New-York tribune. [volume], March 30, 1920, Page 14, Image 14

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?Mero Doth afriimtu
First to Last??the Truth: New?*?Edl
torittla?Advertlsements
Umber of ?Ut* Audit Bureau al Clrcttla?one
TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1920
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Pointed Right at Last
The petition signed by A. Law?
rence Lowell, Cardinal Gibbons,
Cleveland H. Dodge, Herbert Hoover
and many others conspicuous in the
agitation for a league to enforce
peace at least has the merit of being
pointed in the proper direction.
It is addressed to the occupant of
the White House. It asks him to
retransmit the treaty and to revoke
the order under which enough Sen?
ators voted "no" to defeat ratifica?
tion. So doing, the petition locates
responsibility where it belongs.
That responsibility is with the
President alone. It is true the
"irreconcilable" group is also against
ratification, but they number only
sixteen, a negligible company except
for the President's alliance with
them.
Since July, when the treaty, was
brought home, those who assumed
charge of the. public agitation'- in
favor of the league have been little
helpful to the cause they had at
heart. They persisted in center?
ing blame on Senator Lodge and on
the majority party in the Senate.
Never was it in the power of
Senator Lodge or the party of which
he is a member to command the
two-thirds vote essential to ratifica?
tion. It was obvious the treaty
could not be ratified except through
the cooperation of the President, for
it early became sadly evident that
Administration Scr-itov? would fol?
low not their own judgments, but
ordf-V3.
Nevei-theless, little if any fire of
protest was built under the Presi?
dent. On the contrary, White House
pettifoggings were applauded by the
peace leaguers. No absurdity was
too strong for their acceptance. It
is still tiie practice in certain quar?
ters to curse Lodge and the Senate.
But at last the lesson has been
at least partly learned. The holder
up cf ratification now, as for many
months past, is the President, and
this is now practically acknowledged.
No wonder Senator Lodge exclaimed
to Mr. Taft: "Why hammer me? I
;:m not strangling this treaty. If.
you don't like stranglers, protest to
the White House."
Whether the President will yield
to the present petition is, of course,
unknown. Probably he will not. He
seems to want to use the treaty in
politics. But what chance there is
of inducing him to yield lies in mak?
ing it plain that the country at
last thoroughly understands where
is the obstacle to ratification. Every
utterance that minimizes this fact
and every declaration to the effect
that responsibility is divided- will
encourage the President not to
change. The White House must be
approached realistically.
All good Americans have high
respect for the Presidency. But all
good Americans have stronger re?
spect for the country and its in?
terests. So plain speech is called
for. At this juncture no one can be
considered much of a friend of the
treaty or of the peace league who
shrinks from courageously testifying
to why the treaty is in the Presi?
dent's pigeonhole. " -
In the Open
If police conditions, after two years
of a restored Tammany, are as in?
dicated by the statements of both
Assistant District Attorney Smith
, and by Inspector Henry (the prose?
cution and the defense agree as to
the facts, though differing as to
where lodges responsibility), it will
be conceded there should be prompt
and thorough investigation.
And if there is an investigation
it must be conducted by a legisla?
tive committee rather than a grand
jury. A grand jury inquiry is
secret, whereas it is highly desirable
to have a public investigation open.
When a witness appears before a
grand jury and gives testimony offen?
sive to a high officer of the Police
Department, that officer commonly
learn* the substance of the evidence.
Then the witness may find life un?
comfortable for him, while he lacks
the protection incident to public
knowledge of why he is disliked.
Nor has a grand jury ihe inde?
pendence which an investigating
body should possess. The jury is
under the charge of a judge, and
in many respects controlled by the
District Attorney's office. The A?
mirall jury sought to do its duty,
| but whenever it struck a hot trail
it encountered impediments.
Moreover, an investigation with
one side directed by District At?
torney Swann and the other directed
by Mayor Hylan would scarcely
command every one's confidence.
Mr. Swann has relations with Tam?
many Hall and Hearst, and so has
Mr. Hylan. It is to be feared
Messrs. Murphy and Hearst would
arrive with buckets of whitewash
and demand a cessation of what
they would call foolishness.
So it must be a legislative investi?
gation if there is to be an investi?
gation.
The Housing Bills
Some of the Real Estate Board's
proposed amendments to the hous?
ing bills are entirely reasonable. It
is suggested, for instance, that the
emergency period be ended not on
November 1, 1922, but on Septem
! ber SO, 1922. It would certainly
i be more convenient to everybody if
j the restrictions should cease at the
! end of the usual leasing year, in?
stead of running one month into a
new year.
