New-York tribune. [volume], September 25, 1920, Page 8, Image 8

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First to Last?the Troth: Newa?Edi?
torial??Advertisement?
of tii* Audit Bureau of Circulation?
SATURDAY, SEPTEaMBER 25, 1920
?jmS jKibliah?! dully hr New Tor* Tribun?
tee., a Sew York Corporation. Ofden Beta, rrtst
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?tTBSCRrPnON PATKB-By ?all. taciadlM
?<?Ui?. IN THE UNITED STATUS.
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r>?Uy -me Sunday.*S?.M ?13.8* fit?
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Suaday ?wir . ?.ts l.ll .S<
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Class Mall Matter.
GUARANTY
To? m? ?archas? rterohen?lj? a?vertlee? I? THK
TRIBUNE with ak??|iT.? ??ffHy?t?r If ?teaatttfac
ft?? rMult? I? any cas? THE TRIBUNE ?uarantM?
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MXMBKB Or TBS 4MOCUTSD FRISS
Tb? Associated Press is exduslrcly entitled to in?
??? for republicano? of all new? dispatch?* <tredlt?d
(a it or not othemuw credited in this D*P?r, and
also the local news of spontaneous origin published
h?r?tn.
AU right? of repuhllcaUon ?f all ether mattet
h?r?ln also ar? rosorrsd.
Falling Prices
About the latest report? of a fall
in prices is a definiteness which in?
dicates that at last the peak has
been reached and that for some time
the price movement will be down?
ward. For five years sellers have
had their way. To grow rich all that
was needed was tor a merchant or
manufacturer to stock up and wait
for the market to reach a level
agreeable to him. Sellers having
had a good time so long, it is only
fair that buyers should now have a
little opportunity to enjoy life.
But in many ways it is easier to
go up than to go down. The new
condition will contain as many ele?
ments of demoralization as the old.
It is not improbable there will be
an increase of industrial disturb?
ance. Labor, both organized and
unorganized, will fight to preserve
its new wage scales. It will regard
lack of continuity of employment as
less of an evil than to work for less
per day or hour. Men of business
may expect to be harassed by new
difficulties.
A sufficient demonstration having
been given that good will and mu?
tual forbearance are the only way to
soften the bumps and shocks that
come from doing business with a
dollar of fluctuating value, it is to
be hoped that the journey down will
be marked by greater harmony than
marked the journey up. You can
contribute to the general welfare by
avoiding too hasty angry judgments
based on beliefs that you are espe?
cially a victim.
How far will the decline go?
Probably about half way to the pre?
war price levels. This was what fol?
lowed the Napoleonic wars and
what happened in this country after
the Civil War. We shall not have
the 50-cent dollar nor the 100-cent
dollar, but probably a 75-cent
dollar.
New Chiefs in France
The election of a new President
and the choice of a new Premier re?
flect a stabilization of political con?
ditions in France. Millerand, after
a brilliant service at the head of
the Cabinet, has been chosen Presi?
dent almost without opposition. He
stood for a policy in foreign rela?
tions which consolidated the parties
in the Chamber and had the strong?
est support from the public. Most
Frenchmen view the post-war Euro?
pean problem from the same angle.
Unity of attitude has been achieved
under tha pressure of national neces?
sity?the necessity of preserving for
France the full guaranties of the j
peace treaty.
Before the war French parties di?
vided acrimoniously on many do?
mestic issues. There were numer?
ous groups in the Chamber, and all
of them emphasized their antago?
nisms rather than their agreement?.
An American or Englishman, accus?
tomed to the two-party system, was
often puzzled by the great variety
of factions in Parts, distinguished
from one another by names which
carried little real significance. There
were Radicals, Radical-Socialists,
Unified Socialists, Independent So?
cialists and Progressists?all be?
longing to the dominant Left. There
were, besides, Conservatives, Repub?
licans of the Left and Nationalists.
The war compelled a coalition?the
so-called Union-Sacr?e. It also en?
forced the lessons of patriotic soli?
darity and nationalism. The new
Chamber?elected in 1919?was, in
fact, predominantly national in feel?
ing. The voters nearly eliminated
the old Caillaux-Malvy group of
troublemakers and defeatists and
turned full control of the govern?
ment over to the moderate, patriotic
groups.
