New-York tribune. [volume], May 10, 1919, Page 14, Image 14

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
2feu> jtork Sribune
First to Last?the Truth: Newa?Editorials
?Advertisernents
Meraber o( tl\t? Audlt Burr-au of Clrculatlons
SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1919.
Owred and publlshed daily hj New York Tribune lni\,
H New York Corporation. Ogdcn lield. President: G.
\ ernor Roger". Vtce-President; Helen Rocers licid. Seere
:iT\. F. A. Siiu-r. Treaaurer. Address. Tribune Building,
:m Nasaau Street, New York. Telephone, Beekman :000.
xi'RSCRirTION RATES?Bj Mail. Ineludlni Postsgc:
IN THK UNITED STATES AND CANAD.V
One Six Three One
Year. Months. Months. Motuh.
t?al!y and Sunday... $10 Oft $5.00 JS.SO $1.00
Daily only . S.O0 4 on 2.00 .75
: iv onty . : .00 1.50 .". .30
Sunday only. Canada... 3.00 2.50 1.25 .50
FOREIGN RATES
Daliy and Sunday.$24.00 $IiM $* oo $2.25
Dai'.v only . 1-5.00 9.00 4.50 1.50
Sunday only . J.OO 4.00 2 00 .75
Entered at the Postoftlce at New York as Second Class
Mail Matter
UUARANTEE
Vou can purchase merchandlse adverllsec) In THE
TRIBUNE with absolute salety?(or II dlssatlsfactlon re
sults In any case THE TRIBUNE guarantees to pay your
money baek upon request. No red tape. No qulbbllng.
We maks good promptly II the advertlser does not.
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
rha Associated Press Is excluslrely entitled to tho us*
for republlcatlon of al! newa dftpatches credlted to It or
not' cthcrotsc errdited In this paper and also the local
news of spontaneous origln publlshed hereln.
All rlghts or rerubllcatlon of all other matter hcretn
are also rescrTed.
An Acid Test
Consider the relations between the so
called covenant in the Treaty of Ver?
sailles and the special engagement for
the protection of France.
The managing directors of the league
are the same countries which are asked
to participate in the specific engagement.
Great Britain, France and the United
States: these are the leaders?one might
almost say the masters?of the Paris
Conference. The three nations, with Italy
and Japan, and a cloud of other nations
as proxy givers, are the owners of the
majority stock in a corporation of power.
With the three is preponderance of
wealth, of machinery and effective man
power. Their will is law.
This corporation of power, in control
of the world, would continue, it is said,
the substance of the coalition in the in?
terest of peace, of self-defence, of jus?
tice. With the inner coterie of the three
or the five in command, the forces of the
general league are to be hurled against
any nation seized by war madness. Here
is the essenc7 of the league project.
Tiie most probable occasion calling for
a functioning of the general league will
arise with respect to France. This is
everywhere conceded. Great Britain is
protected by her fleet; the United States
by the broad oceans and a demonstrated
ability to recruit and equip vast armies;
Japan by her Oriental isolation, and
Italy by the fact that the road to her
iies through France. France is on the
firing line. Her borders are the frontier.
Until the trans-Rhine region becomes
normal and trustworthy France is sen
tinel. The general league obviously may
not be regarded as having a will for
peace if unwilling to aid France in the
event of another attack by Germany.
It is to be deduced from these consid
erations, is a necessary consequer.ee of
a aurvey of political, geographic and
ethnical faets, that no one can be
accepted as favorable to the idea of a
league to enforce peace who is opposed
to special pledges to France. N'o advo
catc of the league may be deemed sincere
who is hostile to promising assistance
against an attack where there is the
greatest reason to fear it. A besieged
army looks to its lowest walls. The weak
link in a chain is strengthened if the
chain is to hold. Achilles should have
worn armor on his heel.
The heart of the league is. in the pro?
posed engagement for the benefit of
France, Reject it, and the league is
dead. A pulmotor is needed to oxygen
izc inactive lungs. If France is not to
be protected, what other country may
txpect protection? Irnagine an engineer
pretending to want his whoels to revolve j
forbidding an attachment of a connect- \
ing belt. A chauffeur who will not throw
rn a clutch does not seek to travel, no
matter what he may say. To give lip
;>ervice to the league while reftising to
apply it in the clearest case is to imi
Ute the mother who eonsented that her
daughter should go. out to swim, hut
forbade her going near water.