The board also raises the point
that a tenant who contests dis?
possession after a rent increase
I ought to be obliged to pay the ex?
isting rent for the time he holds
over. If this provision was omitted
from the Lockwood bills it must
have been through inadvertence.
! Tenants who inasst on staying on
will probably be duly grateful for
I that privilege. It isn't likely that
I a court would pay much attention
i to their complaints if they were us
j ing the law merely to avoid paying
? any rent.
It is true also that the restric
! tions will operate unequally as be
! tween landlords who were fore?
handed in boosting rents in 1918
[ and those who didn't get the fever
until October, 1919. It would be
; mere satisfactoi*y all around if the
L glaring; profiteers alone were reached
| and penalized. But the housing
; bills are not constructed on the
j theory of reaching and penalizing
' profiteers. They are not retalia?
tory. They are drawn to meet a
i grave public emergency, and as an
' economic discrimination are justi
| fied only on that ground. The idea
is to stabilize the situation for at
; least two years, while new construc
: tion is in progress. The tenants
1 who are in are to be protected, in
' order to avert the disaster which
would follow the uni'estricted op?
eration of the law of supply and
demand.
In an abnormal situation, created
by the war, individual interests
must be subordinated to the general
welfare. Most landlords forget that
the war hasn't legally ended. Con?
gress passed a law for the District
of Columbia forbidding increases
of the rents of tenants in possession
and forbidding dispossessions. It
is still in force. Such a law is a
hardship to real estate owners. But
the war has caused enormous eco?
nomic readjustments, affecting
groups and individuals unequally.
, That is one of the inevitable evils
? of war. Till we get rid cf war con
, ditions, such incidental evils will
have to be faced. The only fair
test to apply to the housing bills is
whether they do or do not serve the
larger interests of the community
for the limited period in which they
are to be applied.
France's New Policy
Soon after the Millerand Cabinet
took office it received an equivocal
vote of confidence in the Chamber of
Deputies. The government won be
| cause a very large group abstained
' from voting. On Saturday Millerand
? was sustained by 518 votes to 70
, after a spirited debate on French
I foreign policy.
The French public has been quick
! to sense the meaning of recent de
; velopments affecting the relations of
! the major Allied powers. France
, has been drifting toward isolation.
The failure of the United States tc
ratify the treaty with Germany and
1 to enter the league of nations has
? pushed far into the uncertain future
a realization of the British-French
American defensive alliance against
Germany. Italy was alienated by
France's support of President Wil
I ? son's Fiume policy. Great Britain
? | has shown a tendency to punsue a
Continental program of her own anc
to favor a relaxation of the economic
provisions of the treaty.
' ; Millerand has taken a firm stand
II against any modification of the
? treaty. He is being backed up by
\ ex-President Poincar?, the French
| member of the Reparations Com
i mission. In his speech to the Cham
? I ber the Premier said bluntly that
I the Treaty of Versailles was not
; ?: being fulfilled, but would have to be
: j fulfilled. He added that when a
! memorandum recommending revision
! of the treaty was presented to the
: Peace Council the other day he tele?
graphed to the French Ambassador
: in London that France would not
? agree to such action.
M. Barthou, one of the most for
; midable of Millerand's critics, bit?
terly attacked the government for
! its negative and drifting foreign
I policy. But he made little impres?
sion on the Chamber, because that
body was easily convinced by Mille?
rand that from now on France was
going to stand aggressively for the
execution of the treaty?now about
the only solid guaranty against Ger?
man aggression which remains in
French hands. *
The Millerand government has re?
organized the army, which had been
allowed to disintegrate after the
armistice. If force is needed to
compel Germany to livo up to her
obligations, it is now evident in
Paris that France means to supply
that force. The army reorganiza?
tion, a necessary consequence of the
weakening of the bonds between the
major Allies, undoubtedly gave rise
to President Wilson's recent charge
that the^new French government
had turned back to "militarism" and
"imperialism."
Such an imputation was unjusti?
fied. For France is merely reinsur?
ing her own rights and safety. Tho
Allies have been acting for months
on the theory that they were power?
less, in a military sense, to impose
compliance with the treaty on Ger?
many. The French government and
people are determined that this
theory shall not hold good any
longer so far as France is con?
cerned.
What is happening in France is
not "a renascence of militarism." It
is merely an awakening of the
French people* to the fact that they
must be ready to enforce the treaty
| by military action in case Germany
j persists in evading and nullifying it.
The Two Parties
To those of our readers who are
puzzled for an answer to explain
I their party allegiance we commend
the exceedingly suggestive prize let?
ter appearing on our Platform Con?
test page to-day.
As this writer suggests, there is
no question that parties and issues
are at present in a state of con?
fusion. Yet the outstanding fact of
? our political life is that despite this
\ confusion the parties are still vigor
! ous and the great bulk of Americans
| ?at least nine out of ten, let us say
! ?have a strong feeling of "belong?
ing" to one great party or the other.
