?fttD S0rU ^ribtnu
Fi rat to Last?the Truth: New??Edi?
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Member of the Audit Bur.??, of Clreulatleoa
SATURDAY, JUNE 19. 1920.
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Name Yourself, Mr. Presi?
dent!
If the President wishes a referen?
dum, as he says he docs, concerning
his league of peace and his han?
dling of the peace problem, he can
have it.
He can have it by becoming an
open candidate for reelection, in?
stead of, as now, a furtive one. Then
he might have two referendums, not
merely one?the first one within his
own party with respect to his nomi?
nation; and if dutifully renominated
there would be a second one to the
people. His candidacy would raise
all vital and pertinent questions as
nothing else would.
Louis Seibold, selected as the me?
dium for the latest White House
statement, reports the President is
almost well?that his eye is bright,
his faculties keen, and that he is
able to transact business with dis
Datch. If these things are so, and he
is supremely convinced his policy,
and none other, is essential to the
peace of the world and the honor of
this country, let him abandon all
evasion and skullduggery, to borrow
one of his words, and go to the peo?
ple and ask approval.
The President is indicted as one
who pretended to want a league of
peace and then defeated it; as one
who declared this country should j
take a more active part in world af- |
fairs and then prevented participa
tion; as one who cared so little for'
the project which he proclaims is
close to his heart that he sacrificed
its cause to satisfy an egoistic ?
mania. Not on the hands of others,
liut on his own, are the stains of the
treaty's slaughter.
To rehearse familiar history is \
unnecessary. All know that this
country would now be a member of ,
the League of Nations except for j
Woodrow Wilson's ce?irse.
The Senate was ready to ratify.
Our associates were eager to accept
our reservations, and so indicated.
With practically no exception,
every sincere peace leaguer urged
the President to lift his blockade.
He would not. He demanded that he
be first saluted as supreme arbiter
and absolute autocrat.
If not so recognized he cared noth?
ing for the league. In the Seibold
interview he refers to Bismarck and
to Prussianism and Kaiserism. Un?
fortunate allusions! They sadly
suggest that the President, no mat?
ter how much improved he may be
physically, has not recovered his
sense of humor.
If there is a shred of sincerity in
the President's statement, let him
meet the test. He plainly proposes
to boss the San Francisco conven?
tion. If the issue is as he Bays it is
he should order himself to be named.
It is no time to send a boy to do a
job or to select an understudy to re?
peat a principal's lines.
Emma Goldman's Cure
The Petrograd correspondent of
Th* Chirrtqo Tribune reports that in
Emma Gobi man's room is an Ameri?
can flag draped about a picture of
her niece.
''That's the flag of my niece's
country," Emma remarked to the
correspondent. "I'm going back
there some day, for I love America
a* I love no other land."
What the correspondent writes
mar well be true. A trip abroad
often works a permanent cure of
anti-Americanism. When the depor?
tation occurred last winter The
Tribune ventured to say that many
of the anarchist? would be healed,
and suggested that some might be
honest enough to declare it.
Miss Goldman told the correspond?
ent that she had discovered the Bol?
shevist system is rotten through and
through. She has found its tyranny
is worse than any sho ever claimed
existed In the United States. Just
before the correspondent left Petro?
grad Miss Goldman said to him:
"Be earefnl of what jrtm writ? If
ron want to retnrr? to Rosabu If yem
do*n*l, then hit ont from the? ahoolder
and hit hard. Yon may be called an
ajent of the c_rplta!iafi?i claaa by the
people in America who don't under?
stand. If yon are, M) them we hare
been here four montha, and now wu
know. W? hay? InreatlirfttM facto?
ries, home? and Institution? as no
newapaper man can be permitted to
Inveatigata them, and we've found
them bad. I know, from my own con?
versation with ytm, yon have gotten
_* th* hwirt o? ex? matter. It's ?9
to you to tell the American people,
and tell them straight."
