New-York tribune. [volume], May 15, 1919, Page 12, Image 12

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fint to Last?the Tmth: Nsws?Editorials
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THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1919
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The Soviet Madness
Typically Mr. Villard, who opposed to
the end our entering the war and pub
licly deplored our final declaration of
hostilities, has come out for the soviet
as the latest salvation of mankind.
Among other remarks, he praised the ad
mirable soviet of Munich, whose leaders
executed old men and women as part of
their programme for introducing the
Lenine Utopia upon earth. The sooner
we introduce the soviet system in Amer?
ica the better, was his central thought.
There has been considerable of this
bosh about the soviet among" our high
browed radicals. They will stand up and
prove most eloquently how much more
democratic this newly impro\.sed inven
tion of illiterate Russia is than our
American representative system, con
structed laboriously by the slow evolu
tion of centuries. In Russia Lenine sees
the soviet system quite frankly as the i
short-cut to communism, to the abolition j
of private property and the happy daya
of palaces for all. Over here its advo
cates proceed more cautiously, with
more patter concerning the \heory of
government and less touching the ele
raental business of grab. They talk like
Mr. Villard, pointing out the defects of
our present system and arguing how
easily we could substitute this prettv
new device in its place and be happy
ever afterward.
Ab a matter of fact, the soviet in Rus?
sia is exactly what it would be any
where else. It would pioduce exactly
the same kind of life and the same kind
of government in America a? it does in
Russia or Budapest or Munich?if the
American people were primitive enough
and silly enough and sufficiently igno
rant and untrained in democratic gov?
ernment to stand for it. It was used by
the new czars of Russia because it was
certain to produce exactly the result
they were after, a government of class,
for the class, by self-perpetuating
tyrants.
The handworkers of America are in a
tremendous majority, and they could to
morrow, if they wished, take charge of
the government and run it for their own
selfish class ends. They do not because
they are intelligent Americans, not illit?
erate Russians, and they know that that
way lie madness and self-destruction.
The soviet system is an ingenious device
for spreading and encouraging precisely
this form of madness. In esser.ee it pro?
vides that representatives shall be cho?
sen by occupation, by shops, by facto?
ries, instead of by communities. The ob
ject and the natural result are to make
every one intensely class conscious and
wholly selfish in his attitude toward his
government. So the people vote and so
the representative naturally acts.
By slow evolution we in America,
thanks to our high degree of education
and long experience in self-government,
have developed our larger and nobler al
legiance, the obligation of the voter to
look primarily to the whole community,
to the whole nation, in casting his ballot.
We often fall short of our ideal in vot
ing, our representatives are often not
what they should be. Our system does
not work. perfectly. No system involv
ing human beings can work perfectly.
But our system ha3 developed the high
est degree of human liberty and human
happiness ever achieved upon the face
of the earth. It has done so, funda
mentally, by teaching men and women
to be Americans first and individtials
and classes second.
The soviet system would exactly re
verse this process. We do not have to I
guess. We can see ft in operation in
Russia, in Hungary; until lately in
Munich. It is the same in all. Under a
pretence of democracy it foists upon a
nation the most diabolical of tyrannies.
Jfc annihilates t! freedom of the press.
Tt kills or h:x:.- : the best brains of
the nation nment, in shop, in
commerce. Onij the proletariat is per
mittcd to vote. Various excuses are
made for this condition; but it is the
conceded fact. The simple explanation
seems to he that the soviet syatem is or?
ganized selftshness gone mad and that
the proletariat under it will not hear of
either capitalists or bourgcoisie partici
pating in the government.
Nor ia this all. Democratic govern?
ment under the soviet system is a farce,
for it naturally and irtevitably produces
a boss rule. The reason for this is clear.
Tha soviet system necessarily involves
the greatest indirection ever prop^ned irj
a suppoaedly popular government. Direct
elections have been the increasing de?
mand of our experienced, liberal democ
racies. In Russia the peasant or the
ic.op worker votes for Just one delcgatc,
the delegatc of his soviet, and the unit
is, roughly, one delegate for every 500
workers. This is concededly the heart
and soul of the system, that the work
mcn in any factory can elect their own
personal representative, weil known to
them, and can recall him easily whenever
they wish.