When a visitor asks us "Why?" we
may be stumped for a ready answer.
Also, if our party put up an objec?
tionable candidate, we should be
more than ready to vote against
him, so considerably has the spirit
of independence permeated our
politics. But the fundamental fact,
| of allegiance remains. How ex
j plain it?
It is the fashionable talk of cer
: tain radical intellectuals to assert
that habit plus the trickery and
i cajolements of politicians is the only
cause for the perpetuation of the
; parties. The Neiv York World
in its burst of enthusiasm for Her?
bert Hoover suddenly reached much
the same conclusion. There would
be more force in The World's plea
for non-partisanship were it not for
the suspicion that The World
plunged for the Republican Mr.
Hoover in the laudable but highly
partisan hope of saving something
from the wreck of the Democratic
party. As for the theory of the
radicals, it insults the capacity and
sense of everybody. If true, if the
voters are so stupid and inert and
easily led by the nose, why have
? popular government at all and where
| is the hope of anything better or
j different so long as it lasts?
The fact is, we think with our
! correspondent on the platform page.
: The people are not fools. As she
' well says, "Fundamentally, the two
parties are as definite as ever."
Their differences are confused by
passing personalities and changing
issues, by local problems. Allegiance
; to one party or the other may be
; weakened by this confusion, but it
still persists for the very good
? reason that it is based on fundamen?
tal differences in outlook, in prin
I ciple, in method, in character, which
I j have, roughly speaking, always
! i separated the two major parties in
J America and probably always will
: ! separate them.
; Our correspondent quotes Patrick
! Henry and Samuel Adams as the
! two prototypes of the two groups :
" 'Give me liberty or give me death,'
' | said Patrick Henry.
' j " 'Let each hamlet and town elect a
> | c?***mmijttce of representatives and let
! them evolve some judicial way out o?
. j this difficulty, the small committees
? > then uniting in a general one for each
r colony,' said Samuel Adams."?
. i The argument would place the
t ; theorist and idealist, who is quick on
II the trigger, with the Democratic
1 j party?with Patrick Henry and with
: ; Thomas Jefferson. It would place
i the slower working out of progress
[ ithrough the practical evolution of a
! system of representative government
? with the Republican party?with
i Lincoln, the practical idealist, as its
. highest exemplar. Our correspond
? ent is not far wrong in classifying
; old Sam Adams with the latter
; group; for, despite his opposition
i to the extreme Federalists, he was
, essentially a man who thought of
i political philosophy in terms of men
i and events.
Party lines have been drawn more
? and more sharply about President
; Wilson's administration, and for one
good and fund? mental reason. This
Democratic President at home and
abroad has, to the Republican mind,
seemed typically devoted to the idea
?it was "competition" in domestic
business, it was internationalism at
Paris?and typically uninterested
, and impractical in carrying his
ideas into effect. And despite the
j very practical Democrats and the
k
highly impractical Republicana that
can be cited, and despite the obvious
exceptions which must be made be?
cause of local issues (as in the
South), we think the fundamental
truth is with thi3 broad distinction.
Tho Republican party has often
fallen far below its Lincoln?who
combined the ideal and the practical
in unique perfection. The Demo?
cratic party has risen to heights of
achievement 'and public service.
Their tendency is to diverge, much
as our correspondent indicates, and
as the divergence is along a funda?
mental cleavage in human nature,
there is the soundest reason for that
allegiance which most Americans
still feel for the parties of Jefferson, !
Calhoun and Wilson, on the one
hand, and of Washington, Lincoln
and Roosevelt, on the other.
An Appeal from the Dead
- i
What Three Men Who Were lo
Be Electrocuted Wrote
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Five years ago last month three
men went ?to tho electric chair in Sing
Sing. Three days before they gave
to me, their warden, the'letter of which
I inclose a copy. As the abolition of
capital punishment is again being
pressed you may wish to print it. I
need not dwell upon its fire and elo?
quence; it speaks for itself.
1 had expected to read it at the
hearing held in Albany on March 17,
but at the last moment found myself
unable to attend.
Possibly the last appeal of these
men, now dead, may reach the hearts of
some who will not listen to the living
voice. T. M. OSBORNE.
Three doomed men in the deathhouse
of Sing Sing appeal to the people of
the State of New York.
The three men doomed to die in the
early morning of February 26 in the
death chamber of Sing Sing make this
appeal from the brink of the grave.
Are you, as humane members of
this commonwealth, justified in taking
human life because we did? Did two
wrongs ever make a right?