Doubtless in time Miss Goldman
will realize her desire to see Amer?
ica again. Cleansed of mind, she ;
would be welcome. It is not the
spirit of the great Republic to think j
of past offenses -when there is genu
ine regeneration. And if a flag
j about the picture of a niece pleads
for amnesty, so does the grave of a
nephew who died gloriously on the '
field of battle in France. A musician
of remarkable talent, be resigned
! the duty of entertaining the soldiers,
! which was assigned to him, and
asked for a return to his company, ,
j saying he came to Europe as a man,
not as an artist, and fell in the first j
engagement. i
G?eorg?e W. Perkins
George W. Perkins was an Ameri?
can. He was American in his looks,
his manners, his lova of successful
doing, his spontaneous views of life, j
and in his ideals, with their mingling ;
of altruism and practicality. He !
was American in his career?begin
ning low and ending at the top. He i
was an old-fashioned American. The ;
simple formulas that came with his
blood inheritance were good enough,
and he never felt their essentials
needed revision.
But he was also a new-fashioned
American. He bad the courage to
break with tradition that leads so
many to die in harness at the old
occupation. He quit active business
while in the prime of life. Why
make more money? Other things
were more interesting. So he burned
rather than rusted out. He threw
himself into public life and "sold"
the Progressive movement, of which
he was one of the chief creators,
with all the energy he displayed in
younger days when he sold life in?
surance and was the greatest "pro?
ducer" of his day. He sold the great
Palisades Park to the city and state.
He sold the Y. M. C. A. and other
character-building institutions to the
public. To the last he was up to his
neck in activities.
The loss of such a man is great,
but the gains due to his inspiration
are an unlosable estate. His ex
ample in his lifetime induced other \
Americans to make a change in their ;
orientation and had much to do with |
the creation of a new and better (
spirit and the allayment of the sus- ?
picion whose disappearance is gradu- i
ally putting the muckraker out of
business. To be a generator and a ;
transformer, to borrow a phrase
from the electricians, is glorious, and ?
as such he will be long remembered j
and his absence regretted.
Purchase or Expropriation?
The American Federation of
Labor's declaration for government
o*wnership and operation of the rail?
roads speaks of "democratic opera?
tion," which probably means some?
thing like the Plumb plan, with the
roads run largely for the benefit of :
the employees.
Government operation during the
war was an admitted failure. It
disorganized the railroad service and i
diluted the already weak credit of the
roads. It has left the carriers in
a physical predicament in which
they are unequal to meeting trans?
portation demands. There is a threat
to-day of a coal famine next winter
because of lack of cars to handle a
diminished coal output. Freight
embargoes are common. Railroad ,
? wages are complained of as too low
? and freight rates must be increased.
Undeterred by the failure of the
government's experiment, the Feder- i
? ation asks for another and still !
I larger dose of it. But the proposal
I is general. It would be more to the !
i point for it to define the method of
| acquiring ownership and to prove to
! the public that the government could
j afford to assume the enormous
burden of taking over the railroads
? and operating them.
The roads were formerly private
; property, but there has been a par?
tial confiscation. What value re?
mains? A report to the Inter
1 state Commerce Commission by its
experts shows the actual value of
the railroads of the United States in
' 1914 was more than $2,000,000,000
in excess of their capitalization and
more than $6,000,000,000 in excess
of the market value of their stocks.
The experts used for valuation pur?
poses the reproduction cost of 1914.
Yet everybody knows that reproduc?
tion cost has doubled since 1914.
Does the Federation favor the pur
: chase of the railroad properties at
! their real value? The owners of the
! property would surely be glad to
| part with it at reproduction cost.
? They have been prevented for years
? from realizing on the actual value
i of their holdings. Their normal
j earnings have been diverted in large
i part to the public through restric
! tive government regulation. The
new railroad policy looks to a grad
j ual recognition of the owners' sup?
pressed ?equity. The present par?
tially conflscatory policy is to bo
shaded off. If the F?ederation objects
to this process, Is it willing to ap
i prove Immediate government pur
j chose at reproduction cost?
i That is the test of any present
: program of government ownership,
! as opposed to the P'sch-CtimminH
program of gradual readjustment.