Now these soviet delegates in turn
elect delegates to the All-Russian As?
sembly, and this Assembly elects an ex?
ecutive committee of about 250 mem?
bers, who elect the Council of People's
Commissars. To parallel the present
Russian system in America to-day, in
respect to indirection, we should have to
conceive of electing only aldermen, who
would meet by states and choose dele?
gates to a huge national congress, which
would elect a smaller legislative con?
gress, which would elect the President
and Cabinet. And even this is not as
extreme as the Russian system, for the
alderman represents many more constit
ucnts than the soviet delegate.
Could a more peri'ect system be de?
vised to permit political trickery and
bossism? To be sure, each individual
soviet has the power to recall the dele?
gate at will. But the nation has no
power to recall Lenine by direct vote. It
chose him only at fourth hand. It never
votes as a nation. It never votes direct
ly for any national officer, executive or
legislator.
It is entirely conceivable that this in
direct system of organized selfishness,
readily manipulated by tyrants to their
ends, is the best form of representation
of which ignorant Russia, fumbling for
the first time with democracy, is capable. !
But to foist such a system upon Amer?
ica would be madness, a stupidity of
which only muddle-headed folly would
dream.
The Decapitated Eagle
"Off with his head! So much for
Buckingham." If the bill decapitating
the double-headed eagle of Austria and
reducing that marvel of nature to the
single head customary in the species
passes the parliament at Vienna, the
visible symbol. of the imperial house will
comport with the reality. The Dual Mon
archy is no more, and it is fitting that
this symbol should depart along with the
universal "K. K." which attested the fact
that the Emperor of Austria was also
King of Hungary?Kaiserliche-Konig
liche. The "hysterical bird," like the
American eagle in the old ditty, may
"flap his wings and crow," but it will
be with a feebler voice than of yore.
Yet the double-headed eagle had noth?
ing to do at the time of its birth with
the Dual Monarchy. Early in the four
teenth century the Emperor Louis V chose
two eagles for the national device, for
what reason it were idle to speculate.
The idea did not appeal to his successor,
who accordingly merged the eagles, as it
were, and gave the united bird two heads.
Thus through all the chances and the
changes of this mortal life it has re
mained. What Hapsburg, adding to
dominions by force or fraud or fortunate
marriage, ever dreamed that this fierce
and supernatural token of imperial
power would be thus butchered to make
an enemy holiday? The new eagle will
hardly scream at all; he will instead be
sad and civil, as suits his fortunes.
Ichabod! lchabod! the glory is departed.
It is not easy to see the future of the
diminished and fallen state. It was
Charles V, retiring to St. Just, who said,
as quoted by the poet:
"Most like the dead before my death
am I;
Like the old empire ruined, and fit to
die."
The Charles who has gone to Switzer
land might apply the words to himself
and his country, too. Austria may not
be quite ruined, but it is difficult to
imagine her rebuilt to her former pro
portions. Her mutilated eagle speaks
eloquently of the change that makes
Vienna a provincial capital, of less con
sequence even than the upstart Berlin.
More Houses
The organizations of tenants, the com
mittees of public-spirited citizens, the
magistrates who have held landlords to
strict account in eviction cases, the semi
riots that have occurred when the
crowded were crowded too far_all
these have contributed to mitigate rent
profiteering. Thousands of apartments
now are occupied by families who pay
less than the owner could get if heart- I
less or indifferent to the opinion of his !
fellows. It is natural in the present
juncture to hate a landlord, but let us
be fair enough to concede that many
have not insisted on their pound of flesh.
Yet common sense leaves no doubts,
however salutary the deterrents to rent
raising, that ultimately tho price of a
flat will be what it will bring?will re
flect the influence of supply and demand.
Unless a supply of residence places is
increaBed it is idle to expect rents to
fall.^ Values are going up, and the new
own'ers will contend that more revenue
is necessary to give them a fair return.
Indeed there are reports of dummy sales
to enable owners to escape the odium of
enhanced incomes.
More houses?this is the only cure.
And more houses wijl be provided only
by private capital Bceking to increase
itself. The talk of municipal housing
is bosh?is propaganda. Tho city has
not funds with which to build nor tho
necessary legal authorily. Begin munic?
ipal housing, and, unless tho businosH
were entered into on a large scale, thc
increaso in houses would bo Bllght, for
private capital would not then enter the
field.
How is the private investment to be
promoted? By giving builders n chonce
to make money, and by eneourajrin* men
and women to erect their own house*,
As things now aro, aa soon as a man
constmcts a house the assessor eomea
aroyja4 tnd sayg the iir*fc thing the
builder must do is to pay over 2.50 per
cent yearly on the value of his building.