There is not one of us who would not
willingly die if it would restore to life
those who died by our hands. Owing to
our acts, remorse, sorrow, ignominy
and shame have been our companions
day by day through the long, sleepless
nights.
We realize keenly that we will suffer
least by our own death, for we know
full well that some day, some time, all
of us must pass beyond that mysterious
veil of eternity from whose bourn no
traveler has ever returned.
Wo make this appeal to you not so
much to save our lives as because our
ignominious death strikes beyond the
grave and will bring sorrow, woe and
care to those near and dear to us and
who will suffer most by our untimely
end.
Picture this! Think of this!
Then if 5'ou can, by word and pen,
demand from your representatives at
Albany that capital punishment, this
relic of ancient times, this stain on
humanity, be wiped out from the stat?
ute books.
Only a few months ago our President
appealed to the people of this countrj
of all nationalities to attend their vari?
ous places of worship, there to pray
and plead to the Almighty that the mur?
der, carnage and slaughter in Europe
might cease.
Is the cause for our destruction any
greater than that between nation and
nation now engaged in bloody warfare?
Therefore we appeal to you not only to
pray for us, but to demand the abolish?
ment of legal murder.
If we believed that our slaughter
would act as a deterrent to future
murders we would willingly render up
our lives to society, if it would erase
from human nature the causes which
tended to our crimes.
Can you recall a single instance in
all your lives where the horror of the
death penalty stayed the hand of a
murderer? We know we never gave
, it a thought.
Murder is mostly the result of two
' great human passions, that of uncon
trollable^ and insane jealousy or a
devouring anger roused by the demon
daink, both of which so blur the human
mind as to make the persons tempo?
rarily insane. Jealousy and anger
, roused by drinking were the causes
! of the tragedies in which we three
men were involved.
If this is to be our last word, we
j send it forth in the hope that if it
i avails us nothing it may perchance aid
? some brother who may fall by the way
j side.
| In conclusion we offer up our prayers
l that you will not cast us aside into
; utter darkness by disregarding our
> plea from the shadows of the grave.
We admit our sins and pray to God
s for forgiveness at the hands of our
; brothers and the Almighty.
VINCENZO CAMPANELLI,
ROBERT KANE,
OSCAR VOGT.
I February 23, 1915.
; What Miss Ennis Meant to Say
To the Editor of The Tribune.
f Sir: The sewers of Europe are
dumped over here in the form of Com
1 munism, Anarchism, I. W. W.-ism, and,
in the parlance of the day, it is up to
the public school teachers of New York
City to help stamp that out. You can't
stamp out that menace without teach?
ers and you won't have teachers unless
you pay them a salary sufficient for
them to Jive decently.
The defendant rests.
ISABEL A. ENNIS.
Brooklyn, March 28, 1920.
The Unkindest Cut
(Flom The Los Angeles Times)
The Germans are preparing a list of
Allied atrocities as an offset to the
, blacklist of the Supreme Council. They
wish to show that war is two-sided,
even in barbarism. But the greatest of?
fense of Marshal Foch's forces was
| tho fiendish manner in which they
, chased the Kaiser's noblo supporters
j from their comfortable, steam-heated
j trenches. That was a nanghty trick.
The Conning Tower \
Horace, Book HI, Ode 19
"Quantum distet ab Inacho"
You trace the annals of our'nation
From Washington's administration
To Wilson's reign, and talk of men
Who served* the state with sword
or pen,
Nor Bcant us tales of battles won
At Ch?teau Thierry or Verdun.
A moment's pause?-I'd like to ask
When I may fill my empty flask,
Where I can find a house for Tent,
The landlord's profit?what per
cent?
Manhattan's breeze is chilly. How
Can I keep warm? You're silent
now.
Pledge me a glass! Oh, fill it soon!
A bumper to the wet new moon!
To Cuvillier a bumper more,
Who augurs wetter days in store!
Let him who courts the Muses nine
Drink three times 3 per cent light
wine,
And others,?since the Graces fear
A stronger brew?three-fifty beer.
But, Muses' vassal, Graces' thrall,
I'd drink, impartial, to them all
Why hang the lute and lyre byt
Why mute the pipe? The coun?
try's dry.
Voice me the hope of happie* hours,
And say it?lavishly?with flowers.
Come, let our joyous revels rouse
Old Prohibition and his.spouse,
Fair Temperance, a charming girl,
I Sadly allied to such a churl!
i Marion Bush.
Most of the Presidential aspirants
have spoken in favor of their 100 per
cent Americanism. Probably that,
like many other things, is a question
of definition. Our conception of it is
one thing; yours another. For the
best definition of 100 per cent Ameri?
canism we offer the choice of one copy
of any of Harold Bell Wright's books,
one copy of the American Magazine,
one of Dr. Frank Crane's books, one
song by Carrie Jacobs Bond, one por?
tion of rice pudding, one record of
"Was There Ever a Pal Like You?"
or one bottle of champagne ginger ale.