Attitude toward the engagement thus
furnishea an acid test of the true attitude
toward the league idea. It exposes the
hypocrisy of men who consciously pro
moto a fraud. See the pretenders
seuttle! The newspaper PecksnifTs who
have been piously chanting psalms in
prftto of the covenant now have little
to say. They discern great difficultics in
the way of getting the engagement raii
fied. They don't want any arrangement
with teeth to it. So they confes.s that
all aiong they have been aware that
ccreefy a flicker of vitality is in the
covenant plan; imply that it was pre?
pared in the hope of fooling the public.
Respect may be felt for a flat opponcnt
of entry into entanglements of any kind.
America, on the whole, haa served the
world and herself well by aloofncHH. It
i? by no means certain we should depart
frOffl the national tradition. But con
tempt go*-, out to the peace leaguer who
hlie hi? mouth with aahctimonious
phrases and then runs away when asked
to sign something derinite.
If France may not be insured by the
league managers, then no country will
be insured by the league. The world
would have before it an instance of a
president of a corporation borrowing
money in the name of the corporation,
but refusing to indorse the note himself.
Obsequies Without Mourners
The ambitious scheme of Mr. Peek, of
the Industrial Board, to be a benevolent
price autocrat has come to an early
smash. It has been kicked downstairs
by the combined boots o? Secretaries
Glass and Redfield, with Mr. Hines, of
the railroad administration, handling a
pitchfork.
Mr. Peek meant weil?no man ever
meant better. He thought, with a statis
tician at his side, that he could "stabil
ize" with justice to all, and that at his
soft command the tempests of competi
tion would be still. Alas! it was not to
be. In time of crisis it is possible tem
porarily to bridle differences of opinion
with respect to values, but when the
pressure is off the wild horses of eco?
nomic law snort and deport themselves
according to their habit.
There is to be an open market for
steel. Mr. Hines is to buy rails where
he can get them cheapest. Perhaps the
sellers will ask more' than he thinks
ought to be paid. 'The steel men predict
a rise, but if the figures given by Mr.
Hines of 'steel profits are correct it will
not last long. Not because the steel
men are not greedy, but because some
are so greedy as to grab for business. |
The open market is best, not because.
producers are unselfish, but because they
are selfish.
Let us hope little more will be heard
of price stabilization. Trade freedom
pays steadier dividends to the public. If ;
the prices fixed are high, production is
so stimulated (witness a 900,000,000- \
bushel winter wheat crop) as to create ;
ah unwieldy surplus. If too low, there |
is dearth of goods needed. The stabil- i
izer is never able to hit the true level.
It has been a time when men have not j
so much dreamed dreams as dreamed
false ones. Government for, of and by j
professors is not as good as the old kind.
The obsequies of price fixing are being ;
held, and few eyes are wet. Adjust
ments must be made as always they are I
made?not by freezing business, but by j
leaving it fluid; Supply and demand '
may not be heavenly twins, but they are !
a team that pull the wagon.
Germany's Military Shackle*
"The military power of Germany ia !
broken," said Hindenburg in applying i
for leave to retire from his command. I
That was before the peace terms were i
made public. The terms submitted at I
Versailles break organized German mili- !
tary power ir. a manner which Hinden- !
burg must have failed to visualize, even I
when he thought that he was prepared
for the worst.
What remains of the completest and
most efficient military machine in
Europe? The German army is to be
limited in strength to 96,000 men and
4,000 officers?about the strength of the
army of the United States in J915. The
general staff is abolished. Conscription
is done away with. In order to prevent
a repetition of Hardenberg's shrewd
rotation tactics after 1806, enlisted men
must serve for twelve consecutive years
and officers must agree to serve for
twenty-rive years. Germany is to revert
to the type of standing army in vogue
before the reign of Frederick the Great.
A modern army is impotent without
artillery and munitions. Krupp's was
the foundation stone of German mili
tarism. But Krupp's is apparently to
be dismantled. Only a few munitions
plants are to remain open, and the
exact amount of armament and muni?
tions to be retained or manufactured by
Germany is prescribed in tables at
tached to the treaty, but not yet. pub?
lished. No German arms or munitions
establishment may sell to foreign gov
ernments. it was trade of this sort
which enabled Krupp's to maintain its
output in peace time and to build up a
plant readily expanded to meet Ger?
many's needs in a world war. Germany
may neither export nor import war ma?
terials, and is forbidden to manufacture
poison gases or submarines, or to use
airplanes or seaplanes for military pur
poses.
The naval terms are equally onerous.