Millerand represents the new re?
gime, which is striving to build up
F?nce ?and to liquidate war bur?
dens. The new Premier, Georges
Leyg_w, is a leader in the Republi?
can group, a moderate and an intel?
lectual. He has sat in the Chamber
since 1885 and has been a member
of six or snore Cabinets. Most of
his Cabinet service has been in the
Department of Public Instruction.
H? If an authority on educational
matters and a prolific writer on edu?
cation and other public questions.
He la more moderate in his political
affiliation? titan Millerand? since the
lai*** we* or?* inajly a Socialist and
?w O? ?sit Socialist to accept a
therefore, stands for a continuation
of the war tendency toward unified
national action. All factions must
drop their old artificial animosities
and get together in order to tide
France over the peace crisis. Unity
is as much needed in solving internal
economic problems as it is in gather?
ing the fruits of the victory over
Germany. France saved herself by
enormous sacrifices from her most
dangerous external enemy. But it
will take her many years of patient
effort to consolidate her moral and
military success. ?
Cox Runs; You Pay!
The Cabinet members will soon be
on the stump speaking for Mr. Cox.
Who is going to pay their ex?
penses?
You will find the answer in the
news. Assistant attorneys general
and others went to the Democratic
convention in San Francisco.
The San Francisco convention was
not public business. They did not
transact public business when they
were there.
But they charged their expenses
up to the government, and the people
paid the bill.
Is it to be supposed for one minute
that the Cabinet members, soon to
use their positions and their influ?
ence?if they have any?in Mr.
Cox's behalf, will pay their own ex?
penses?
It is not.
Unless the exposure of the San
Francisco expense accounts stops
them, Uncle Sam will do the paying.
Even if they pay their expenses or
pay them out of Mr. Cox's twelve
hundred thousand dollar campaign
fund they will be using government
time for their stumping tours, for it
is not to be believed that they will
refuse to take their*?pay while they
are working for Mr. Cox.
And there is no moral difference
between working for a candidate
while paid by the people and going a
little further and charging up rail?
road fares," meals and au,tomobiles,
as well as salary, to the p?fple.
So far as Mr. Harding*s interests
are concerned, there should be no
objection to the Cabinet members
speaking. Mr. ?Daniels in Maine
proved to be an excellent campaign?
er?for Harding.
We can well believe that Mr.
Burleson and Mr. Colby and the
others would do equally well?for
Harding.
But asking the people to pay cam?
paign bills for Mr. Cox and the sala?
ries of Cox orators is something Mr.
Harding would not do?even though
it would materially help his cause.
The place for Cabinet members
and government officials in a cam?
paign is on their jobs?not on the
stump.
The day is past when government
employees can be turned out to boost
ior a party without creating a pub?
lic scandal.
Once More Above the Law
The President on June 5 signed
the merchant marine act, passed by
both branches of Congress without
partisan division. That act, among
other provisions, directed the Presi?
dent to serve notice within ninety
days from its enactment upon na?
tions with which we have treaty
agreements restricting our right to
impose discretionary duties and ton?
nage dues. The notice was to an?
nounce our purpose to terminate so
much of the treaties as bars us from
discriminating in favor of our own
shipping.
Ninety days and nearly a score j
more have elapsed, and now the
President announces that he will not j
serve the notice; that he will ignore
the will of Congress. He has
ignored his own pledge, given in
signing the act.
The treaties involved are clearly
terminable. They contain pro?
visions specifying the length of the
period of notice required before ter?
mination becomes effective. They
are subject to change. They were
changed to give effect to the terms
of the seamen's act of 1915. And
the change in that case was effected
by notice given by President Wilson
through the Secretary of State. A
precisely similar proceeding is all
that is necessary in the present case.
Preferential treatment for Ameri?
can shipping is the backbone of the
merchant marine act. Built, manned
and operated at higher cost than
the vessels of other nations, and re?
ceiving no more for the freight they
carry, our ships must be protected
from the competition of cheap alien
tonnage seeking the bulk of our car?
rying trade. That protection can
be given with the removal of the re?
strictive treaty provisions.
Opposition to the enforcement of
the terms of the merchant marine
act seems to come from two sources
?from our foreign competitors,
whose attitude is understandable,
and from tha Democratic Admin?
istration, which, seemingly, is of one
mind with the alien critics of the
bill. The Shipping Board stands
for the application of the act, but it
seems to stand alone among govern?
ment agencies.