Perhaps Eve's ululations about the
high cost of living antedated John
Taylor's. But, Octopus discovers, in
1614, in "The True Cause of the
Watermen's Suit Concerning Players,"
he said: "The statute was made in
Queen Mary's reign for our fares, and
the price of all things is raised except
poor men's labours."
Homer Aids Boston to Conquer
Giants.?Times headline.
Yet the universities are abolishing
Greek.
And There Was the Thistle?"Built Like
a Watch"
Sir : Your recent mention of your "Barnes
White Flyer" brought to my mind the vari?
ous bikes of a bygone day. In making my
selection about that time I didn't know
whether to get a Columbia, a Rambler, a
I Dayton, a Steams or a Lovell Diamond.
Finally ?"father bought me a Keating?"See
that hump." Them was the days of real
sport. John H. McGocgu.
Yes, but there never was so much
{ real sport as there is to-day. In the
; '90s most men said farewell to sport,
j except the vicarious kind, at the age
: of twenty or so. Now men call up
Columbus 8200 from the golf links or
i the tennis court. . . . In the in
! terests of accuracy, it should be stated
that before we rode a Barnes White
Flyer our mount was a Monarch?
"Ride a Monarch anfl Keep in Front"
?with ram's horn handles.
It is no astonishing thing that the
farmers are opposed to daylight sav?
ing. The average farmer doesn't yet
believe in open windows; and he still
thinks the Night Air Is Bad.
ROUNDEL
Your comlnsr is my springtime. What I feel
13 so apparent, there's no use of mumming.
Bright eyes and heightened color all reveal
Your coming.
You set the pulse? in my temples drumming.
You are the cause, yet you alone can heal
The malady that set3 my blood a-humming.
When with you I am happy just to kneel
Close to your feet ; the joy is wellnigh
numbing.
Oh, lover! Life is love, and love is real.
You're coming 1
Janice.
The esteemed, in a manner of
speaking, Evening Telegram quotes
i Mr. Charles Dana Gibson as saying:
! " 'T"he Moon and I,' which was my
first picture to be accepted, was sug
\ gested to me by the song 'Three Little
j Maids From School,' which Yum Yum
| sings in 'The Mikado.' Yum- Yum
comes out and looks at the moon as
she sings it." We prefer to think
that Mr. Gibson was incorrectly
quoted; if ho wasn't, w? protest
against tlje revision of Gilbert.
Speaking of revising Gilbert, do you
| think a letter addressed to Getty
I Square, Basingstoke, would reach its
| objective ?
. . . Humphreys, whom she says
earns upwards of $10,000 a year.?
: The American.
"'Whom are you?' said Cyril."
The rising tide of the high cost of
living, otherwise known as the Perma?
nent Wave, threatens to knock us all
over, And the profiteer's message is,
If you know of a better universe, go
to it.
With aD hour more of daylight, it
should be easy for the police to find
Nicky Arnstein.
At the moment of sliding to press,
Nighthawk, Wash., has not declared
for daylight saving.
Nor has Daylight, Tenn.
?. P. A.
Retribution
?u Ftanh H. SimnnAs
It is essential in forming any judg?
ment upon events which aro now tak?
ing placo in Germany to keep in mind
certain facts. Instinctively Americano,
like Englishmen, sympathize with the
so-called Majority Socialists and see in
the Spartacists the imitators of that,
minority which becamo tho Bolshevist
masters of RuBflia. Within limits this
is not an inaccurate assumption, but it
is well to recognize some of the real
grievances of the Minority Socialists
and something of tho actual situation
in Germany.
Tho revolution which overset the im?
perial edifice of Germany came natu?
rally and inevitably from defeat rfhd
from tho conditions which preceded
defeat. Ira its more violent aspects it
was manif-stly akin to the Russian
revolution, but it was suppressed only
nominally by the Socialist majority,
which in name, at least, took control of
tho government. Actually the German
I revolution in its final form consisted in
j a violent suppression of the thorough
! going Socialists by the soldiers of the
old r?gime.
Ehert a Cover
The Ebert government was little more
than a cover, a concession to public
sentiment aroused against the mili?
taristic and imperial control. Behind
it many of the old elements continued
to exercise great influence and the
leaders of the German Junkers awaited
the right moment to throw off the
I mask. The repression of the revolt
| was conducted with a brutality beyond
! words. The murders of Liebknecht
; and Rosa, Luxemburg were shameful
j incidents. Both were murdered by
! German officers, who thus perpetuated
! the traditions of German atrocities in
France and Belgium.
