The evening world. Newspaper, February 11, 1921, Page 30

She EeMWy Baiorld. | ESTABLISHED BY JOSEPH PULITZER. Published Daily Except Sunday by The Pros Publirhing Company, Nos. 53 Park Row, New York. RALPH PULITZER, President, 63 Park Row. J, ANGUS SHAW, Treamurer. 65 Park Row. JOSEPH PULATAER Jr., Secretary, 63 Park Row MEMPER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ‘The Astociated Prem ts exctusively entitied to the use fer republication! news Genpatches credited to tt or not otherwise credited im thls payer | wat asd also the local news published herein. AS A HIGH COURT. $ th controversy between the railroads and the unions over working conditions ought to be an excellent lesson to visionaries who advocate this, ‘that and the other things as a “solution of the la- bor problem.” As a matter of fact, the “labor problem” will be with us always. It will never be “solved.” We ” shall merely proceed from one “solution” to an- other disagreement. But the Railroad Labor Board in its reply to the railroad executives gives reason for confidence, ‘The managers must prove their case before the board will authorize any modifications in existing agree- ments. The Railroad Labor Board is a quasi-judicial ody. It was set up with the understanding that it ~ would exercise judicial oversight over labor affairs. This oversight is very similar to that, exercised by ‘the Supreme Court when it enters a dissolution de- cree against a trust, retaining the right to modify the decree whenever there is need for modification. Now that the case is properly before the board, ac- tion should be as speedy as possible. It is to be hoped the unions will present their side of the case in an able manner and will point gut any instances in which the recent propaganda by the employers has been false or misrepresentative of average con- ditions. This will be of more service to the workers than all the cries of “conspiracy” or threats of strikes which could be advanced. Probably there is merit in each side of the case. The hearing should bring it out. It is to be hoped the Raitroad Labor Board will function asa High Court of Industry, giving the public a fair state- ment of the facts as found. The refilsal of the board to be stampeded into action by unsupported statements of the railroad managers was encouraging. It ts estimated that John D. Rockefeller'’s tmeome for the year 1918 was onty $40,000,000, 3 against $42,000,000 for 1917, And that was just about the time rents were boosted. too— poor man! i ALL THE, EAR-MARKS. ee ©} sanp tee latest “interview with the former Kaiser” as authentic, “My people has betrayed Itself, its God and me” bears all the imperial earamarks, Sentiment and phrase are “echt Wilhelm.” It was the Social Democrats, of course, who be- ~- deviled the rest of the German nation—implying that other Germans are not beyond hope if they will break the spell and realize how badly they ‘have treated the Hohenzollern. “The whole world,” the former Kaiser is re- ported to have said, “has denied God—not only. my ’ There it #s again. Heaven and Potsdam both bereft because the work refused to hear its salvation in the gospel of Kultur and the clank of the German sword! As quoted, the ex-Imperial One would Insist that he and God, even as they once shared the same ambitions, are now sharing the same exile. The marvel of megalomania! There was never any that surpassed the Hohenzollern brand. OUTCLASSED. © egg the thrilling and expensive adventure of Al Jennings in “Bagdad-on-the-Subway,” even the movie magnates must revise their concep- tion of the suitable setting for a hold-up. ‘Whether the goal of a robbery be the $82 of Al Jennings or the $100,000 stake of a bank, the quie- tudes of the plains must.yield the palm to the city. Here, thanks to Enrightism, is the Mecca of the stick-up gentry. Moreover the loss of ‘the Jennings wallet should prove an inspiration to entertainers in vaudeville and on the comedy stage. It is a diverting incident. The modern robber, it seems, is a very Falstaff. His “good lines” come out “just like that,” if Mr. Jen- sings is to be believed. “Yeh, and I'm Bill Bryan,” the gunman said when Al attempted to identify himself as one of the fraternity. Shades of Caesar! That was the unkindest cut of all. For is not Mr. Bryan a Chautauqua con- frere of Mr. Jennings? Coming or going, the thief cast doubt on the assertion that there is honor in the profession. SEND US A FUNNY ONE. EW YORK looks with anticipation to the visit of Theodore Dreyer of Zion City. é Dreyey is reported to have a sense of humor. If-so, he must welcome the opportunity to get out of Zion City. ie ; he would need a sense