If money is worth 6 per cent the
builder must see an 8 !^ per cent return
to be warranted in going ahead. We
don't lay a consumption tax on wheat,
but we do on houses, something of equal
necessity. A lifting of the tax which
paralyzes home building would populate
vacant urban lands. The farmer now is
able to borrow from the agricultural
bank. The time would seem ripe for an
urban bank for a similar purpose. Why
should the rural population be favorcd?
It is nonsense to contend a city loan
would not be good if the loan were kept
within reason.
If anything good is to be worked out
of the situation it will not be by the
manufacture of wind either by the poli
tician or his companion pest, the chronic
agitator. The problem, if solved at all,
will be solved by men of sense and judg?
ment Of course the chances are noth?
ing will be achieved except by the slow
processes of economie law, and that
then there will be an oversupply of
houses almost as evil in consequence as
the present undersupply. But the pub?
lic, in the way of experiment, might try
being intelligent.
The Scheidemann Moanings
And now will come no inconsiderable
number of persons to echo the whinings
of Scheidemann, and also no inconsider?
able number to express irritated wonder
ment over the latest exhibit of German
psychology.
But what was Scheidemann expected
to say? Did any one seriously believe
he would rejoice over the terms of peace?
Was it not inevitable for him to declare
President Wilson is a faith-breaker and
that the conditions are such as to reduce
Germany to servitude?
Instead of giving an excuse of sur
prise, it seems as if the German Chan
cellor's reactions are as understandable
as the squcalings of a pig caught in a
gate or the brayings of a donkey when
asked to do something no donkey likes.
Sometimes it would seem as if there
was too great a tendency to attribute
subtlety to the Germans.
Scheidemann is the chief of a govern?
ment which would retain power. Should
it not make a loud noise it would be ac
cused of consenting to the mixing of the
bitter medicine?would be attacked for
not getting a better bargain. It says
that the peace is awful to convince its
supporters that it has done everything
possible to soften the hard hearts of
Paris. J
The German Socialist leader is not
difficult to classify. He is a public man
of the type which infests all communi
ties, which has an instinct for fioating
on the eddies of opinion. When tbe war
was launched his record required him
to oppose it, but Germany was shouting
for the lustful adventure. So he adopt?
ed the view that the Teuton had been
attacked by the Slav. When Belgium
was invaded he accepted the fable that |
Belgium had been non-neutral. When
Petrograd became temporarily pro-Ally j
and the future looked dark for Germany I
he was selected by the Kaiser to man- i
age the proposed Stockholm conferences.
Then when the Germans, through Lenine
and Trotzky, became masters of Russia
and the Brest-Litovsk treaty was writ?
ten Scheidemann became silent and re
mained so until the German offensive in
the West was wrecked. The Chancellor
has no stubborn convictions to prevent
him from accommbdating his views to
the demands of the hour.
The complaint that the Fourteen Points
have not been respected is childish, but
when men can find nothing mature to
say they are commonly childish. The
war ended in military disaster. Peace
did not come because a year before Presi?
dent Wilson, like other Ally leaders, had
drawn up a formula of principles which
the Germans suddenly discovercd were
just and righteous.
On October 1,1918,Prince Max of Baden
arrived in Berlin to become Chancellor.
He found on his desk, ready for signa
ture, a dispatch asking for an armistice.
prepared by the military command. Con?
ditions were so desperate" he was told
something must be done at once. Of
course he had to avoid assigning the
true reason for the approach. Going
through his portfolio, Prince Max dug
out President Wilson's speech of the
Fourteen Points. It was as good as
any other?was better, for by exagger
nting minor differences Germany might
divide the Allies. It is not improbable
that Bcrnstorff suggested that Presi?
dent Wilson be saluted as the peace
maker.
The motive for playing up tho Four?
teen Points was thus so obvious that it
is strange any were so gullible as to
be caught by the trick. But some were
caught, and the seed of the idea was
planted that our terms in some way
were holier than those of other peoples.
The legend was almost blown Into ac
ceptance when a hoatload of trainec!
journalists was sent to Paris and it be?
came apparently their duty to spread
Gorman valuation3 of the Fourteen
Points.
Official Germany has little present
hope of getting a rovision of tho treaty.
But an attempt la worth making. it
will at least servo to break the news
to the German people?may so Infiame
them against foroigners ns to make them
forgct that Germany's real foes are
within.