Moreover, tho very Socialists who
! came to power had been the passive
' tools of the German militarists threugh
? out the war. They had by their votes
j supported the government in the
! Reichstag, thu3 betraying their own
| principles. They had fought the small
! but gallant minority, which had de
! clared against German crimes in the
' war; in a word, during the whole
; progress of the struggle they had sur
I rendered to the Junkers their votes,
established their position; they were
as much accomplices of the military
offenses as any other element in the
German electorate.
Finally, to preserve even that sem?
blance of power which came to them
after the revolution, they were com
! pelled to permit the military element
? to deal with the Spartacists in true
| Prussian spirit. The military estab
I lishment, which was created to defend
! the new r?gime, was thus in reality
no more than the old, bearing a new
; name, but containing the familiar ele?
ments of the monarchial army. Noske,
who figured largely in the public prints,
i wa3 in reality compelled to give such
hostage to the reactionaries that his
j own freedom of action was destroyed.
' Sham Lib?rala
What one actually had in Germany,
I therefore, was a sham "liberal" gov
| ernment, called to power actually by
i the reactionaries for the double pur
! pose of deceiving tho conquerors and
| the masses of the German people, who
were in arms against the unsuccessful
i government which had led them to de
! feat and ruin.. It was the hope that
i the Allies would be deceived by this
( semblance of democracy and thus mod
, erate their terms, it was the expecta
i tion that popular wrath would soon
pass and then the old gang would take
hold.
The first of the hopes was not real?
ized. The Allies were not deceived
into resigning the fruits of their vic?
tory, and the Treaty of Versailles in
This Different World
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Several years ago the country
rang with praises of the strenuous life.
The chief exponent of this idea was
Theodore Roosevelt and the energy ex?
pressed in this thought became our
national ideal. We were a people im?
bued with the notion that we should
work hard and play equally hard. The
growth of our ideals had been gradual
and we accepted conditions with a cer?
tain calm feeling that affairs would
work out satisfactorily in the end if
we but gave them time.
Suddenly the world was engulfed in
? a tragedy. Stunned at first, we awoke
I to the realization that we were more
| than mere flotsam. There was a duty
! to be performed and we were respon?
sible for its execution. Now the ob?
jective has been gained, tears have
been dried, grief has been forgotten,
j or, if that be not possible, at least hid
| den in the hearts of the bereaved, and
man again finds himself his own
master.
Trutly his own master, but in a dif?
ferent world. Where formerly happi?
ness had existed in humble surround?
ings, dissatisfaction is now found.
Emerging from the abyss of horrible
suffering we demand silken luxuries.
Many salaries are mounting, million
| aires are multiplying and the steady
| plodder who worked and saved finds
i himself an insignificant item in the
; book of the world.
Each new slogan finds an army to
I bear it aloft. "Foreign Commerce,"
shouts some one, and at once we are
plunged into an orgy of unlimited pro?
duction; "Let us dance," cries another,
and unbridled gayety rushes on the
i stage of life. "Old men with long white
I beards would be brushed aside in the
: mad rush of to-day, but should we go
? to the prostrate form of an aged sage
! and ask his counsel we would hear the
i one word oft repeated, "Repression,"
S "Repression." J. CARLISLE SELL.
Washington, D. C, March 24, 1920.
Tangled Policies
(From The Memphis Commercial-Appeal)
The .Constitution provides that the
I Secretary of State stands third in suc?
cession in the government, so if any?
thing should befall Mr. Wilson and
Mr. Marshall we would have Colby, a
Bull Moose Republican, at the head of
a Democratic administration.
eluded terms which disappointed the
German expectations. Incidentally,
these terms served to discredit the
sham liberal government, and thus sup?
plied the reactionaries, the Junkers,
with an opportunity to strike for their
?old position. Against such a blow the
Ebert government was helpless itself,
because its military establishment was,
in fact, in the hands of the old mili?
tary element.
Masttes? Complaints
How far the EberjVgovernment as a
whole was a party to the recent stroke
of the reactionaries is a matter of con?
jecture. One may recall that Kerensky
was reputed to have"" agreed to the
Korniloff rebellion and to have lost his
courage at the last moment and thrown
himself into the arms of L?nine and
Trotzky, thua insuring the ruin of
Korniloff, but insuring the immediate
collapse of his own rule. In any event,
Ebert at the final moment seems to
have followed a similar course, and pro?
claimed the general strike. This
weapon once unsheathed produced the
situation which in Russia precipitated
the deluge, for it called into power
exactly the elements which had never
accepted the Ebert government, never
ceased to denounce it as a sham and
never hesitated to allege that behind
it was the old gang, awaiting a favor?
able moment to "come back."