Germany ceases to rank among thc
major naval powers. She will retain j
six small battleships (none exceeding
10,000 tons), six light cruisers, twelve ?
destroyers and twelve torpedo boats, with !
a personnel of 15,000 men. No member
of the commercial marine is'permitted j
io have any naval training. No battle
ship can be replaced within twenty
years, no destroyer within fifteen years, ;
except such as are lost at sea.
The German fleet, in fact, becomes '
negligible. Yet this is not a blow to j
German military power at all compara- j
ble to the restriction put upon the land !
establishment Germany no longer has I
any colonies and for years to come will |
I avc n limited merchant marine. She !
needs no navy. Thc great Tirpitz fleet l
was a costly illusion. It could not help '
Germany to win the war. It made the |
loti.s of the war incvitable when its
iflegal U-boat warfare converted the
United States from a neutral into a
belligerent. The German fleet became
uhcIcsr to Germany long before it went
to Scarpa Flow.
No military nation ever before was
so ciaborately put into chains as Ger?
many now has been. Yet Germany's
population still numbers over 60,000,000
and still la warlike. How long will the
chalnfi hold? France seems to fear that
they will not bind indefinitely. She haa
demanded the demolition of all fortified
works within a zone fifty kilometres
wide on the east bank of the Rhine. It.
is an added precaution. But such a pre
j caution suggests skepticism. Prussia
recovered in a few years after the dis
memberment of 1806. Her continued
military impotency will depend now on
the moral energy with which the Allied
nations enforceithe peace terms. Ger
j many may accept the peace, but she
j will not forgive it. She will await the
appearance of other Hardenbergs and
other Bliichers., Keeping her in bonds
will require uftrelenting purpose and
sleepless vigilance.
The Plea of Fiume
Before dismissing Fiume it is weil
to remark that the fortnight's discus
sion has been sadly ilhistrative. First,
there was a general lack of knowledge.
Until recently probably a majority of
our people were not sure whether Fiume
was the name of a wine or a city.
Second, a seemingly partisan desire cx
isted to prevent the dissemination of
con-ect information. Third, let it be
confessed with humility, Americans are
prone to pick out some general principle
that seems to be pertinent, and then to
apply it as if no other principle existed.
With respect to Fiume tbe maxini
selected was that it is not just to deny
a hinterland access to the sea. Our
citizens of Italian extraction were quali
fied to give judgment as to this, but
lacked facilities for reaching public opin?
ion and were largely reduced to speech
less indignation by the outrageous way
the Fiume case was presented.
Fiume has been described as an in
tegral part of Jugo-Slav territory. It
is not and never has been. It has
been a Hungarian appanage, but with
its area of seven square miles recognized j
by Hungary as a corpas scparaium. It
has had local autonomy and its own
deputies in thc Hungarian Parlia- j
ment. Hungary was composed of three j
states-?Hungary, Croatia and Fiume.
The proposal to put it under the |
Jugo-Slav flag was thus annexationist? j
an annexation not justified by the right !
of access to the sea, for on the Croatian |
coast, particularly between Buccari and \
Carlogako, are excellent harbors, while :
Hungary, without Fiume, will be coast- '?
less. Let it be repeated that to put the '
Jugo-Slavs in possession would be uh
mitigated annexation.
Under the hinterland argument Hun- j
gary rather than Jugo-Slavia should
have Fiume. Hungarian money built
the port and the connecting railroads,
and the principal commerce has been to
and from Hungary, only 7 per cent be- ;
ing with Croatia. The Jugo-Slavs, if '
allowed, would be more likely to close !
the gateway against Hungary than Italy I
is to close it against either Hungary or I
Croatia. The settlement advocated by I
the President was a departure in two j
respects from the principles of the four- :
teen points.
Politically and commercially related
to Hungary, Fiume is ethnically and
culturally Italian. All the mayors, all |
the deputies, the members of thc mu- j
nicipal council, of the chamber of com
merce and the judges of the courts '
have long been Italians. The present
government is Italian, and on October j
30, before the signing of the armistice, '
this government declared its separation
from Hungary and its adhesion to Italy.
This action followed no bayonet election,
but was free and spontaneous.
Another misrepresentation has been
the implication that the Italians would
be toll takers from the hinterland.
Fiume under Hungarian rule has had,
as indicated above. a special status. Her
port has been free. Her people, of
course, have no desire to change a con
dition on which their prosperity is based.
Her population has formally declared
a willingness to have the port continued
free, with the peoples and thc goods
of the interior admitted without paying
duties or meeting obstacles of any kind.