If the advocate* of govern m en ?tal
purchase are candid, thpy will admit
at once they do not intend to buy
the roads at their real value. Moro
| confiscation is sought
Everybody has a stake in the ?Al?
t'
cient operation of the railroads. In?
efficient operation costs a hundred
times as much as all the savings to ;
the public which can be effected by
skimping rates. Everybody also has
a stake in the prevention of confisca- !
tion. For if that process is begun
it is likely to extend to other forms
of property, and the economic chaos
of Leninism will grip /the United
States.
Expert Testimony
If th^ro are experts concerning
the league of peace, America's re?
sponsibility to the world and ap-1
plied and constructive progression, it j
will be admitted that Herbert C.
Hoover is one of them.
Mr. Hoover'., judgment that the
situation plainly demands support of
the platform written and the ticket
nominated at Chicago is thus of
great value. He has had an inside
view of the Administration both in ,
Paris and Washington and is ac?
quainted with its tendencies. Before
his experience was ripened, in days ;
when we. wore in the thick of the j
war and national unity was. the su- !
preme consideration, he was willing
to give to the head of the nation a
blank check, but events have widened
his information. The success of Wil
sonism, he thinks, would be calam?
itous.
Not only is Mr. Hoover an expert,;
but presumptively a most impartial ;
one. Nothing occurred at Chicago \
calculated to stiffen his party zeal,
and that he is for Senator Harding's
election is due to a definite personal \
conviction as to where lodges the
greater good.
?-?
New Stars
The course of empire, if empire
means increase in population and in?
dustrial power, is no longer taking
its way westward. It is turning
cast. The region about Lake Erie
seemed for many years to have been
caught in the backwater. Now it is
the center of an astonishing develop?
ment. No part of the country grew
faster in the last decade than north- I
ern Ohio and southeastern Michi?
gan. Detroit has shown the largest '
rate of increase among the big cities. |
It has more than doubled its popula?
tion, which is now just below the
1,000,000 mark. Its actual gain?
527,97.'. ~? exceeded Chicago's. Its
relative gain was nearly five times j
as great as Chicago's.
Detroit jumps to fourth place in
the 1920 rating. Cleveland jumps
to fifth, with 796,836, a gain of 42
per cent. Toledo gained 44.3 per
cent. The automobile made Detroit.
Rubber made Akron. Cleveland is
displacing Pittsburgh as a manufac- j
turing center. These Erie basin '?
cities have drawn labor from all
parts of the United States, and
therefore haven't, felt the check in
alien immigration which has kept i
down population in Pennsylvania, j
New York, New ?Jersey and Illinois. I
Ohio and Michigan have had a |
new birth. They are preparing to !
contest Illinois's supremacy among
the middle Western states.
The Old Sportsman
What do we mean, old? Well, old
by the standard of brash young col- ;
legians thirsting for victims, able j
to run around a tennis court hour
after hour on a close August after?
noon without pausing for thought.
But young, quite young enough, ac?
cording to the. view of Mr. A. W.
Gore, British tennis veteran, who
was champion at the age of forty
and again at forty-one, and who
writes delightfully and instructively
of his "Wimbledon Memories" in
The National Review.
We could wish that Americans
took their amateur sports thus seri?
ously?to write their reminiscences
at length, and, what is more, see
them printed in a magazine of
weight and solemnity. Mr. Gore is ;
now in his fifties and entitled to ;
WTite with authority. There is much
practical advice of significance. He
belongs with the. hard-hitting tradi?
tion of the Renshaw school and can
not say too much against the British
tendency to "play for safety." The :
"pot hall" game has flourished in '
England, he feels, largely because
of the turf courts, which are seldom
perfect and offer bad bounds that \
restrict speed. This will be an in?
teresting point of view for those
Americans who have been rather
prone to lament their climate and
the clay courts to which it has large?
ly reduced our game.
But it is Mr. Gore's tennis career
and attitude toward the sport that are
j most interesting. He never trained
i for tennis "in any serious sense of
the term," or allowed it to inter?
fere with his business. Nor did be
ever envy the men who could give
up their whole time to playing. His,
, keen enjoyment of the game he at?
tributed largely to this very fact
that it was a relaxation, not a
I career. Keep at it, playing when
I ever you can, is his advice to the
! younger generation that has to go
into business.