Of the masses, who are now repre
| sented by the communistic and soviet
! leaders, it is necessary to remember
| that they have v^ry grave and just com
i plaints. Their leaders were massacred
| by the old militaristic element, with
the passive consent, if not the active
approval, of th?S/ Ebert government.
Their brothers were shot down by Prus?
sian soldiers, the real reforms they
sought to bring about were prevented,
and following the bloody repression
there has come in due course, as they
forecast, the counter revolution, de?
signed to restore the Prussian system
: and not impossibly some Hohenzollern
to serve as the necessary figurehead.
Revolution Before Progress
Exactly like Kerensky, Ebert has in
his final despair unchained a real revo?
lution. But is not a real revolution
the necessary prelude to any real prog?
ress in Germany? Instinctively we
are all shuddering at the thought oi
Bolshevism now appearing on the casi
bank of the Rhine, but is it quite cleai
that the safety of the world will b(
more assured if 'he alternative?and il
is the alternative?namely, the restora
tion of the junker element to power, i;
finally accepted by the German people'
Underlying all else is the fact tha'
the Ebert government was a sham, s
camouflage, to cover the monarchisti
| until their hour should arrive. If the
' counter revolution, which the Eber
government permitted, if it did not par
! ticipate in it, had been successful w<
should have seen Ludendorff, Tirpit:
and all the notorious figures of a pre
[ vious r?gime shortly seated in thei
i old position. We should have beei
? back in the atmosphere of 1914 and a
the beginning.of a new period of prep
aration for a war of revenge.
Conceivably, Allied influence may no*.
I avail to restore the Ebert governmen
' to power, but it cannot restore it t
; popular confidence. The masses, wh
? have repudiated it as the tool of thei
junker tyrants, may consent to swallo*
Ebert on their bread if there is n
; other way of getting bread, but eithe
; their submission will be tempor?r
i and a new uprising come in due cours
j of time or the junkers will be able b
j using the color of Allied approval t
regain absolute mastery of German
and resume their old methods and pui
sue their ancient objectives.
(Copyright, 1920, by the McClure Newspapt
Syndicate)
Ervine on Prohibitiot
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: It is discourteous and bad tast?
to put it mildly, for St. John G. Ervini
the Irish author of two plays whic
have had successful runs in Americi
to speak slurringly in an interview i
| last Sunday's Tribune about an Amer
can law. Mr. Ervine showed that h
knows nothing of the history of proh
bition in this country, nothing of th
rise and fall of the saloon as a soci.
and political factor in American lii
j and nothing of the tremendous an
farreaching effects for good whic
have already followed the advent c
prohibition.
We take it that men and women wh
are sufficiently interested in human b?
ings to make them a subject of stud;
in plays and stories, are also interestc
in the race as a whole and in its prol
lern. It is natural to assume tl
modern writer to be a person who.
grasp reaches beyond to-day and who?
gaze penetrates the future.
If Mr. Ervine is sincerely intereste
: in human problems, surely he shou
have sufficient breadth and sincerit
or at least curiosity, to urge him wh?
he comes face to face with an epocl
i marking social revolution to pause ar
consider it, to study its various ar
amazing new angles and to try to di
cover its effects. But no; Mr. Ervin
instead of doing this, has adopted tl
cheap New York City cant abo
".fanatical reformers" and their attac
on all the joyous things of life. 1
would show himself in a better light
he would really strive to discover t!
social and political background behii
this great reform and take a peep in
the lives of thousands, nay, millions,
people who are singing "te deums"
their hearts to-day because of t
change that has been wrought by wh
ho is pleased to belittle and regard
| the subject for cheap humor.
MARGARET DODSON.
New York, March 25, 1920.
Kept for Change
(From The Indianapolis News)
As the zenith of non-production h;
j according to Mr. Barucb, been reach?
I and the nadir of the dollar'? purch.
? ing power is pretty close, accoidi
to the observations of the rest of ?
it seems as if we were about due i
a tarn-over.
The Da?ryJ>roblem
A Farmer Explain? Wh*
Many Are Selling Oui
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Perhaps the city r_ih. eon,
sumer would like to know where ft
drop in price of milk for April cc**^*
from, and why the farmer protest!
against a reduction in price wh*?? th
cost of production is higher than it ?.*
been for the last six months.
Retail feed price?. Dec. 1919. u._..,4
AVheat bran..... $45 per ton ts? A1'1?
muten feed. $68 " ?? V?\ ** U?
Ground oatn. $58 " " tel ? '*
Hominy meal... $65 " " $7? ? _
I have a dairy of twenty cows that
averaged 9,000 pounds of milk for th?
year 1919, and employ one man to behj
by the year. Extra help to cut en,?.
l?ge costs 50 cents an hour. Oar wor'
is 365 days per year and from ten to
twelve hours per day.