As between Jugo-Slavia and Italy thc
latter's selection was rcquired not only
by ethnical rights, but by access to the
sea.
Coming From Behind
There. is dramatic truth in thc fact
that* our navy biplancs are only just
arriving upon the transatlantic scene, I
weeks and months behind their rivals.
If our men do succeed in crossing first
it will be the clearest and most famous
victory against terrific handicap that '
America ever has won.
True, the first heavier than air nia- |
chine was designed and built by Lang
ley, on the Potomac. True, the Ameri- '
can Wrights were the first to fly. Wit
ness their monument in France. But our j
nation, as so often in things military, i
refused to assist its inventive gehiuses,
and thc developmcnt of the idea that
America created passed to other lands.
!t was part of our strange refusal to
prepare in any fashion that prevented
any real progress by our army and navy
fliers in the first years of the war. While
France and England and Germany were I
embarking on the most thrilling ad- \
venture of the war, the final conquest
of the air, our country stood idle. When
we finally entered the war we could j
only follow the path of others. Peace
came before our long delayed quantity
production could make itself felt.
This was the colossal handicap which j
the army and the navy have faced, which !
Commander Towers and his fellow avia- j
tors to-day are at last close to overcom- |
ing in the most conspicuous and daring !
of .all air tests. The showing made in j
the trip to Halifax was excellent.
It is a tense and exciting race. Tho
good wishes of every American are with
our modest and courageous crews. They
are worthy successors of our pioneers
of the air, and in their name may vic?
tory be ours!
The Contiing Tower
OUR ALLIES' FOLKSONGS
II
Lullaby
[l-'rum the Equadorian of Rinaldo .\/<jirnu*i
Weep no longer, little child,
Hush.
Lie softly here
On your mother's arm.
Hush, little child.
'Rinaldo Moreno, Ecuador's foremost poet
(1829-1898), waa born at Vermicelli, a ham
let hard by Quinto, in 1S29. His parents
were poor peasants, but young Moreno
worked his way through the University of
Ecuador, where his lyric ability won him
the distinction of being class poet. The
"Lullaby" is perhaps his best known poem,
its poignant simplicity and sheer arresting
ness giving it a stark distinction.
"So far as the Postoffice is concerncd,
people have just about given up hope. It
begins to look as if things will never be
any better while Mr. remains at
the head of the department. All is muddle
and humbug and dishonesty and waste and :
extravagance. And so in the Postoffice no- !
body takes Mr. - seriously. Hc is |
regarded as a joke, and a joke in rather ;
bad taste. If you have any complaint to ;
make in any postal matter-don't. You
won't get any redress, or if you do get it
it will cost you so much trouble and an- \
noyance that it won't be worth getting."
Thus the Sydney, Australia, Triad, com
menting on Mr. Webster of the P. O. D.
It is a s. s. thought that our own depart?
ment is so much better administered.
It May Be a Shell Shocked Ear, Ours
Sir: I have sworn that no con game of your
Conning Tower shall make me contribute to any
column but my own. So this is not a contrib,
but only a request that you contribute still fur?
ther to tho enlightenment of your own teaders. :
Having told them that your shell-pink ear flndg
only one iambic foot in the syllables which my
rlull organ reads "By the n-lev" i not "By the
elev") ; and also having stuck to it that you find
only one fc'ot in "In Chrisendom" ; will you now
kindly explain by what shell game the said shcll
pink ear makes five feet out o? the four syllables :
of that other pentameter line of your.-. '"rhc !
Crowns of Kings" ? Jon.\ Cobbin.
If our geodetic survey got. five feet out
of "THte Crowns of Kings," ours is a punkcr
ear than pink. But the impression we got
was that it was an irregular line, such as
(we open the office Shakespeare) "and pas- i
sion in the gods," "For Hecuba," or "0 ;
vengeance!" (Hamlet, Act II, Sc. 2.)
Kut Mr. Corbin's ear is at fault when he
says "a contrib," meaning a contribution. :
A contrib is one who contributes. Welcomc. '
0 new contrib!
CONFESSION
In the days when peace was real,
The lure of the West
Carried me to the hills of Wyoming,
To the land of sun, and dreams?and
WORK.
The pinto ponies grazed at ease
Over miles of rough, unfenced hills and
valleys;
And a thousand head of dull, painted cattle
Waited for my coming.