What may be your reward? Well,
Mr. Gore offers a table showing his
? own career over a period of twenty
! ?seven years from 1888 to 1914. In
i the first named year ho began at
Wimbledon in the All Comers, and
it was exactly ten years before ho
became a real factor in the tourna?
ment In that year ho reached the
? semi finals. For sixteen years there?
after ho was always n prominent
contender. He won his first cham?
pionship in IUQI ?4 tiia ago of thirty
three. His next championships did !
not come till 1908 and 1909, when
he had reached his forties. He made
the challenge round as recently as
1912. Says he of his Wimbledon ;
playing: "I never made any prepara
tion for a big match, but remained
at my business until lunch, and then
took the first convenient train to
Wimbledon, so as to be able to get ?
on the court in good time."
We have our own stanch vet- ;
erans in America?Samuel Hardy,
for one, the captain of our team ;
now prospering in England, a re- ;
doubtable director and still able to j
trim most of the youngsters on the
courts, despite his fifty years. Much I
of the spirit expressed by Mr. Gore
prevails among the rank and file of
our tennis players, too. In fact, it
is largely through tennis and as a
result of its recent popularity that
the true amateur spirit and love of |
sport for its own sake are advanc?
ing so rapidly in America. With
every proper attitude of veneration
for the great "Babe" Ruth, one after?
noon of such honest-to-goodness self
played snort is worth all the home
runs ever hit in professional base?
ball.
Republican Jonahs
The Partv Should be Rid of Barnes,
Butler and Wadstvorth
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: For eight yearn the Republican
party has been like a bird with a broken
wing, like n ship with its steering gear
disabled, like an army without a com?
mander, it has met two great national
defeats. For the third time its ostrich?
like, so-called "leaders" have thwarted
tlie will of the people. In less than
five months it faces another Presidential
election. In what condition does it find
itself? Is its leadership established?
Are its ranks solid? Is its morale good?
Whatever the answer to these ques?
tions might have been prior to the
Chicago convention, not the most opti?
mistic partisan to-day could give an I
affirmative reply. Owing largely to the ;
lack of conscience and conviction, to the
blind folly, the blundering incompetence
and the smug complaisance of the
majority of the New York delega?
tion, the Republican party finds its
ranks sorely disaffected, its morale
wretched, its leaders nt odds. And for
these conditions the very men who led
us to defeat in 1912 and 1916 are largely
responsible.
In this state, perhaps, our biggest
Jonah is Barnes, who was so convicted
and discredited a few years ago by
Theodore Roosevelt that we had hoped
we were rid of him for good. He, with
his sinister machine and satellites, must
be thrown overboard for the last time If
we are to have any real or lasting suc?
cess. In this state he represents the
"invisible government" agninst which
the Progressive party was a protest. His
total elimination is one of the first es
sentials to the rebirth of the Republi?
can part;.-.
Another of our special Jonahs has con
siderately saved us from overexertion
by throwing himself overboard during
the past week. Already he has been
caught in the maw of public condemna?
tion, and we feel some relief In the
thought that he, at least, is "dono for."
To find most of our other Jonahs It
is only necessary to scan the list pub?
lished in The Tribune of June IS of so
called "fluid delegates," the pliant men
who swung from Butler to Lowden and
from Lowden to Harding at the bidding
of a sick old man in Philadelphia, trans?
mitted by, perhaps, th" worst Jonah of
them all, Senator Wadsworth.
The Republican party can hardly be
quick enough in assigning this last gen?
tleman to the deep, if It really hopes to
elect Harding and Cooliilge in Novem?
ber. The angry accusations of deliber?
ate "double-crossing" on the part of
Senator Wadsworth came from many of
his former comrades and supporters,
who now say quite frankly that they
have lost all confidence In him.
A clean state ticket, made up of men
who command the reaped: and confidence
of the voters, of men who are free from
any possible connection with tho pitiful
showing mado by the majority of the
New York delegation at Chicago, would
do much to save the national ticket
and to restore the Republican party to
at least something of its former as?
cendancy. L, M.