The Liberty Loan machine, now to bo
eerapped, should have a monument ln
scribed "Public Efflclenry,"
Now, as in No Man'H Land, the Teu?
ton cry is "Kameradl"
There is more than an empty atomach
behind Bolahevlsm in America.
The Conning Tower
_j
Professors at the University of Pennsyl?
vania are getting increases of from 10 to
25 per cent and increases at other univer
sities are imminent. This is undoubtedly
owing to the dropping of Latln and Greek.
If the studies of English, Music, and Phil
osophy also be discontinued, it may some
day bc possible to be a professor without
benefit of father-in-law.
The study of Latin and Greek helps a
man to spell, but, as a tiring business man
tells us, spelling is woman's work. "I can
buy a good speller for $25 a week," he said.
And how can you argue with a business
man? We, for one, simply listen.
Our Allies' Love Songs
IV
I.ullaby
[From the Bollvian]
Hush, little baby.
rio not cry.
Rest ln safely upon the arr
Of your mother.
Cease your wceplng.
Aide Memoire
Sir: Not that I wish to break into the
Stalactite of Scintillation, but?you see,
I've promised to lend an office mate a cer?
tain memory course which I have completed,
and if you were to stick this under the
Bolivian folk-song I would see it at break
fast and rcmembcr to bring the dam thing
down to the office. K. 0. W.
It is a new thing for the Germans to
sign a peace treaty, so the hesitation is
understandable. The first insurance ap
plication we signed we hesitated over, too,
and we wcren't certain it wasn't a "mur
derous scheme."
THE PRIMORDIAL RAG
Sir: Xow that we old folks are dodder
in,g and mumbling about the "good old
songs" and times, allow me to look up
from my grucl and show a faint fiash of
my old sporting spirit.
How weil I remembcr dressing up in my
white duck trousers, ox-blood colored shirt,
three-inch high stiff collar and ready-made
four-in-hand tic, ox-blood also in hue. It
was "band concert ni,??ht" for the Norwood
Bra?s Band, the best band in Massachu?
setts. Yes, sir! And then jumping on my
safety and pedalling up to the ball
grounds in the velvet twilight.
And along about the middle of the pro?
gramme. after they had played "Hearts and
Flowers" and "The High School Cadets,"
and "The Washington Post" as an encore,
(hey ripped out a new tune, a tune with a
queer, fascinating, wiggly rhythm. It
caught lhe fancy of the circling crowd of
gold-belted, wide-sleaved girls, flirting with
the local and out-ot'-town sports, like a
match in a haystack. Again and again the
band played it, although there wasn't a
soul in the crowd who ever had heard it
before. And I, because I had taken music
lessons of him for years, crawled up on
the bandstand and asked Bernie Colburn,
the dapper and jovial bandmaster, what the
name of that tune wa.s.
"That?" says Bernard. "Oh, that's a new
little thing called 'The New Buily.' Cute,
ain't it ? Devilish hard to play right,
though! Got a funny tempo!"
Thus May Irwin 'brought ragtime to
Norwood.
And I'll wager a Godey print to a box
of I'Old Judge" cigarcttes that "The New
Buily" was the first ragtime piece ever
written. \V. W. E.
We doubt whether it was. Probably May
Irwin's own "Mamle, Come Kiss Your
Honey Boy" antedated "Tlie New Buily."
And George Evans's "Standin' on the Cor
nor, Didn't Mean No Harm" may have come
before either. . . . Our first conscious
ness of ragtime came when we heard Ned
Wayburn play the accompaniment for Miss
[rwin'a "The New Buily," in?though here
our memory shifts into first speed "The
Widow Jones."
From the Colossus Himself
Sir: For the benefit of the readers of your
Eiffel of Erudition, the Harts Corner-White Plains
road, known officially aa "C. H. 1370," was in
the letting of April 30, 1919, nnd I am to-day
approvincr the contract, and as soon as thc L. of
N. is working smoothly wc may be in a position
to take up the Neufchateau-St. Blin Highway and
put it in the pcrfect condition your oxacting
contribs demand. F. S. G.
One of our favorite Kin Hubbard para
graphs is "'It wuz almost cool enough t'
go without furs last evenin',' said Tawney
Apple to-day." And we like Mr. Roy K.
Moulton's "It seems as though it is almost,
warm enough Tor the girls to put on their
furs" almost: as much.