Before (he sun peeped over the dividc
I now called home,
A hoarse old termagant
Would "Jerry" me to life,
And in a dream l'd ris? to greet the sun.
Cows are lovely on a canvas;
And grazing horses lift mv soul to gracc
But, oh?
A dozen oows to milk,
A dozen steeds to corral for the day's work,
A hundred chicks to feed,
A barn to clean
All for a morning mess of pottage.
And all the while the great outdoors
Hummed carelessly about me.
The singing bce provoked me with hia
roadside joy?
How could 1 stop to speak to him
With a forty acre licid of hay to mow?
(Does that answer you, Walt Whitman?)
Or watch the coyote slink behind a wooded
hill
At my coming.
All joy, all beauty snatched in fragments
Painful because incomplete.
And then the long, long aftcrnoon.
Tho consciousness of living in a paradisc
of beauty,
Where joy turns to bitterness
As it flces.
The night drawr, on ?
And bitter herbagc is the evening meal.
My little cot,
In God's wild desert tomb,
Beeomes a dreamless pallet of death.
That split.s the even spells of joy and pain.
One day
The heavy morning air
Trembled at the sound of steam.
A travelling sawyer with his tooting engine i
And its low. fat smokestack
Wabbled up the road.
Each cough and puff brought back the |
buried past.
Where? What?
Ye god?,!
The FERRY-BOATS!
I saw those sweating fioats, .j
Crowded with winged, happy soul?,
Undulating on a blue, liquid sky,
? My bond:-- fe!l from me.
I was free,
Free as the sawyer and his roving engine. j
i
Back to the sea,
To the docks and the swish of the ferry- 1
boat's backwash,
To the rising spires of masts,
To the rattle of hnmmcrs and the -houts
of dockers,
To a prison?to the arms of my own home
"nvn- JERRY.
An athaletic insurance man is Charlcs
E. Chipley, of Sault Stc. Marie, Mich., who,
take it. from his letterhead, deals in Rcalit.y
and Fire Casulty Insurance.
Not that we should blame that patriot
if he grenaded The Tribunc'a proofreader
who allowed him to stand a3 Arthur Somers
Boche.
There enn be no doubt that the waging
of war was a luxury to Germany.
Why not make her add the 10% tax to
the indemnity? F. T A.
Allies May Yet Lose War
By Leo Pasvolsky
Editor of thc "Russktiye Slovo" (a Russian newspaper of New
York) who has spent several months at the Peace Conference
GERMANY has lost much, but one thing
she has not lost. She still has that
same spirit of economic aggression
which had characterized all her interna?
tional efforts during a decade and a half
preceding the war. During that short
period of time, by placing everything at the
disposal of economic aggression, making
politics, scienco and even national spirit
subservient to economic aggression, Ger?
many had forged ahead at a marvellous
speed and with remarkable force. She still
has the same spirit to-day.
The change in Germany's government cer
tainly does not atTect this most important
factor in her life. If anything, it strength
ens it. The same men who were responsi
ble for these policies under the imperial
regime still remain in places where they
can win even greater power in this respect.
Germany still exists as a factor of economic
aggression, perhaps rendered even more
dangerous in-this respect by the necessity
of the burden which the war has imposed
upon her.
Cut off from the sea by the loss of her
commercial navy, disappointed in herdreams
of expansion toward the East through Con
stantinople and Asia Minor, Germany must
of necessity turn her attention to the only
remaining possibility of her economic
strength?to Russia.
If Germany acquires Russia economically
her own economic future is secured. She
will know how to organize, to exploit, the
vast treasures of natural resources, and
the source of unlimited man power which is
known historically as Russia. In order to
do this it is necessary for her either to
keep Russia broken up into small parts or
else to push her back to a reactionary and
monarchistic state order. Either of these
arrangements would render Russia so wcak
that she would necessarily have to depend
upon Germany and would be an open field
for German penetration.
Enter the Slavs
Every act of the Allied countries which
brings the situation in Russia' nearcr to
either one of these possibilities is, indeed, a
holiday for Germany. Every indecision.
every delay, every Allied blunder with re?
spect to Russia, is a boon for Germany, for
it brings Germany nearer to the goal which
she has sought in Russia so insistently and
which she is still seeking to-day.
The Russian problem is not a problem of
Bolshevism alone. Bolshevism is merely a
manifestation of one of the phases of what
is taking place in Russia?a manifestation,
unfortunately, so spectacular that it over
shadows and overcrowds everything else.