New Y'ork, June 17, 1020.
Wood and Robinson
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The suggestion of Harry Hub
bard Cooper in your issue of June 17
of a National Roosevelt party present?
ing as candidates Leonard Wood for
President and Mrs. Douglas Robinson
for Vice-President meets with our
fullest approval. We would gladly and
enthusiastically support such a ticket.
Is not the manner in which the sugges?
tion strips us, a small group of pro?
gressives associated In a simple busi?
ness establishment, more than a little
significant of the manner in which it.
would be received by the millions who
followed not only Roosevelt the man,
but the principles for which ho stood?
WALTER A. SHUMAKER.
II. NOYES GREENE.
BERKELEY DAVIDS.
AUSTIN MAXIM.
RALPH STRAUB.
KARLE C. BASTOW.
Northport, L. I., Juno 17, 1920.
The Convention at French Lick
To the Editor of Tho Tribuno.
Sir: The Republican* at Chicago
failed to rise to the occasion? but that
is another story.
What a spectacle for the decent
Democrats of the country Is presented
by the conclave at French Lick! There
we Bee nn ex-gamblor, an ex-saloon?
keeper and severa! of their handy
minions nominating the Democratic
ticket and agreeing on the Democratic
platform. It is a spectacle that ought
V make true JefforsonloilS weep. What
has become of the statesmanship of the
Democratic party? It lu-ems to be sink?
ing deeper and deeper in the muck.
L. E. LA FF AN.
New York, Jane 17, 1820.
The Conning Tower
Litany After Reading Herr Professor !
Rohrbach's "Reflections" in the
May "Atlantic."
By the lands laid desolate
As a sacrifice to hate;
By the fields where spring no more
Harvests for the farmer's store;
By each orchard-tree that fell;
By each fouled and poisoned well?
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
By each humble wayside shrine
Sullied with the tonch of swine;
By each house of thine that lies
Ruinous beneath the skies;
By each altar overthrown;
By each shattered pane and stone?
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
By each quaint and thrifty town
?Shaken, burned, and beaten down;
By the shops of busy toil
Meanly ra.'.ed or sacked for spoil;
By each storied town-house gone;
By each silent carillon?
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord. ,
By the old and weak who roam
Hungry and without a home;
By the innocents who bear
Eyes of pain and haarts of care;
By the tears of womanhood;
By the dead who bravely stood?
We beseech Thee, to hear tie, good Lord.
From the once so braggart foe,
Whining to the world their woe;
From the foe of evil will, '
Graceless and uncontrite still;
From the folk whose easy breath
Justifies deceit und death?
Good Lord, deliver us.
Is it for the truth you cry,
You that loved and made n He?
Would you publish your demands?
Look upon your bloody hands!
Let your stolid necks be bowed?
Rend your hearts, and cry aloud,
Lord, have mercy upon us.
G. S. B
Like too many other New Yorkers, we
read the New York papers and then
generalize about the press. Mr. James
L. Wright has a piece in the Cleveland
riain Dealer that tells a good deal about
Mr. Harding's golf game. Apparently
he plays well. By the way, what did
the President used to do Chevy Chase
in? Who used to beat T. R. at tennis
and whom did he beat, and by wha.
scores?
"Is it true,*1 somebody asked Senator
Harding, "that when you received word
of your nomination you said you felt
like a man who had stayed on a pair
of eights and come out with a full
house?" "I mustn't use sporting
phrases," replied the Senator, "but as a '
newspaper man, I am familiar with those,
terms." As a newspaper man, the Sena?
tor might have heightened his simile and
?lid that he felt like a man who hau
stayed on a ten and come out with a
royal flush.
Why does Senator Harding say he i
mustn't use sporting phrases? For our !
part, he may use any but political
phrases.
The Diary ol Our Own Samuel Pepys
June 16?At the office all the day, at
this and that, and discussion of poli?
ticks, and I still find no reason to grow
warm in Mr. Harding's favour. With ',
my wife to Mistress Alice Sullivan's for
dinner, which sho cooked, and not bad
neither.