of humor to re- oy Behan 7 ‘ On, : THE EVENING WORLD, vive and save New York under the handicap of his name. yew York has a warm spot in its presumably wicked heart for the man who ‘can laugh or! the man who can provoke laughter. Witness the pop- ularity of Pussyfoot Johnson, Eddie Foy, Billy Sunday, the late John Bunny and Chauncey | Depew. New York has been afflicted with too many “Blue Lawyers” of late. Most of them have been of the type of the solemm and sanctimonious dea- conesses who were the first choice of Overseer Voliva. Dreyer, it is reported, was saved from death be- cause a cat licked his face while he slept on a rail- road track and awakened him before a_ train swooped down. It is a good introduction. New York would like to hear the details—including an explanation of how a man named Dreyer happened to be asleep on thie railroad track. STRIKE IT OUT. ERORTS from Albany are that Gov. Miller has been? impressed by this city’s defense of its right to a voice in the settkement ‘of its own transit affairs. ; It is now predicted that when the traction bills are introduced in the Legislature the Governor Will be found to have “elaborated” his proposals so as to include municipal home rule. Taking the Governor’s recent message on the traction situation as a basis, what is needed is, not elaboration but pision, Let's get the issue straight. In ‘his traction message the Governor said in plain words: “I recommend that a commission of three be created with complete jurisdiction over the subject of transit in the Ist District, that the powers under the Public Service Commis sions Law and the Rapid-Transit Act be transferred to it with such amendment as further study may suggest, and that the for- mer independence of municipal control be restored regardless of the provision of local consents or prior contracts.” As to determining rates, the Governor was equally plain: “In view of the time required for some rate determinations, there should doubtless be ‘power to prescribe temporary rates pending such determination, with such safeguards as, may be prescribed by the commission, and complete power should expressly be vested in the commission regardiess of local consents or contracts.” The italics are ours. “Regardless of local consents or contracts.” Regardless, that is, of precisely such provisions as The Evening World has cited from Contract No. 3, between the City of New York and the Inter- borough Rapid Transit Company, in which it is stipulated: Article LXII. The lessee shall during the term of the contract be entitled to charge for a single fare upon the railroad and the exist- ing railroads the sum of five (5) cents, but no more. Article XXXI. No correction or change in this contract shall be made except by written instrument duly authorized by the commis- sion and approved by the Board of Esti- mate, ¢ © ° “Regardless of focal consents or contracts” is the phrase by which the Governor proposed to nullify municipal home rule. Either that phrase remains in his programme or it comes out. e We fail to see how he can get it out by any process of “elaboration.” The thing for him to do is frankly to strike it out and make a fresh start by inviting the city’s co-operation instead of forcing its antagonism. If Gov. Miller had chosen that course in the first place, State and city might now be weil on the way toward tackling the real problem. If the Governor is really convinced that he owes the City of New York something fairer than his traction message of Jan. 24, he will not elaborate. He will erase. TWICE OVERS. 66 GNERMANY must pay more attention to her relations with America, for Americans are guided more by public opinion than by Government.” —Count von Bernstorff. : ae ole 66] HAVE decided not to accommodate the gentle- men connected with these financial institutions who would like to see me quit the committee.""—Samuel Untermyer. ae toe 66, F any of the rules and working conditions (on railroads) are unjust and unreasonable, they constitute an unwarranted burden upon the railroads | and upon the public.” —The Railroad Labor Board. | | FRIDAY, By jonn Cassel A Separate State, ‘Te the Extitor of The Brening World; In reference to the recent cartoon showing Greater New York, West- chester and Long Island as a sep- arate State, would suggest that a! movement be gtarted to ascertain the trend of opinion within these bounds, and if found in the affirmative to formulate plans for carrying out the people's wishes—which 1 think will be for a separate State. J. J, M'CARTHY, Brooklyn, Feb, 8, 1921. Let's Get the Facts First. ‘To the Bititor of The Evening World: A. friend offers as a solution of the traction