The Republicans, of course, view with
alarm; but the Democrats 14-point with
j)!"d
Hosiery and the Drama
Sir: Rabbi Wise seems rather hard on
the hosiery buyers -who doubtless do write
plays, since everybody else does. But per
haps he rcads Tho New York Times, ancl
formed his opinion of the h. b.s after read?
ing these lines in your cstcemed con
temporary:
The only time that a woman will really endure
a mouso is when the nice little gray fellow is
embroidered, as a joke, on a pair of Etoekings.
There are any number of these joke F.tockings, and
the joke romos hish, for the Btocldngs range in
Price from .?>;, to ?25. There are turkeys for
Thanksgiving, lobsters, cupids. n clock face with
the hands at one and the words beneath : "Stand
off." There is the clock face with no words and
bags from which ealt is eplllinr;, one with no
rentiment, and another with tho words: "You'ro
frcsh." There is one man who bp.:) all hls nocks
embroidered with gay little sentences, provrrbs,
or happy thoughts around tho top nt $6 per pair.
But then, of eour.<o, you don't havo to i
buy ihoso stockings, or see these plays, or '
listen to n Bcrmon hy Rabbi WiHe,' or evon j
read Tho Tribune:- a retort that Touch- '
stoue might, have cnlled tho Counterchcck ;
Amiable - if-you-know-what-I-mean.
_ W. T. L.
The influencn of "H. M. S, Plnafore" la
felt n the A. E. V. A sign on the French
movla housa r.t Chaumont ror.entlv an
nouncod: "Officiat Pictures of tho United. l
States Navy as Authorl-.-.ed by Sir Danlols
Secretary of United States Navy.''
Tho Governor ha? algned. tha bill ex
emptlng newapapera from tha provleMona
of tho law regulattng tha hours of t)m<
ployment of women In fnotorlea, Women
oontrlbs, blesa their typewrlterH and pfeub
penn, may then worU twenty-four houi-B
a day lf thoy like,
Young Mr, Berla fiidis probably will be
ropudlated by the real vermilion element,
Ho aaid he believed ln tho American form
of government to lhe extent of the Decla
rution of Independenee,
"In this country," writea Iiita Wollman
in the rimart flot, "etorioq aro Bupposod tQ
havo endlnga," But that isn't the worat
of it,
So are colyums, P. P A
In Red Germany
By Wm. C. Dreher
Berlin Correspondent of The Tribune.
BERLIN, April 29.?In the process of
readjusting wages and salaries to
the changed conditions of life and
the depreciation of German currency some
remarkable inequalities occur. It fre
quently happen3 that the brainworker is
left far behind in the struggle for in?
creased earnings. The reason is that tho
man who works with his hands belongs to
an organization in which often many thou
sands of workmen act with united will in
enforcing higher wages, whereas the brain?
worker has to lift himself, economically
speaking, by his own bootstraps. Besides.
the revolution, which gave occasion for tho
readjustment of wages, came from below;
it was socialistic. Hcnce, the interests of
the workingmen were first looked after,
not only by the workmen themselves, but
also by the newly created political au?
thorities. Hence, again, more remarkable
variations in pay for work done.
A great medical professor ini'ormed me
of this case: A scientist here at Berlin, of
no mean ability and considerablo reputa
tion, is in charge of a bacteriological
laboratory. His salary is 5,000 mark3.
But the servant who looks after the clean
ing of the room, taking care of the in?
struments and such other humblc ta^ks
gets 6,000 marks.
I told this to my friend, a banker, who
added this contribution: "There is a ser?
vant in one of the ministries here, who,
before the war, had a salary of 1,400
marks, along with rent allowance and
other minor payments, making a total of
about 2,100 marks a year. To-day he is
getting 9,000 marks?partly for length of
service, partly for his six children. But
the unmarried privy councillors?men who
have spent years at the university and in
other preparatory training for their offi?
cial positions?have a salary of 6,000
marks."
These inequalities often appear inside
the same factory, and then tjiey seem all
tho more intolerable. Not long ago the
office employes of several big manufactur-?
ing concerns at Luebeck were striking for
higher salaries, on the ground that they
were receiving less than the shop force.
Recently there was a big strike of office
and technical staffs of the great metal
working companies of Berlin and vicinity.
The cause was the same as at Luebeck; men
of high technical ectalcation were actually j
getting lower pay than the workmen.
Similar conditions have been reported J
from other places and industries.