17?To the doctor's to shew him how
I had bitten my lip while chewing gum
and playing tennis, and It serveth me
right, meseemg, for trying to do two
things at once. And he put some astrin?
gent stuff on it, and liko a fool I asked j
him whether I would not better stop j
smoking, whereat ho said, Yes. Met my j
wife at Mistress Kate's, who gave us a
cocktayle or two, and so to dinner; and ;
it came on to rain, and at greiit pains
to get a cab, albeit two persons I knew
got into their petrol-waggons before my
eyes, and affected not to know me. To
the Playhouse and saw "Seeing Tilings," !
an overnoisy farce, and, to my notion,
without humour or other causa for
mirth.
18?Up by times, and took our cat,
whose name is shortened to Mr, to
Alice's, who hath promised to care for |
him all summer, a kind thing to do, too.
To the office, and to the station to say |
Goodby to my wife, and to the office
again until late, I having slight ambi?
tion for aught. It Is 24 hours since I
have had a cigarra.
The complaint made by Andreas
Dippel, who lost money on opera la
Chicago, ends, according to the tele- j
graphed report, with "The Republican !
delegates sang 'What the Hell Do We
Care?' at the Coliseum!" Well, that
is one of the best operatic choruses
Sir Arthur Sullivan ever wrote.
"An Inference," says the Sun, etc.,
"has been drawn that three different j
articles of woman's apparel signified
the presence of three different !
women." An inference based, possibly,
on observation of the current fashions. :
_ I
Mr. William M. Johnston plays Mr. i
William T. Tilden to-day for the lawn I
tennis championship of London. Who- j
ever wins, you know where the cham- ;
pionship remains.
The Great Divide
(From The Globe) i (From _y?. Mall)
The Americans ? The Americans
toyed with their toyed with their
opponents, neither ; opponent?, both of
of whom was con- j whom were consid
sidered a crack I ered crack players,
player, especially i especially the Jap- '
the Japaneso. I anese.
Miller Jones, of Richmond County,
went around in 79, going out in 39 ;
and returning in the same figure.?
Evening Sun.
He got i 1 on the 19th, It appears.
Detroit has grown to be the fourth
city in the country. It is, as Is w. k .
the home of Henry 4d, just as John 2hey [
used to live in Chicago.
It's a wearying world. Even sadder :
than Prohibition and Spiritism are thr
i "satires" against them.
A chocolate concern advertises, in
the American, for "bright" colored !
girls, no experience necessary." A
vivid green, for example. I
?_&&.,.?_..,,_ r. p. a
THOSE NEIGHBOR CHILDREN SEEM TO HAVE AN EYE FOR
BUSINESS, ALL RIGHT
Copyright. 1920. New York Tribun? Ine.
Go I? ?
lOllttl
B\} Frank F?. Simonds
It is easy to understand why the I
growing talk in Rome of a Giolitti Min
istry excites disapproval and approhen
sion in Paris and \yith something lesa j
of intensity in London as well. Had
Giolitti prevailed just five years ago '
Italy would not have entered the World
War and, so far as it is humanly pos?
sible to calculate, France and Great !
Britain would have been beaten. We
are, in fact, just at the anniversary of I
those stirring days in Rome when Gio?
litti came to the capital to prevent Italy's
entrance into the war and was com?
pelled to flee the city to save his life.
It was not as a pro-German that
Giolitti acted, although he represents
that fraction of the Italian public which
has been steadily friendly to Germany
and has been a supporter of the old
Triple Alliance. Still, in 3913, when
following the Second Balkan War Aus?
tria sounded Italy on the subject of at?
tacking Serbia, Giolitti instantly opposed
the project, and a year later, when the
World War had broken, made public the
secret history of Austria's policy in the
previous year.
Friendly with the Germans Giolitti
was, influenced by und sympathetic with
Prince von Billow's desperate effort to
keep Italy neutral in the opening months
of 1915. But underneath all lay the con?
viction that for Italy the wiser course
was neutrality. Giolitti favored an In?
sistence upon certain compensations
from Austria, including the Trentino as
far as Botzen and certain rectifications
along the Isonzo. Under German pres?
sure Austria was preparing to make such
concessions at the moment when Italy
entered tho war. But he knew that it
would be impossible to persuade the
Hapsburg monarchy to give up Trieste,
and without Trieste Italian public senti?
ment could not be satisfied.