problem the following: Give | the subway and elevated an in-| creased fare, but continue 5 cents on the surface lines. This would compensate the former for the “long. haul” and be ample for the latter for the “short haul.” What do you think of it? P, W. LATHAM, New York, Feb. 8, 1921. Relieve Congestion, ‘Te the Bititor of The Brening World; Why doesn't the Interborough Rapid Transit Company run uptown eapress trains on the downtown ex- press tracks during the rush hours? By running trains upiown from Times Square to 137th Street on the Broadway line and to Mott Avenue on the Lenox line congestion can be relieved to @ great extent, Downtown express trains could run on the Jocal track to Times Square and Shange to the express track just before stopping at the Pennsylvania Station, This plan could be reversed in the morning to take care of the down- town rush. This plan will be hard on some, but the few must lose that the many might gain. Incidentally, the Interborough ought to stap crying for a higher fare for a few days and think of relieving the congestion on the subways. ¥. L, CLOVER. New York, Fob. 8 1921, Man a Land Animal. ‘fe the Kditor of The Lvening Word J. T. Price, in his letter published recently, is certainly looking in*the right direction when he says that man’s fils are due to his divorce from the land. Man is @ land animal; whether he work in a Pennsylvania ooal mine hundreds of fect below the surface or on the fiftieth floor of the Woolworth Building, he is using land. ‘The land was created for afl, Nobody has, or ever had, the right to claim # as his and sell tt. ‘The Mind shall not ibe sole forever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with.Me." Ley, XXV. 3. It is this taking of land that, as Mr. Price says, has en” Us “swollen fortunes’ on the one hand and dire poverty on the other.” Our present deplorable housing situation From Evening World Readers What kind of a letter do you find most readable? that gives you the worth of a thousand words in a couple of hundréd? There is fine mental exercise and a lot of satisfaction in trying te sey much in a few words. Take time to be brief. | rise in speculative values. Isn't it the one In the words of Rousseau: “He who first staked out a piece of land and said it was his, he was the cause of all ensuing misery and degradation.” Land belongs to all men for all time. Who has given a few the power and control over it? Who has given them the right to exact from others for the privilege of living on the earth? No one has. It is oniy through usurpation and might that these privileged classes have come | into existence. Let me suggest to Mr. Price, if he is unacquainted with the fact, that there is, however, a remedy for this situation, and that there is a po-| litical party in the field endeavoring | to promote this remedy. It is. the | Single Tax Party, whose motto is: { “The Earth Belongs to Ali.” GEORGE R. GEIGER. Columbia University, Feb. 7, 1921. Taxing Bach ‘To the Bilitor of The Evening World: In The Evening World of Feb. 7 Margaret Kelly would be funny ff she were not seemingly so tragic. Her idea of taxing the men ts fine if sho will agree to tax all the ustless and | not even ornamental females also, Shy evidently likes her own sex more than} the other, while I think I can see the good qualities and the shortcomings of bother , Taxing bachelors is the mad scheme of a country that wants a lot of chil- dren born to be used as cannon fodder, and I. rather think we have had enough of that sort of idiocy. It is high time a stop were put ‘to it if we wish to continue calling ourselves civit- ized. If this country or any other wants folks to marry and raise fam! lies let the country see to it that edu- cational facilities are such that any child can get a proper schooling, which is, 1 think, more to the point. ‘As to the men who pay the bills and “hand wife smal change without ac extra nickel,” that's up to the wife in question, If she-is fool enough to stand for it that is her own fault, and taxing men won't stop women being foola. Yours for less public chatter ani more individual action. VERUE E. SHERIDAN, Brooktyn, Feb. 8, 1921. Amending the Sullivan Law. ‘To the Eatitor of The Evening Wortd: Now that @ movement ts on foot to amend the Sullivan law tn regard to weapons, something showld be done to make gure that the law as amended will leave everything in favor of the law-abid- in the past. A ‘These amendments should make’ tt a right, privilege and duty of every law-abiding citizen to protect his home with a revolver if necessary, and our unemployment problem are due to the holding of land out of use by those who are waiting