If we are not paid the ?ost of pr9.
duction can you blame the dairy fana?
for going out of business? My co*5
I have been milked about seven months.
j and daily production for March is 50c.
; pounds of milk (3.7 per cent butterig'
| which, at $3.78, amounts to $18.90.
Cost of production.
?200 lbs. feed . ...
i 600 lb?, ensilage. '; \
; 600 lbs. hay .\\\\ :?*?
One man.'.'.'.'.'. ; ?I
Total ."Hum
A deficit of 60 cents per day, with my
own work, three horses and an invest
! ment of $10,000 not counted.
Now the April price has been ?a
nounced, 81 cents per hundred lower
which makes an actual loss of $4.65 per
day, which will continue till about the
| first of June before there will be grasj
i enough for pasture to make cost of
i production less.
Why the price of milk should be
lower for February, March and April
the farmer has never been ab!e to u.
derstand.
,/I-ere New York City is prodccir.j
: milk at some of its institutions i_
; Orange County it costs 12 cents per
quart.
Many farmers are selling their dai
| ries. There were fourteen sales?about
j 500 cows sold?in a ten-mile radius
? during the last ten days. If this keeps
? on long there will be no surplus.
C. M. HOUSTON.
Wisner, N. Y., March 26, 1920.
Produce!
\ Sympathy for the Farmer and
Advice for Other Workers
j To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: As the son of a farmer, th?
1 grandson of fanners and the brother
[ of farmers?Iowa farmers, all?and an
! editor merely from choice and acn
; dent, I am forced to agree with much
! that Mr. Coddington, of Smithland,
i Iowa, is quoted in The Tribune of
March 27 as saying.
There is no obligation resting on
the farmer to work twelve and sixteen
hours a day?as I have done through?
out the busy season in my own
younger days?that the automobile
worker, the shoemaker, the plumber
and window cleaner, the city garbape
man and others may have cheap food
and plenty of it. The farmer's indus
: try is an essential one. But the world
i would move along some way if the
| average eight-hour a day man at a
dollar or two an hour, who is agitating:
for a four-hour day and $4 an hour,
were to be permitted to remain idle.
To a certain extent the automobile
industry is an essential one, bat
probably 90 per cent cf workers cou'.d
be put to farm production without
any real damage to the country. 0f
course, in that case Mr. Coddington
, and his neighbors would not be able
: ?hard-working farmers that thev are
??to ride to town in their high-pov.
I ered limousines?something that I,
i after twenty years of city occupation,
I cannot afford.
When, however, Mr. Coddington tells
i of the losses he has sustained, another
! question arises. We ail Know?no one
! better than I, for obvious reasons?
that many of the farmers of the
Middle West have not been working
on the job much in the past couple ef
i years. They have been speculating in
i land, which has jumped from $40 to
I 5400 or more an acre in the course of
; the past twenty years?and hers,
! again, I speak with deep personal feel*
? ing, for I myself might now be riding?
i in an expensive car and kicking about
the high cost of living had I been a
little wiser in my generation.
Doubtless, it is upon this $400 an
| acre land that Mr. Coddington bases
his assumption that he is losing
money. But is there any excuse for
this $400 an acre land? What has he
done to entitle him to the $-00 an
acre which his land may have ad?
vanced in the last two years?for the
1,000 per cent increase in twenty
years. Because speculation has brought
land to towering heights and made the
original owners rich beyond the
dreams of us editors, if not beyond
the dreams of avarice, must the world
be taxed to pay dividends on that
land?
If- the farmer increases production
it will not be because he is urged to
do so, but because he finds it profitable
to do so or because it is necessary to
do so in order to live. The sooner
workers in other lines come to the
conclusion that their salvation is ,n"
creased production?not in decreasing
the day's work from 1,600 to 480 brick?
at four times the former wage?the
sooner will the world get out of the
? doldrums. Labor of all kinds is no?
demanding twice what it produce?, nn
while there seems to be s general W**
1 position to meet this demand, the
I practice cannot be kept up indeft
! nitely.
As an unprejudiced observer, ?
j seems to me that the answer to the
| whole question is bound to be found
j in a financial panic such as the wor.d
; has never known?a panic which w"
J destroy most of the gains that labor
? has won and which, apparently, it "
i unable to appreciate.
When that tir.-.e comes I am wiHinfl
?and I hope, able?to return to the
soil from which I came to do my bit
something; which a large part ef *?"
called "labor" is evidently totally in?
capable of doin-ff. A. M. ADAMS.
Brooklyn, March 27, 1920.