Those who advocated Italian entrance
into the war believed that '^lis assist?
ance would bring swift and decisive vic?
tory to the Allies. Giolitti was bettef
Informed. Thanks to von B?low, he fore?
saw that even with Italy enlisted the
war was bound to be long and the costs
to Italy beyond any adequate recom?
pense new territory victory might give
her.
Italy's Burden
Moreover, his worst suspicions were
promptly realized, because at the mo?
ment Italy entered the war Russia was
defeated at the Dunajec and began the
long retreat which lasted until autumn.
Instead of that swift Italian advance
to Laibach which had been expected,
Italy was promptly checked at the Isonzo
and along the Adige. She lacked all the
essentials of modern warfare; she
brought man power to her allies, but
more than a year was to pass before
she could acquire gun power, heavyartil
lery and shell stores necessary for a
real advance. Meantime, Russian de?
feats released Austrian troops for ser?
vice on the Isonzo. Russian collapse
was postponed, but Italian interests were
not achieved.
In 1916 Italy had to bear a terrific
attack, following close upon Verdun, and
almost bringing the Austrians to the
plain north of Venice. Successful ir
repulsing this, sho undertook a heavj
burden in her own offensive at the
Isonzo, which faiied to produce a rup?
ture because her gun power was still in
sufficient. One year later the complete
Russian collapse was followed by a Ger
man attack upon Italy and the loss ol
most of Venotia following the Caporette
disaster.
It was not. until late in 1918, after r
preliminary victory at the Piave, whiel
arrested the last Austrian offensive, thai
Italy was at last able to begin that
march to victory which she had confi?
dently expected to take place in 1915.
Four terrible campaigns, with enormous
losses in men and attended by the in?
vasion and devastation of most of
Venetia, separated Italy from the fruits
which she had set out to pluck, believing
them already ripe, in the spring of 1915.
But when victory was achieved Italy
confidently expected that her great sac?
rifices would be appropriately rewarded.
France and Britain had agreed by, the
terms of the Treaty of London signed
in 1915 that Italy was to have a frontier
following the crests of the Alps to th?a?
Brenner Pass and including Trieste and
Istria as well as the northern half of
Dalmatia. In view of her great suffer?
ings and the far larger burdens she had
borne, Italy asked that to what had been
promised in the Treaty of London there
should be added the Italian city of
Fiume.
I'n rest and Chaos
This request was promptly reject? d
by President Wilson, who declined to
recognize the Treaty of London, as well.
At Paris Italy found France and Brit?
ain more or less tacitly supporting Pres?
ident Wilson, and, so far from obtaining
Fiume, discovered that she could get
, Dalmatia only at the price of war with
the Jugo-Slavs, for whom th? Americans
and British displayed unconcealed sym?
pathy and toward whom the Preach only
less openly ottered approving words.
As a cons?quence, there has followed
the long period of unrest and chaos, the
d'Annunzio dash to Flume, the succes?
sive falls of the Italian Cabinet?, the dis?
appearance first of Orlando and then of
N'itti. The domestic political situation
has become more and more difficult, and
at the same time Italy finds herself in?
volved with the Jugo-Slavs, the Alba?
nians and the Turks. The promise of a
new position in the Near East has been
unrealized, and not alone the Jugo-Slavs
but the Greeks have found support in
their rivalry with Italians among the
recer.B allies of Italy.
Small cause for surprise, then, that
Gioiitti is close to a return to power
? His prophecies have been realized. The
policy of his opponents has led Italy
into terribly costly adventures, with nc
compensating profits. The Central Pow?
ers have been beaten, Austria has dis?
appeared, Germany is for the tnoment
powerless. But Italy finds herself aban?
doned by her Franco-British allies, de?
nied her share of the promised gains ol
a successful war, weaker, not stronger
as a consequence of enormous sacri?
fices.