Discharging the Manager*
The German workmen are not only tak?
ing the bit between their teeth in the
matter of carrying through big increases
of wages, but also as to the management
of tho companies for which they work. Re?
cently in Upper Silesia they declared cer?
tain managers "discharged" in several of
the great coal and steel companies, while
one other was ordered to resign. As the
managers had been long in their positions
and their technical qualifications had been
thoroughly tested, the companies refused
to acquiesce in the action of the "labor
soviets," and it is not yet apparcnt what
shall be the result of the controversy. The
dernnr.ds of the workmen there go much
further, too. They want to have the right
to inspect the companies' books at will.
They next, demand "a cooperative right"
in running the companies -which looks
like an anti-elimax, after having dismissed
their managers.
""The Donkey!"
Grer.t are the demands of the workmen :
in socialistic Germany, and strong the
tone in which they are put forth! The ,
other day the Prussian railway workmen
held a big meeting here to demand higher
wages. They are already getting-those
above twenty-seven years old?20 marks
a day, or three or four times what they
received before the war, but now they de?
mand a raise of 1 mark an hour, or 8 !
marks a day. This would involve a total
increaso of at least 2,000,000,000 marks a
year in the railway budget, although the ,
roads are already struggling with a deficit
of 2.200,000,000 marks for the current
year.
How can the increase be provided for?
The Minister of Railways does not know,
nor does any man; and yet we are probably
upon the eve of a general strike of rail?
way employes. At the meeting in ques?
tion the chief rpeaker assured the min
ister?the poor man has been in office
only about one month?that the workmen
had no confidence ln him?a sentiment that
brought forth the shout from one work?
men: "The donkey!"
Immediate Everything
This want of respect for the minister is
only a typical case, and not the worst one.
"Down with the entire government!" is
the cry raised at many meetings of the
extreme Socialists and Communists. To
day's newspapers report a meeting of some
6,000 workmen at Jena to protest against
the assemblage of troops .there in prepara
tion to march against the Munich rebels.
They sent President Ebert a dispatch de
manding "the immediate withdrawal of the
government troops, as otherwise there would
be grave dangcr to peace and order." They
gave him an ultimatum ending at noon yes?
terday, at the same time informing him that
a general strike would begin to-day if he
refused.
Then they proceeded to adopt unanimous
ly resolutions calling for the removal of the
present government because it has shown
itself incapable to preserve orderly condi?
tions. They demand the "immediate"?
everything immediate, snap-shot, nnished
while you wait!?"immediate appointment of
a socialization commission with far-reach
ing powers, consisting of persons having
tho absolute conlidence of tho working
classes"; also the "immediate socialization
of all mines, big landed estates, and manu?
facturing establishments by workshop coun
cils, wherein workmen must have the de
ciding voice."
If Profits Were Divided
Of course the chief impetus behind the So?
cialistic agitation here in Germany is the
widespread belief of the workmen that they
are not getting their fair share of profits;
that they are being exploited, many say
robbed, by capital. Henco they have wholly
millenniul dreams as to.what Socialism will
do for them when profits are equitably dis
tributed. I am far from setting up the claim
that the distribution has been wholly just;
but I am sure of one thing: this, namely,
that any possible distribution will fall far
below realizing the hopes of the German
workmen.
Just now the newspapers are widely re
printing the results of an investigation
made by Director Deutsch, of the Allge
meine Electrical Company of Berlin, and
published by the Berlin Chamber of Com?
merce. Ile analyzed the returns of 66 of
the best financcd companies of Germany
for a period of ten years, ending about a
year ago, to show how their profits were
distributed. He found that these companies
paid during that time 1,424,800,000 marks
in wages and salaries, 217,160,000 marks
in taxes and 215,220,000 marks, or 13 per
cent, of those two sums in dividends. The
average dividenri on capital was 10 per
cent.
Out of every 1,000 marks earned he found
that the distribution was as follows: 767
marks went to labor, 117 marks in taxes
to nation, state and town, and 116 marks
to the shareholders. In these companies the
total number of employes was 783,781. and
if the dividends had been entirely turned
over to them there would have been a gain
of only 11 pfennigs per hour in the wage j
rate. and a total gain of only 270 marks
a year.
Such is the result with a selected list I
of strong companies of high earning power. |
But all companies do not fall into that class. I
Deutsch says that the average earnings of 1
all companies listed at Berlin do not ex- '
eecd 6 per cent.