The language of the merchant ma?
rine act is clear. The duty of the
Executive is plain. The President
is not above the law.
The Noise Problem
The number o? our correspondents
who writ* in serloua complaint of
miaa is prcof that condition? ara b*
cannot be run for the hyper-sensi?
tive, the neurotic. But the noises of
to-day seem to have passed this
point. Judging by the complaints of
our readers, New York is to-day a
spot where the normal human is con?
tinually jarred by sounds, to the
detriment of his mental poiae and
health.
Every one has a pet abhorrence in
the noise line that seems to go to the
heart of his being, whereas other
noiaes roll oft* his soul unnoticed.
For one person it is an old-fashioned
truck clattering over cobblestones, for
another the pneumatic riveter, for
another the squawking motor horn.
New York is full of all of thejn, and
it is hard to eee how any can be
eliminated. Our correspondent who
advocates sleigh bells for automo?
biles to replace horns is looking
forward to a far ampler Utopia than
this-crowded town can ever be again.
The automobile's sudden warning is
necessary for the sake of the pedes?
trian quite as much as for the
driver.
But if our town cannot be made
sleepy and empty of noise, it might
at least be made less raucous than
at present. Effort by the authori?
ties would surely result in noise re?
duction. Voluntary effort by organi?
zations might do even more. Auto?
mobile manufacturers and clubs
could maintain an active campaign
against noise. The muffler cut-out
has gone. A new standard of effec?
tiveness in,mufflers could be estab?
lished. The most raucous horns could
be tempered. A scientific effort to
achieve a signal capable of grada?
tions and distinctly agreeable in its
normal, minimum warning could be
begun. Most of all, drivers could be
urged to use their warning signals
sparingly. Unnecessary tooting is
the worst offender among auto
noises.
The noise problem in our tightly
packed city has become a grave
one, deserving of active interest by
every cue "and careful^consideration
by public officials and private or?
ganizations alike.
Dividing the Dollar
An old established firm in New
York, the Rogers Peet Company,
which manufactures men's clothing
and wholesales and retails its prod?
uct, is sending to its customers i. de?
tailed statement which, it is said,
".shows precisely how much we got
out of the six months' actual busi?
ness ended March 1, 1920." This is
done because, latterly, in the eyes of
many, all merchants are under sus?
picion of making extortionate profits.
The figures show what has be?
come of each dollar that customers
have paid for clothing. Hero is the
statement, "based on six months'
actual experience":
Material? Coat, loss cash discount.$0.2661
Labor?-AVage:. for making ami
Mal?rica for Belling.4562
Ren' .07-0
Tu-iiS?Federal and ?tate.036*
Miscellaiipous:
"Moneyback" .$0.0073
Delivery und freight.0?!72
Postage, carfare, etc.0060
Containern, twine, etc... .0053
Printing and stationery.. .0050
Fixture depreciation.0029
Building repaire.001?
Insurance .0016
Bad debt?.0012
Telephono .0003
- .0391
Advertising .01 S3
Profit of manufacturing, whole?
saling and retailing combined?
all that's left to pny dividends
and accumul?t?? a surplus to in?
sure our business future.0S21
$1.00
Labor and material absorb
slightly more than 75 per cent of
each dollar of the customer. As j
the cut in the prices of woolens had j
not occurred in the six months cov- j
ered by this statement possibly
labor costs to-day consume a larger
percentage of the dollar. Under the
head of profits is included "all that's
left to pay dividends and accumu?
late a surplus to insure our future
business." This profit is set down
at about eight cents out of each dol?
lar paid by customers.
It would appear, therefore, that
out of $50 paid for suit or overcoat
during the six months labor received
$24.31 and the material cost just
about $13.31, while a fraction more
than $4.10 went for profit and sur-1
plus. It should be noticed that Fed?
eral and state taxes ate up $1.81.
In the present time of general sus?
picion it might be educational for
other manufacturers and merchants
to tell what becomes of each dollar
they take in. The big packers did
this the other day when Thomas E.
Wilson, one of their number, Bhowed
that they retained less thun one cent
out of each dollar handled.
"Fooling the Irish"
Senator Harding's frank and
politically courageous statement con?
cerning the relations of America to
the Irish question will increase fur?
ther his reputo for character?a
repute which has been steadily
growing since his nomination.