For Britain and even more acutely foi
France the revival of Giolitti's influenc?
must have a sinister significance. Be?
tween France and Italy to-day there ex
ists a bitterness comparable with thai
which existed between France and tier
many six years ago. Nor is there mucl
less resentment over British and Ameri
can policy. The Italians feel themselve:
betrayed. They cannot now strike back
but in the future there is little reason t<
doubt that Italy will seek a new allianc?
with Germany, an association with somi
new Central European group which wil
include Rumania and German-speakinj
Austria, and may not impossibly draw
Hungary in ultimately.
All of these things ?re natural conse
quences of the course of the Unitec
States, Britain and France at Paris
But it is France which will have to bea:
the burden, as usual. And for Franc?
the return of Gioiitti is a menace whicl
jean hardly be exaggerated, looking t?
the future.
(Copyright. t??O, by The McClure Newa
I paper Syndicate)
Shut-Down Mills
Cannot Cet A'cn> Orders, Even t.
Cost
To the Editor of The Tr'.bone.
Sir: I saw a quotation the other .it
from remarks made by Secretary c!
Commerce Alexander, speaking of the
closing down of textile mills, as follow?
"Such closing down and reduction i:
this time is unjustified und Is simply
an effort to keep prices up to a high
level, where manufacturer, can continu*
to make enormous profits."
Is it really possible that a man ir.
the high office of Secretan* of Commerce
of the United States car be so tot_i?j
ignorant? It is just such ignoran? In
high places that is causing conditions
to-day that will shortly result In a?
great a panic as we had in "78 unit?
some steps are taken to prevent It.
It 1b well known that th"* renne
banks contracted credits, forcing mer?
chants to liquidate stocks in order t?1
pay their bills, and that has result?!
in the cancellation of orders whererer
possible and the marketing of good?
both by the jobber and the retailer f
less than the cost of production. M?ll
to-day are concerned chiefly in tryine
to get their order, accepted, but ar?
absolutely unable to get new orden
even at cost.
When the Secretary of Comm?re?
talks about mills closing down in order
, to continue making enormous profit?.'
lis probably unaware of the fact that a?
; soon as mills shut down they beji'
| to suffer a considerable loss, and mill'
I prefer to run and sell goods at ex?.
i cost rather than ?but down, thewV
I losing perhaps their whole organiu
\ tlon.
I could tell the Secretary of Com*
; merce of goods made to sell at !'?**
which cannot o made to-day ic
i any less, and /et are being ?old br
second hands at $2 a yard. I could toll
him of lines made * sell at $1-50 a y??"
?cancelled by customer? who would no?
be willing to buy them at $1 a y?ni?
although they car: I be reproduced?'
! less than $1.65 a yard These are mere
I ly examples; but the Secretary of Com
1 merce is supposed to be a business mst
and if his idea is to make good??'
$8.25 which will ? nly $2 or to
imake goods at $1 65 which will ?>lte*
' only $1 he would not be I kely to m?ke8
great success in busii
Let me add that th< paper?, wi* j*
propaganda they have been ?press?
ai! over the cou- try i regard to reac?
tion of prices, have elped to b!"xr
about the presi ?' condition
People who really ?van! to see gooci
? cheaper should Btart a propaganda ?
i regard to the short hour- and h:gb -*?
of labor. Absolutely nothing but pro?
duction will bring down the pre??
high prices, and that rests absolute!.
with the labor unions. _
No business man has any ob;ec'.:?:'?
labor earning high wages, but **
high wages must go production of g
High wages and lit! ? ? -? are. * *T ?
bination which i_ so ab i ut< .;? n?J
it seems astound ng that any man
an ounce of brain? can think it P*-*~*
H. B. SHAEN.
New York, June 17, W20.
A Soiled Statue
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Is there not Borne good ReP???
can in all New York who will P?1\\
expense of having the Roscoe C???
statue in Union Square cleaned. I
member hearing it said that despite ??
insufferable vanity Rosco? l ?n "#f
never accepted a dollar of .oiled men^
in all his public career, if this il ??*
then why allow his statue to remain
its present soiled condition?
A READEB.
New York, June 17, MM. -4