227 "Bloodhountls"
And all this agitation of the extreme So- j
cialists, Spartacists and communists is car
ried on with nn expenditure of violent !
epithets that passes belief. Some time ago j
a writer for the "Vorwaerts." the leading
Majority Socialist paper, took the trouble '
to go through 42 numbers of "Die Rote j
Fnhne," the Spartacus organ which was sup
pressed here during the March uprising, and
tabulate its vocabulary of abusc. He found i
that the word "murdercr" was used 318 '
times, "bioodhound" 227, "traitor" 461 '
"capitalis'.ic hireling" 303, "flunkies of big
capital" 2.59 times. This paper, which is !
now waving red in Leipzig, was so addicted j
to the habit and the longuago of abuso that !
it onco referred to Mark Twain as "a crazy {
propaganda sheet in America"?thinking him '
a newspaper!
To the Editor of The Tribune,
Sir: In refcrenco to tho German dele
gutea having received our peaco condi?
tions in a sitting and lnaolent posture,
thero ia n point of view which aoems to
have been overlooked. 1 refer to tho ef
iect of thia nttltudo caused on countries
such ns Mexico, who apparently still be?
lieve that tha war ended in a "Me." Can
there be hero aome nubtln propaganda?
I do not. doubt but. what thia disre
?pectful attitude will bo given the fullest
publicity ln Me.vleo and other German
lovlng oounlrlea, while tho edge of the
humlllatlng tenna will, ln eourse of trana
lutlon, ba blunted, lf not altogether sup
presaed, q
New York, May 11, 1019,
German "Honor"
tr'ioiu Tho AikHnana Qateltl)
During the paat four and ena-half years
we have heard much from Germans of "Ger?
man honor," Even slnee the armtsMce we
havo heard It and now we aro seelng aome
of it,
Germany, under pressure of the vlctorioua
Allies, has made ltets of property atolen by
Uormany and by Gormana in Belgium and
Fwrnee, The thofta we.ro committed by the
nation and by tho individuals, Tho nation
Btoio, among other things, pioturea, machinery,
books and ptatuea, and the individuals ptole,
ameng ethor things, furnlture, iewolry and
clothing,
Gorman honor! Heaven protect us from it!
Are New Yorkers
Crazy ?
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Are not New Yorkers crazy? While
thia question haa been asked many times
and promptly denied by some of our "head
in-the-sand citizens," nt the same time on
overy hand we see now ovidence to sustain
tho affirmation.
In Madiaon Square the house wreckers
are busy carrying a Tresbytemn church
a grm of nrrhitecturo designed by the late
Stanford White, off to the dust heap. A
few months back thoso who had a bit of
ctvle aptrit left were hor^ifled to aee St
John'a, Varlck Street, disposed of ln the
same commercial way. Now ?nd again It
la rumored that the Brlck Frosbvterlan
Church, at the corner of Fifth Avenue
and Tnirty-aeventh Street, will give pl0Ce
to another hldeous akyacraper
We deery the rul? of Fmich eh
and noble bulldlnga, even eoJleot menev to
reatore them, a?(, th? ?t w, b
allow our own archlteotural maaterpleoe,
o be rased to th. ground. Th* real!**
ton th?t moat ef the church edlflce, !n
New ^ork are not worth mueh ,whlteet,
t-rally makea U ,? Ula more f
aomethlng Bhe?ld. be done to prt>8erVe th.
really flne puildlngs,
Purely, New Yorkers kn.w the eoot af
everything and the value af nMhlnff,
m v , ? HEXPORD MERR1LL.
Now \ork, May 10, ima.
(From The London Morning post)
The President has come to Europe >
Signor Orlando says, with certain '??
American principles which he proposes Z
make Europe adopt. If we might u8e ?
homely simile, be is like a man who btinl
rolls 0f new linoleum to cover the floor.
of a very old and many-cornered houe*
The linoleum is all in right lines, and it
seems a very easy business before tho
rooms have been examined. But in the end
the rash experimenter finds that it j*
either a case of cutting the linoleum or
pulling down the house. And so ij, l8 witfe
Europe and President Wilson's Princ;pLe,
The President will either have to cut M,
new principles or pull down the whole Eu
ropcan fabric. Self-determination is a very
pretty piece of linoleum in the roll, but
there are many corners of Europe whjch
it will not fit. Danzig is one of them
Alsace-Lorraine is another; Dalmatia is a
third. The self-determination of stich
places is governed by older and?when all
is said?far more important considera
tions; the security of a great nation i,,
for examplc, more important than the sen
timents of a small portion of its inhabi?
tants. Europe is an old country: the
Croals and Italians have been dcadly er ?
mies for eight hundred years. Dalma
was an Italian problem in the time of tne
Caesars, and before. And, after all, ev??