The question of military assistance to those
who are fighting against the Bolsheviki is,
after all, a matter of great importance to?
day, but of small importance in the whole
scheme of the Russian situation. The
statesmen of tho Allied world seem to for
get entirely when they are creating a num?
ber of new Slav states that they are pre
paring a way for the direct entry into the
field of Central and Western Europe of the
fourth element?the Slavs. The Anglo
Saxons, the Latins and the Teutons so far
really decided the fate of the world. A
powerful fourth element is being created,
more powerful and more important than
Russia ever was. Rcgenerated Russia?and
The Yanks on the Marne
[An anonymotia song of the A. E. F.,
quoted in an article by George Pattullo in
"The Saturday Evening Post."]
OH, THE English and thc Irish, and tho
'owlin' Scotties, too,
The CanuQks and Austrilee-uns, and the
'airy French poilu;
Thc only Uiings that bothered us, a year j
before we know,
Was 'ow in 'rll the Yanks'd look, an' wot i
in 'ell they'd do.
They 'adn't 'ad no trynin'; they didn't
know thc gime;
They 'adn't never marched it much; their I
shootin' was the sime;
An' tlie only thing that bothered us that
day in lawst July
Was 'ow in 'ell the line'd 'olti if they
should r o n aw'y.
The leggy. no^y new 'uns, just come acrosst i
the sea!
Wc couldn't. 'e'.p but wonder 'ow in 'ell I
their guts'd be;
An' the only thing that bothered us in all ?
our staggerin' ranks
Was wot in 'ell would 'appen w'en the 'Uns
'ad 'it tlie Yanks.
My word, it 'appencd sudden w'en the drive !
'ad first begun;
Wc secn the Yanks a-runnin'?Gaw Blimy,
how they run!
But the only thing that bothered us that j
seen thc chase begin
Was 'ow in 'ell lo stop 'em 'fore. they got j
into Berlin.
They didn't. 'ave no tactics but the bloody
manual;
They 'adn't learned no orders but "Ooray"
ahd "Give 'em 'ell!" |
But tho only thing that bothered us about
them leggy lads
Was 'ow in 'ell to get the chow to feed I
their Kamerads.
Oh, tho English aiuT thc Irish, and the
'owlin' Scotties, too,
The Canucks and Austrilcc-uns. and the
'airy French poilu;
The only thing that bothered us don't i
bother us no more.
It's only v.-'y in 'ell we didn't. know thc
Yanks before.
Certainly Is Humiliating
(.From The Grand Rapids Free Press.)
We suppose there is nothing more annoy
ing to the man who haa just shown that
the league of nations is all wrong than to
have thc man who sweeps the hotel lobby
tell him to move, please.
Whether
(From Tlu BaHimore /ItiwriconJ
Thc main question now i? whether or not
the fine Italian hand is going to sign that
treaty.
] her regeneration must come, in some form
: or other, sooner or later?reconstructed
Poland, Czecho-Slovaks and the South Slav
federation are now becoming and are bound
j to become a most important political ele
I mcnt in international life. And is it not
clear that the direction in which this new
element will tend will be determined al?
most entirely by the direction in which
Russia will turn?
A disorganized Russia, dismembered,
weakened by the continuation of the civil
war, abandoned by the Allies to her own
late, is bound to come to such forms o*
state life and to such a condition of eco?
nomie breakdown that she would not be
; ablc to help becoming prey to Germany.
;' Certainly no buffer states l.'ke Poland and
j Czecho-Slovakia can prevent this. They
: themselves, unless Russia is strong and un
! less the Allied influence is uppermost in
Russia, must eventually succumb to the
; penetration of Germany, which will seek it
not perhans so much for its own sake as for
the sake of obtaining ways into Russia.
The Russo-German Danger
It must be constantly bornc in mind that
i the league of nations, as contemplated to
day, is constituted without Germany and
Russia. The draft of the constitution of
the league of riations, which is now before
I the peace conference, in its tentative classi
iication of the powers of the world rele
| gates Germany and Russia to the ranks of
smaller powers. No one can.tell when Ger
; many and Russia will become members of
the league of nations and will thereby come
I to bo affected by the league pledges. And
| while they rcmain outside of the league is
; there any power on earth that can preven;
j Germany's penetration into Russia and
' Germany's virtual domination there?
If the league of nations is to become a
living thing, it is imperative for the Allies
i to render a Russo-German combination im
j possible. For such a combination, outside
! of the league, would constitute a menace
? that would prove fatal to the existence of
; the league itself. There seems to be on!y
| one way to prevent this, and that way is to
keep Russia on the side of the Entente and
not to abandon her to Germany.
