unable to meet the situation it is not because they do not know. Senator Capper read into public records the disgraceful facts which The Evening ‘World tas exposed in ils “Is This Profiteering?” - series, If Congress and the Attorney General cannot con- trive to get action on these facts which the profiteers admit, then it is a shameful confession of incompe- tence and Mr. Gompers is right in saying that “there must be an overturn in Congress.” As to the remedies he prescribes there may be a difference of opinion, but little or none on the in- dictment of incompetence. In connection with Mr. Gompers’s charges of profiteering, the investigation of labor productivity _made by The World is most interesting. Labor ' productivily has decreased, The World finds, but in no such ratio as has been widely heralded. : Again, labor productivity is on the increase. Profiteering greed, on the other hand, shows no ‘abatement except as pressure is brought to bear by banks: or boycott by the public. After a careful survey of price and profit condi- tions it is hard to escape the conviction that, al- though labor has restricted production in a measure, the facts have been grossly overdrawn in a campaign of propaganda. The profiteers hoped to hide their own avarice by shifting public resentment against high prices to the shouklers of labor. Profiteers have been more successful in slacker service than labor, If labor has decreased produc- tion, the profiteers have increased profits by a vastly larger percentage. ‘ The World finds that labor productiveness is ris- dng, It is high time that profiteer profits declined, and’at a more rapid rate. « : , Mr. Gbmpers comes close to drawing a true bill potowhen he says: 2 “Profiteering rests the whole weight of its rotten structure upon the wages of the worker.” it is particularly true as regards the ~ ‘comparatively defenseless unorganized workers who constitute the “New Poor.” Frank Hitchcock appearing before the Ken- yoh stush fund investigators runs true to form. He was affatility itself, but as for informa- tipn,—well, Frank Hitchcock is @ Republican Col. House and able to be silent in seven languages. * IT CAN BE DONE. : ’ I* ORDERING the confiscation of 1,057 quarts “of whiskey which a Chicago’ man claimed to ~ have laid in for personal use, Kenesaw Mountain * Landis, the Federal Judge who puts jazz in justice, considers the amount excessive and calculates that the owner would need to live 165 years to drink: it. With all respect to Judge Landis’s legal erudition, ~ it seems that fils estimate of the consumption ca- * pacity of even a moderate drinker is subject to cor- rection. He allows, less than six and a half quarts as an annual allowance, Even in these days of prohibition, it is common ~ knowledge that many. drinkers are able to—and _ do—dowh considerably more than six and a half * quarts in a month. : What constitutes a reasonable allowance may be 2 debatable question, but Judge Landis evidently never heard of the toper who confessed to hts phy- sician that he was in the habit of drinking a quart of whiskey each day. “My good man,” said the doctor, “you can’t.drink © so much with impunity.” “1 don’t know about that, Doc,” said the toper, “but I sure can with soda.” i pe Sugar should cell at twelve cents, says PROTECT THE GAME. AMBLING at the Polo Grounds as revealed by The Evening World is an evil which every * lover of baseball ought to resent. Gambling killed racing. It is, certain to do the same for the great American game if allowed to continue. Friendly betting between friends will persist, desfite any efforis'to stop it. There is no excuse for book-making in the ball parks, + This is an evil which the management of the ball parks can stamp out if they have the will. For the good of the game and for the good of their own * amusement business, it is up to them to prevent _ gambling by professionals in the parks, Failure to do so wil! inevitably destroy public near-scandals, Baseball managers may not be able to prevent gambling outside the parks. They can and should take extreme measures to prevent any semblance of book-making where they are In control. WHERE WAS PREVENTION? | Babel the query “Where Was Prevention?” The Evening World pointed out last week that the Federal Reserve Board’s sudden zeal for a policy that discourages profiteering by refusing loans to speculators is a belated awakening. ° Complete agreement with The Evening World's view on this point Is found in Herbert Hoover's dis- cussion of causes of the high cost of living as a wit- hess yesterday before the Lusk committee, Looking back over the past two years, Mr. Hoover Said: “Tt would appear now that ft would have been better to have continued the war co- operation of the banks, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve system to effect some definite cheok upon the diversion of credits and capi- tal for speculative and non-essential purposes until we were in smoother water, “The curtailment of credits for speculative and non-essential purposes taken in hand during the last few weeks: is in some part a surgical operation, instead of # prevention, that