for « ing citizen and not as it has been |, rs UNCOMMON SENSE By Joh (Copyright, 1921, DON’T BE A LEANER. People are divided into two classes: those who stand by themselves and those who lea) ‘The leaners sometimes get along. If they can find others who don't object to being leaned on they may even prosper. n Blake by John Bake.) n on others. But there is always a chance that the prop.may be taken away, and the brother leaner, unless he can find another prop on very short notice, loses his balance and falls. You can easily pick the leaners among your acquaint- ances. They are the sort that come to others with their trou- bles, who want help to get a job, or a temporary loan to tide them over in a time of idleness litfle favors. In time they become utter! , omwho are continually asking ly helpless. Left by themselves they do not know where to turn, Gradually they sink into the lowest places in life, and are fit only for the tasks that can be done by thousands of other people. Naturally, in what we cal do something exceptional. If you find you are get yourself of it instantly. die, or find other burdens th Your own mii and independent, will see you and unpitying world. 1 hard times these people have a very difficult time. For when business is bad and employ- ment is scarce, the W®rld has little use for people who cannot Leaners never are leaders. They are never employers, They are never independent. They are just'the ranks, and a pretty poor sort of ranks at that. ting the leaning, habit, break If you have begun to carry your little prollems to others instead of solving them yourself, you are in grave danger. For very soon you will cease to depend on your own mind altogether, and after all that is the only dependable thing that there is in the world, as far as you are concerned. Your other props may get tired of holding you up, or at they would rather carry. if it is strong and well disciplined through. Depend on ‘that, and you will stand upright and make your way. Lean on your friends and some day you will find that everything has dropped out from under you and left you flat ina heartless Gan holder procure a permit to possess this weapon, but shout make it an offense against the law to carry euch weapon on the street or into the house of another. I would even go 80 far as to make any person caught with & concealed weapon, either on the street or in the home of another, guilty of an offense punishable by twenty-five years in prison, with absolutely no chance of pardon or chance to reduce his term of confinement. Permits to carry weapons on the street should only be iomed —- persons as bave to transport valu- ables through the streets, Every law-abiding citizen should demand of his’ representative good ‘sound and common #ense laws #0 as to provide every possible means of Droveoting him against the criminals, Am iting to you use I feel the good of the will_use its good Furthermore, this duty of protect- ing the home by means of @ revolver should not require that # house- people at heart a offices to this end. ‘New York, Feb. & 1921. JH. K. JR, Words Risin the Wise It is children only who enjoy the present; their elders either live on the memory of the past or the hope of the future— Chamfort. i} The more honesty a man has the less he affects the air of a aaint.—-Lavater. There is none #0 homely but loves a looking-glass.—South, All other passions do occa gional ‘good; but when pride pute in ite word everything goes wrong.—Ruskin, Every man desires to tive Tong; but no man would be old. —Swift of The Ages By Svetozar Tonjorof. ht, 1921, yentne Wont te oo th The New York VIL—ATTILA. 5 Attila was the promoter of the most complete and far-reaching looting expedition undertaken up to his time —the fifth century of the Christian era. ‘The product of @ race (the Huns) who were in the habit of rid- ing Up and down Eastern and Cen- tral Asia in search of pasture or of flocks belonging to other tribes, At- tila found that game too small. He decided to make the world his hunting ground, The first ofthe Huns differed from Alexander in one-vital respect. Alex~ ander did, or tried to do, something for the countries he overran. He at least planted, here and there, a seat of Creco-Macedonia, Attila's business And he looted with a thoroughness tha left only bare bones and shrivelied regions in nis wake. His armies, mounted on horses capable of covering 660 miles in five di ray through @ watertess wil- derness, crabhed upon the west like @ thunderclap. Attila, Who affected tl pleasant nickname, “Scounge of God, may be said to have ridden all the way ‘from the Chinese borderlands to the Rhine without drawing rein, Having