From the point of vicw of international
affairs the struggle in Russia to-day is be?
tween those elements which have already
once consciously betrayed Russia to Ger?
many, and which, by their activites, have
reduced Russia to such a state that sho
may become prey to Germany, and those
elements which were always loyal to tho
Allies, which want the Allies to exert their
influence in Russia and thus save Russia
from Germany and seve her for the Allies.
The choice of the Allies is clear. They
must choose either the necessity of aiding
those Russian elements which can still save
Russia for democracy or such a policy as
would lead them to abandon these elements,
losing Russia to Germany, and with her
losing the peace. Every consideration of
onlightened statesmanship must eventuallv
lead the Allies to envisage these funda
mental facts in the most serious of the in?
ternational situations which the world is
facing to-day. Once these fundamentals
are recognized, the line of action which
such recognition would dictate would follow
logically if it is not too late.
Fellowship With Lust
(From The Toledo Bladc)
The president of one of our more promi
nent universities proposcs that university
circles shall take ,back into the fold the
professors and educational leaders of Ger?
many on condition that they make a clean
confession of their "amazing prostitution
of scholarship and science to national
lust."
That is softness of the consistency of
the thinnest mush.
The university professors, school leaders
and theologians of Germany were the very
ones who moulded the thought of the peo?
ple to lust and conquest. For more than
a generation they have not ceased the
diabolical teaching of the children and
youth of Germany that German kultur
must triumph over the world. They kept
it up until the Germans were driven out
of the last trench.
To receive these men into the fellow?
ship of American universities on condition
that they say "We are sorry" is no less a
crime against civilization than to give
every cold-blooded murdcrer his liberty on
signing the statement, "I regret that I
did it."
Let the years of deveiopment of univer?
sity spirit and teaching in Germany de
termine whether Germany's educators shall
be rcstarcd to our fellowship. For the
present we should keep our American uni?
versities entirely free from the presence,
influence and odium of the German "pro?
fessor."
The General's Teakettle
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: General Alexander, in his statement
correcting the popular misnomer conccrn
ing the "Lost Battalion," reminds one of
the story of the ship's steward and the
captain'S teakettle.
Entering the captain's cabin in trepida
tion, the Irishman inquired:
"Sir, is a thing lost when you know where
it is?"
"Why, no." said the captain, "it is safe
if you know where it is."
"Then. sir, your teakettle is safe at the
bottom of the sea. It just went overboard."
CHARLES J. RYAN.
Brooklyn, May 6, 1919.
Our Winnings
(From The WaxhingUm Star)
People nsk, What does the United States
get? Why, the covenant absolutely com
pels Siam to protect the United States in
case Andorra runs amuck.
A Fulmination on Fiumc
(From The Oklahoma OHahonuin)
President Wilson may also be added to
the list of those who have made Romc
howl.
The Bolshevik Engiru
From Power Plant Engineerivg
Some of the Turbines and Dynamos with
the Pistons and Rods, got together and
talked over their grievances. One Dvnan
pointing a foot toward the Fly-wheH said0'
"Why should we all go on getting all W
and working hard to make eiec'Ticity f!'
the world when that idle Fly-wheel does
nothing but whirl around on his shaft' We
who produce the power, should get all th.
credit and attention and care. Look at
him. He sticks up above everything ei*c
Everybody sees him and talks about him.
He takes up room and gets painted and
fussed over, but he's absolutelv useless ??
Then the Turbine joined in with his shrill
voice: "You're right, Mr. Dynamo; that Fly
wheel belongs to the bourgeoisie. He's never
made a watt or a horsepower in the nineteen
years he's been in this plant. I>e watched
him carefully. He never hurries or gct?
? heated. He just goes round and round He's
kept all polished up and looks dignitied and
doesn't work at all; while I'm grinding away
night and day, chewing up 150 pounds of
; steam and turning out light and power. It
\ isn't fair that guy should get away with it
; and ride all day on the shaft that you fello\va
j work to keep turning."
| Up spoke the Piston-rod: "You said some.
thmg. Brother Turbine. IVe had my eye on
that fellow, too. . . . This is a power
plant, and those who don't make power
' haven't any place here."
I The Steam-pipe broke out with great heat
; then: "I am with you, boys. That Fly-whoel
does nothing but sponge on us, who do the
; real work. . . . He's a robber, that's
j what he is; and the day of the idle plutocrat
I is going to close. We fellows create all the
; power in this plant, and we should realize it,
j and not let ourselves be exploited and our
: means of livelihood stolen by an idler, who
! does nothing. . . . Let's put him out."