will require the best skill of the whole - banking community In order to avoid the ‘ difficulties that may follow from a too abrupt handling of the knife.” It was the contention of The Evening World that if pyramiding of prices can be checked by determined action of the banks now the same action could have been taken many months ago to prevent the piling up of the load wnder which the greater part of the people of the United States have had to stagger. Emerging from the war as the creditor nation of the world, with its prosperity and industry unin- jured, the United States need never have suffered all it has suffered at the hands of a horde of profit- eers if definite measures had been taken from the first to make the country’s banking system a first line of defense. * Certain effects of inflation.were no doubt inevi- table. To keep all bank loans out of the hands of profiteers would have been impossible. But the tanks could have stood as a barrier, They need not have advanced money and credit‘ with a freedom that invited speculation, It was not nocessary for the Federal Reserve Banks, by rediscounting, to carry inflation further, There has been no satisfactory arswer to the ques- tion why the net earnings of the Federal Reserve Banks should have risen to 129 per cent. in 1919, during a period when the whole authority and ex- ample of the Federal banking systent ought to have | been thrown against the current of profiteering, Where was prevention when prevention could have been effective and spared the country the perils of a delayed and drastic cure? Falling out of a railway carriage, like falling off a horse, js an accident that might happen to anybody. In the eternal fitness of things, howeyer, these little mishaps should keep clear of Kjngs and: Presidents, Too much of the world is a 4mall boy with a snigger. A STRATEGIC DATE? O CONNECTION is apparent, but the fact re- mains that the date, of the Henry J, Allen- Samuel Gompers debate on the Kansas Industrial Court plan falls only a few days before the Republi- can nominating convention, Gov. Allen is mentioned as a dark horse. Henry Allen was one of the triumvirate of pro- gressive Kansas journalist-politicians immortalized by William Allen White as “Victor and Henry and Me”—even though Victor Murdock was so progres- sive that he followed Woodrow Wilson instead of going back to eat from the hand that slapped him. The Kansas Governor is an orator of parts and a politician of ability, His war record is good, but not militaristic. He comes from the West, where Re- publicans met defeat four years ago. Relations of capital and labor are sure to.play an important, part in the campaign, Any one who disa- grees with Samuel Gompers is certain of a measure of support from those who have always filled the Republican campaign chest, particularly if the oppo- sition happens to be constructive in tone, with an appeal to popular support. Finally Gov, Allen has supported Gen. Wood in a modest way, which might incline Wood delegates in his favor when Wood hope dies. If the choice of the date for the debate ts pure coincidence, it cannot be denied that it affords the Kansas Governor suclt an opportunity as comes only once in a lifetime, A phrase or two as effective as Mr. Bryan’s “cross of gold and crown of thorns” speech might sweep the country at a psychological moment and dispel much of the-shadow and darkness that now shrouds the Presidential steed |\r, Allen is supposed to be riding. | confidence, already shaken by several scandals and | ! | ' TUESDAY, MAY 2 Wie | FROM EVENING WORLD READERS ||) to say much in a few words. Take “It Pity In Nat En ‘To the Editor of The Evening World: I am quoting the title of your edl- torial dated May 19, 1920, With your permission I want to say & few facts about my country, Porto Rico, an in- sular possession of the United States of America, has seemingly been for- gotten since the turmoil of the H. C. of L. and Bolshevism became the principal topics of the day in: this country. Porto Rico recruited during the emergency every available man, There were comparatively as many men un- der arms as any State in the Union, Many were in the army and navy be- fore the world’s wa? and not a few made the supreme sacrifice at the front—Ca, c’ est rien, A great deal has been accomplished in these post-war days in behalf of different nations of Europe. Many millions have been spent to mitigate their misery. In fact, Columbia has become a splendid “Marraine de Guerre” to the, little European na- tions, Meanwhile she has been caused to neglect her 1898 adopted children, They are struggling wth living con- ditions that have not improved much in twenty-two years, They are still pressed under the big shoe of igno- rance, Their calamity is to be com- pared with that of China or Mexico. Despite the fact that Porto Rico has been upder American control since the Spanish-American War that country is practically unknown to 75 per cent. of the population of the United States. Even post office offi- cials in many cases ignore whether it lies west of San Francisco or east of New York, The people here do not know