cut, burned and slain his way to the borders of the Kastern Dmpire, Attila established his bar- bane court in a great fortified on the Hungarian plain. From this gorgeously bedizened capital of ‘wood. and tent-cloth he proceeded to put into operation a — get-rich-quick scheme that would have made Alex- ander turn green with envy. Attila regarded every individual in all the territories conquered by him as a slave. Everything that any eub- ject possessed was the property of Attila. He made a violent gesture at the degenerate Byzantine Bmperor, Theodosius, across the Danube. The- odosius paled and offered htm a tribute of 350 pounds of gold. But in a few months Attila revised the treaty upward and fixed the tribute at 700 pounds of gold. Then, on the pretext that ‘Theodo- had evaded his obligations, At- tila marched his army through the Balkan Peninsula into Thrace. mped alinost in the suburbs of Con- , the terrible Hun once the yearly inds of gold and exacted a pay- ment of 6,000 pounds of gold by way of an indemnity. In the meanwhile be toyed with the Western Roman Empire. <Aetius, the Roman General, was at that time the white hope of civilization, Aetius made a present of a province to At- tila and paid him an annual tribute entered in the Roman budget as & lary” for services as Roman Gen- eral in Chief. Everything seemed to be going welt for Attila when, in 451, he crossed Rhine with an army estimated at half a million men, but suffered crush- ing defeat near Chalons at the hands of Actius and of Theodorte, the Vis- goth. It is eaid that there were 300,000 dead on the fieid after thts de- aisive engagement. But for reasons whtch tt te diffeal to understand at this distance, the allies failed to press their advantage, and Attila was permitted to withdraw the remnant of his arm to his forti- | fled camp near the benks of the Danube. There he died in 453, with the proud boast that he had left no blade of grass growing where his horse had set ‘his hoof. The instantaneous collapse vast empire after his death ought to have taught all his successors in the business of world conquest that the appalling game is not werth the yiood it costs. But empire builders have little Ten-Minute Studie of New York City Government by the Ps Publishing O», York Broning Works.) By Willis Brooks Hawkins. This is the fifty-eighth article of a series defining the duties of the ad- ministrative and legislative officers and boards of the New York City Govern- ment, - Coprright, 1921, (Tee New PUBLIC LIBRARIES. Of the three public library corpora- tions in the city, the New York Pub- lie Library serves the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Richmond, while the two other boroughs are served respectively by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queeng Bor- ough Public Library. ‘Twenty years ago Andrew Carnagie offered $5,200,000 to the city for the construction and equipment of free circulating Mbraries, the city to fur- nish the sites and provide for tha maintenance and operation of the | buildings when erected, the annuai expenditure by the city fer such pur~ ‘poses to ibe at least 10 per cent. of the. amount expended by Mr. Carnegie, erected not to exceed seventy-cight, unless by mutual consent. The New York Public Library, created by the consolidation of the Astor, Lenox and. Tilden’ Founda- tions, is governed by @ board of twenty-two trustees, who serve with- owt salary, the Mayor, the Compe troller and the President of the Board of Aldermen being ex-officio trustees, This corporation operates forty-two branches besides the Cen- tral Ldbrary ot Fifth Avenue and 424 Strest. Edwin H. Anderson js the director, Lewis Cass Ledyard is the President of the Board of Trus. tees, and Charles Howland Russel! the Secretary. ' ‘A. board of twenty-two trustees, serving withont ealary, governs the Brooklyn Pubb Library, Eleven of the number are appointed by the Mayor, the remaining eleven being elected Dy the board itself, The | Mayor, the Comptrolier and the Pree- ident of the Borough of Brooklyn are ex-officio trustees, There are thirty. one branches of this library, Frank P, Hill is Chiet Librarian, ‘His office is at No. 26 Brevoort Place, Brooklyn. David A, Boody is President of the Roard of Trustees and Joh HIN Morgnn, Secretary, ‘The Queens Borongh Pubfle TA. brary ts governed by fifteen trastecs appointed by the Mayor; he the’ Comptrofer and the President of the Board of Aldermen being ex members, This Jbrary twenty branches, John ©, Atwater ques. J. is the Director; Ferdinand L, Fewer. bach is President of the Board en@ Dever, Georetary, the total number of libraries to be _ -omigle aperaten “« " ; i \