America is perhaps not so young that she
would care to apply this principle of self
determination to, say, the Southern Staten
?if they were to desire independenoe
again?or to California, if that state we*?
to want to cut the painter. And now a wo*d
as to public covenants. "The Daily News"
has become such an enthusiast for this
doctrine?which was invented by the Union
of Democratic Control-that it holds no
treaty valid which has not been published.
We doubt if "The Daily News" would caro
to buy its paper on these principles. Let
us, even in the new order, retain some re
spect for common sense. And in the same
j way, if President Wilson were to search
I his portfolio he might find the notes of
? certain commercial treaties which rumor
says have already been negotiated between
; America and certain countries?which shtll
be nameless?but of which the world as
yet knows nothing. Why, then, deprecate
the "private" Treaty of London? How
could it have been published when it con
tained not only an internationsl agree?
ment, but military engagements? No man
would care in his business to lay bare all
his engagements, not because they are dis
honorable, but because they are delicate.
Why, then, should we expect other eoua
tries to conduct their business upon linen
which we would never think of adopting
ourselves?
Yachts That Fought
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Rcferring to the articlo "Chasern,
Ahoy!" which appeared in The Tribune on
May 8, I wish to state that there is an
other branch of the navy that d*?
serves as much "welcoming home" as tkt
forty homeward-bound chasers. Last De
cember thirteen yachts left Brest, Franc*
with "homeward-bounders" streaming. AH
hafi served from thirteen to nineteen
months in the war zene on escort duty.
What kind of welcome did they getf
Nine of them went to New London, Conn,
and I doubt if New London knows it yet.
Not a word appeared in any paper aboot
the return of the yacht fiotilla. On ono
occasion, when some New London artillery
companies returned home after a few
months abroad, the men on the yacht*
were compelled to act ns military gua- \
while the city welcomed its soldiers. There
are few ships in the navy that have served
longer or more creditably in the war zono
than the yachts. It seem* a shame that
they could not be welcomed as our Iarger
ships have been welcomed.
Undoubtedly the returning chasers do
serve a welcome. The small ships of the
navy are the ones that really deserve wel
comes, but they won't get them. Our bif
ships are paraded before the public con
tinually. There is certainly no reason for
the Navy Department to be ashamed of
its smaller ships. Why not give ererfit
where credit is due?
HAROLD H. GILLESPIE.
New York, May 8, 1919.
The Hand Salute
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: In a letter to The Tribune appear* [
the following: "A man recent.'y returned I
from overseas has told me that in the course I
of a Iecture on discipline an officer inforrrid g
men in training that the failure of Rossi .n k
arms was due to the fact that the h*nd '
salute was not required in the Ru:-sian arrry.
The man received this statement without con- (
viction. Unconvinced, he went to Europo, '
and unconvinced hc came hack."
It is possible that the man quoted aboTt j
heard one of the many Iectures on oiscip!in?
that I gave during the last tsentv-ono J
months in the army. If so, T failed to make )
mysclf clear on this point. What I have said I
many times is that the hand salute b the !
symbol and flower of discipline; that an <r- i
ganization in which the salntiag is b:j.d if j'
sure to be undisciplined and, therefore. at ;
the mercy in battle of disciplined troops, Mid
that soon after the Russian army abolished j
the hand salute. that army became 8 tnob.
A real authority on tfaSo subject, General I
Pershing, says of the hand selute:
"Although a prompt military salute mef I
not bo well understood by Americans. even j
men ln the service, its real object is to re-'
vial tho tmo soldier by an aggressive. stti- I
tudo of mind and of body. The propef
kind of prlda as well as tho superior I
flghting spirit will bo greatly augmented j
by tho closest adherence to this principle,
and, besides, it Is taken to indicate alcrtnesa,
roadlnosa and loyalty." R. G.
Now York, May 5, 1919.
Ole Hanson
(Trom The Vaitg QKlahoman)
Mayor Ole Hanson believoa ln Jniliag tfljj
natlv* Boisheviki aml denortin* tho imporbod
variety, Not only that, but Ole has demoft
atrated that ho haa the courage ?f hia eoa
Victtona, TMa country nor.ds more offlciaja
With the name brand of net%-? *nd JNaa-nofc
aon?e.