that the men, women and chil- dren who work twelve hours a day in the sugar cane flelds, bleached by the tropical sun, hungry, unclothed and sick, are getting ‘the exorbitant amount of one dollar ($1) per day! Be it known to all that the same sugar is turned over to the refineries in this country and then resold to the Porto Rican people for 20 and 25 cents per pound. Shoes, clothing and the main arti- an.” cles of food are imported there at the same prices that consumers here pay for them. To the working class shoes are more of an adornment than a necessity. To the people in general life is a tragedy. Those who possess the distinction of wearing sh to go barefooted during wee! wearing them only on Sundays. What kind of letter do you find most readable? Isn't it the one that gives you the worth of a thousand words in a couple of hundred? There is fine mental exercise and a lot of satisfaction in trying time to be brief. country. They are képt down cs much as Mexicans and Chinamen are. Are we “living in an era when it \s impossible to isolate infected and suf- fering people?” Should Mother Co- lumbia disregard her adopted children and turn her efforts to making peace amongst Bolshevists? The Honorable Secretary of War, Mr. Baker, visited the Island Dec. 22 last year while I was spending my furlough there, “he people honored by his presence gave a great recep- tion in his name. They did every Possible thing to appear satl: ed, for | they are, as I said before, people who don’t complain. A Later, on Jan. 3, a Congressional party inspected the island, They stayed but a day. I returned on the ‘same transport with them on Jan, 4. Some of their remarks were funny; some were true. I don't know what the report was to the people. But was one day sufficient time to study the conditions of the natives? Most of them saw the island as any other tourist would see it, and in- variably saw it throueh pink glasses, naturally failing to see the true color of things. They rode across the island by auto. There were over twenty cars in the party. I saw them, and it looked to me like a children’s Joy ride. Now Gen. Pershing is inspecting tt. He has been in the Philippines, tn Mexico, in France. In all thos» coun- tries there exist condition» similar to Porto Rico. I wonder if his revort will differ from those of the Con- gressional party and that of Honorable Secretary Baker! R.. RIVERA, Gergt. 1st Class, B. and C. School. Camp Dix, N. J., May 20, 1920. How Many New Gravest ‘To the Bilitor of Tho Brening World: How many new graves will® be decorated this May 30 as the result of the action of the Prohibitionists? = LOUIS SCUTARL New York, May 21, 1920. Appalling Waste. ‘To the Billtor of The Evening World I note with considerable tnterest the anxiety shown in the news items of the times over the fast diminish- ing supply of ql and natural gas tn the Upited States. In connection with your comnients on the touching solicitude shown the oil interests by the present Administration, allow me to relate a little incident from real life. In 1915 a subsidiary of the ol! company was drilling a few miles outside the town of Corpus Christi, ‘Tex. They struck no oil, but at a scarcity in sugar progvation, is due to ill-fed labor, unwholesome living and ancient implements, Instead of eat- ing their way to health they slowly make @ path to the grave. People will never know what hard- ships these unfortunates endure; yet Shey make the best of tt al out: } mever com! Lg tion le unknqwn in such @ Beautiful depth of about 3,000 feet they ran into one of the most wonderful pock- ets of natural gas ever discovered anywhere at any time. The casing they bad sunk was not “ooncreted;” UNCOMMON SENSE By John Blake (Copyright, 1980, by John Blake.) A MAN WHO HELPED HIMSELF. If ever a man pulled | imself up by hig bodt straps it was the late William Dean Howells. became distinguished. Without college training he died one of the world’s best educated Without money he men. Howells determined early in life to be a writer—not an ordinary writer, but one of the best He bent all his energies to that end. Unable to go to college, he had to work three or four times as hard for an education as do the fortunate youths who are taught—not knowledge itself but the way to gain knowledge—by trained teachers. To write as he meant to write, he needed wide culture and familiarity with the world’s literature. This he acquired by prodigious toil. Throughout his life, which soon became successful, Howells found time to help and encourage young writers. Many men who had equal talent and far better train- ing came to him for assistance, and always got it. A New York newspaper in commenting on his life de- scribes him as a man “of incurable kindness,” which is a splendid desctiption of his character. Although he had an uphill fight for suecess, he was al- ways cheerful, @lways generous, always the first to recog- nize success in otheré. And to the man who has to work harder than other men for what he gains willingness to praise other men is unusual. Howells may not have been America’s greatest writer, but he was one of America’s great