"Good for you," spoke up a Boiler. "I've
j been here twenty-six years and I agree.
j . . . Why don't we boycott that Fly-wheel
[ and refuse to work for him any longer. He
stays in a nice, clean, cool room, while I
j sweat in coal and ashes all day here. whera
| there's no sunlight or air and where it's
: always hot. He gets all the comfort and I
; get all the drudgery."
So the Turbine and Dynamo and Piston
? rod and Steam-pipe and Boiler decided to or
i ganize and talked about a name. They
; couldn't agree, so they adjourned for a later
i meeting.
By that time their ideas had grown and
; they decided to start a movement to make
j war on all the fly-wheels of the world. And
?? they organized the "International Power
Producers' Soviet." They chose red as their
; emblem and "Down with all idlers!" as their
battle cry.
They decided to hold a parade to arousa
; the other plants; but just as they were
? starting out a steady voice spoke up from
: behind the Engine. "Boys, wait a minute;
I want to talk to yo:i." It was the Governor
> speaking, and the "reds" stopped to listen,
for they had always had some respect for
him. They had heard that if he quit the
whole plant would likely be wrecked, and
they would all be out of a job for good.
So they waited to hear him.
He went on: "Go easy, boys. Don't forget
there are outlaws known as 'dead centre' and
'sudden peaks' that can break in here and
make tremendous trouble. It's Fly-wheel who
keeps them in order. If it wasn't for him
'dead centre' would hold us up so we couldn't
start up; and if Fly-wheel wasn't on guard
'sudden peaks' would break in with his gang
of heavy loads and we couldn't withstand
him* Then we'd lose our jobs, for our out
sidc customers would leave us and thcra
wouldn't be any power plant in opcration."
A Pump, who had not been heard from
before, spoke up. "I don't see why we should
pay much attention to what the Governor
says. I've run for eighteen years without a
governor and I've pumped 250,000,000 gal
lons of water. I'm wise to what that party
wants. He knows that he doesn't produca
any power, either, and he's afraid that if
we unite and organize we'll throw him out,
too. . He's never done any real
work. . . ."
In reply, the Governor said: "You may all
do as you please. If you throw out either
the Fly-wheel or me, you'll all soon be out
of a job and starving. But maybe youll
have to before you learn the lesson."
Then everybody joined in at once. Some
wanted to consider what the Governor said,
and began to call themselves Conservativr?..
Othtrs joined with Steam-pump anc called
themselves Radicals. They were for throw
ing out all Valves and Meters that might
in any way control the operation of the
plant.
And so the argument raged. Mcantime,
Fly-wheel and Governor went on about. their
tasks, working with the Conservative3 and
trying to keep things going so that tna
Radicals would not wreck the plant and
throw everybody out of a job.
That's where matters stood at Cie l*st
report.
A "Who's Loony Now?" Club
(From Thc Baltimorc Sun)
Mr. Chaloner, who had to flce from New
York nearly a score of years ago to insure
his personal liberty, has at last been given a
clean mental bill of health by a New York
judge. The demurrer to his suit by the New
York newspaper which he charged with libel
alleged that he was non compos mevtis, and
made his sanity an issue. This gave him thc
opportunity to file with the court a history of
his case, the grounds on which he had been
declared insane in New York, and thc testi?
mony of psychological and medical experts
of other places in his favor.
His own evidence shows him to be an ex
tremely eccentric person, but the New York
court, like trlose in the St>uth, declines to con?
sider eccentricity a proof of inaanity. If it
had done so, what would have become of hun?
dreds of learned psychologists, poets, cditovs,
statesmen and other pcrsons of unusual in
tellectual pattern? In Chaloner's triumph
they triumphed all. The right of life, liberiy
and eccentricity is now assured. A man may
believe in ghosts, mediums, mascots and hoo
doos without fear of being shut up in an
asylum. This is something to be thankful
for at a period which is producing so many
mental suspects. We Iwpc Mr. Chaloner will
form a national organization of th? "Who's
Loony Now.Society." We believe it would 1>?
powerful in numbers, If not in genius.
Credit Where lt Belongs
(From Thc h'aitimore rt.nmfoa.nj
An octogenarian attributce his long lif?
todailyexerciseonthefiddlo. But why no*
give the charity of his neighbors credit .