writers. As an editor, an author and a public man, he achieved notable distinction and made His life is a model for young Americans, find opportunity—he made it. as a means of helping others and of teaching them that the idea that only the artificially in literature is the most utter nonsense. an, > thousands of friends, He did not ‘And he used his opportunity educated can achieve success the derrick lasted perhaps three min- utes and then began the most crim- | inal waste of natural resources on record. For three months the thing was a veritable volcano. The roar could be heard for fifteen miles, and when, for the health of the surrounding coun- try, it became necessary to set the gas on fire the flame was of such size that it registered distinctly on a night-exposure photograph taken in a town nearly forty miles away. To-day a crater 300 feet long, 200 feet wide and heaven only knows how deep, marks the spot where the cav- ing in of the surrounding rock finally choked the flow. Two more wells were sunk in the same slipshod, heedless manner. Of these the first was wrecked in pre- cisely the same manner, and the sec- ond, sunk between the other two, struck nothing at all, Thus was exhausted what experts from all over the country termed the richest single pocket of natural gas try for a hundred miles around indef- nitely. Problem: When does the Govern- ment intend to devote a little more time to the criminal indifference and carelessness of the corporations that waste our natural resources in such prodigal fashion and then fairly rend the heavens with their pitiful wails at the extravagance of the present generation? EX-~TEX. 63d St. Brooklyn, May 19, 1920, lerstood, ‘To the Editor of The Wrentng World: Have read a great deal of those gentlemen who oppose the pr, Soldiers’ Bonus Bill, in particular the statement by Rabbi Wise at Carnegie Hall, In my opinion his speech was an insult to our boys, who had sacri- ficed everything to protect him and other speakers who have opposed the bil, {f these gentlemen had placed themselves where our boys were dur- ing the World War I really think they would have @ very different opinion of Shing. mm ¥. READ . ER. Gay 14, 10a, ‘operight, 1920, by Tix “(Ue New You No. 86—'*Cashel Byron's Pro- fession,”’ by Bernard Shaw. | Cashei Byron was all body and no Intellectual culture Lydia Crewe {was all intellectual culture and no | body, Here is their odd love story: Young Byron was the only eon of 4 famous English actress. His mother | alternately cuffed and kissed him: Tiring of having him about the house. sho sent him to a fashionable boar® ing school. ‘There, he thrashed one of the teach- ers and ran away. Wmbarking Australia, he reached where he got a job as assistant an old prizefighter who was @ dozing academy, and for none of his former mrtenda heard an: thing more of him. | Lydia Crewe was the only daught¢ of a rich old scholar who die Weaving her his great fortune an | Most of his deep love for scholgy | ship. She passed much of her tia in abstruse studies und the regt.¢ | it in lstening to the solemn gourt | abip of her highly cultured coli Lucian Webber. pena The cottage adjoining the: pairk! < her country place was rented” for tt #eason to a man of whom she kne nothing and whom ahe ‘badqn seen. Somehow she hag fdea that this tenant Uist’ who bad come to rest from his sc! ‘Then by chance day, stripped to and exercising tn To her unaccustomed ¢: ger looked like a Greek god young and handsome and ‘built. .Later shémetd that his name was Still believing he or scientist, Tila different row-ch ag ¥% much, © 9 ‘ell nay ig love with ce was re marry bi ideally hal Each fotl 2 calling and kept himself 5 da From maperfal ‘aifgent three Were content for a time om, their insular acre. But the butcher, inspired by @ bappy conceit, ort ‘ Resolved to become & prosperity boomer. athe er. So, having no ‘ttval with whom to compete, | : ‘i He added a bit to, the price of his meat, And "Take it of fédve! tt)" he told the consumer. ‘The baker and candlestick maker, of course, ba) Denounced htm in terms of eycionic severity. But he raked in the riche and argued with force: ‘ “If wealth Js a nation’s efficient re« source, My fortune evinces our country’s prosperity.” e When the baker had fixed the ides in his head, He saw a new light, and it alteréd his attitude. # “I, too, will add wealth to the Na- tion,” he said; And when he had boosted of hjs bread, beg ae™: He demanded a share of bis coun. trymen’s gratitude, Then the candlestick maker, who worked by the day, Admitting their argument seemed to be rational, Exacted commensurate increase of pay. So, at last, the three islanders hit on Of happily maki nepal ng prosperity ne. —WAIS B. BAWKING. War Department Stores, Retail stores opened by the War Department in various cit- tes to dispose of surplus suppies direct to consumers as a method of combating the high cost of living are operated at an em pense of 88 per cent. the War Department reports. They wit continue in operation, it ts an nounced, as long as the Wer\ Department has stocks for them and the volume of derinese makes the enterprise seonoms oak,