His words are not those of a
politician angling for support. He
has the candor to speak openly. He
neither makes nor implies promises
which he is aware will not be re?
deemed. He would not fool any one
by raising baseless hopes. All this
he leaves to his opponents.
Individuals in America, according
to Mr. Harding, may freely express
their sympathies and deeires. They
are not adjured to be neutral in
thought as well as in act. Follow?
ing a long line of precedents, Con
gress may indicate the friendliness
of its members toward Irish au?
tonomy. But the Harding adminis?
tration will not maddls In the in
tsn?l affairs of,other nation?. At*
wa ?mma? tfes *i?fct t? sttaad to
our own affairs, we must concede
an equivalent right to others.
Senator Harding thus compli?
ments American citizens of Irish
birth cr descent who would have
Great Britain and Ireland separate
nations. He assumes that as Ameri?
cans they would not embroil this
country in war with the British
Empire. He also assumes that they
have little respect for those who
would filch political success by in?
sincere and hypocritical preelection
appeals. But whether he pleases or
displeases, Senator Harding pro?
poses to speak the truth ?rid not
compete with' Governor Cdx in a
rivalry of buncombe.
American sympathizers with Irish
independence, as persona of intelli?
gence, know what chance there is
of this country trying to coerce
Great Britain into adopting the De
Valera program. They are not de?
ceived by Governor Cox?and not
taken* in when he puts his hand on
bis heart and shouts that its every
throb beats for Ireland. Let him
think up a new trick.
The business of fooling the Irish
has long been a political industry in
this country. Men have reached
high office by engaging in it. But
the game is played out. It has be?
come disgusting. "If you don't in?
tend really to 'do* something for
Ireland," exclaimed a former Irish?
man at a recent Cox meeting, "pray
have respect enough for her woes to
keep silent about her."
A few professionals will doubtless
endeavor to make capital out of Sen?
ator Harding's honesty, but the
great mass of the so-called Irish
vote will esteem him the more for
not pretending.
Calvin Coolidge Says'
(From his address to the Roxbury
Historical Society, Bunker Hill
Day, June 17, 1918.)
Reverence is the measure not of
others but of ourselves. Thia assem?
blage on the 143d anniversary of the
Battle of Bunker Hill tells not only of
the spirit of that day but of the spirit
of to-day. What men worship that will
they become. The heroes and holidays
of a people which fascinate their soul
reveal what they hold are the realities
of life and mark out a line beyond
which they will not retreat, but at \
which they will stand to overcome or
die. They who reverence Bunker Hill \
will fight there. Your true patriot sees
home and hearthstone in the welfare of
his country.
"As Dead -as Slavery"
The Dubious Meaning of Governor
Cox's Remark on Prohibition
To the Editor of The Trvbune.
Sir: Governor Oox's pronouncement
that the issue of prohibition is as dead
as slavery suggests a rather unhappy!
comparison. The issues growing out?
of the Civil War clearly disprove the;
wisdom of relying upon the finality of
constitutional amendments. It required '
constant vigilance and exertion on I
the part of the government to make
the Thirteenth Amendment effective :
long after its adoption. The enact- j
ment of the black laws, with a clear j
intendment of negativing thia amend-1
ment, furnishes a motive for the recon?
struction program. The leading aim !
of the 8tatesmanship4 of that period
was to make this amendment effective. I
Assurance that the mere passage ofi
the constitutional amendments will
settfc vexatious issues is plainly con?
tradicted by our national experience.
An issue like slavery or prohibition,
involving vast property interests as
well as human appetites and passion,:
can never be settled by governmental
fiat unless persistently followed up by:
the mtyral and political energy of those
in charge of the government. Politi?
cal and moral questions cannot be
treated like a mathematical problem
whose sure solution follows the appli?
cation of fixed laws and principles,
with utter disregard of the feelings or
predilections of the manipulator. No
great public issue ever has been or is
likoly to be settled effectually unless
it evokes a friendly attitude and
hearty indorsement of the administra?
tion charged with its enforcement.
The issue of prohibition will never be
satisfactorily settled by an adminis?
tration 'which, with moral indifference'
to its merit, relies upon the passivity
of legal enforcement.
Governor Cox also declares that if
elected President he will enforce all
the laws. This declaration is indeed j
reassuring. Should he be successful in
the coming election ha is thereby
bound to the absolute enforcement of
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amend?
ments. These are as much a part of
the Constitution of the United States
and tha fundamental laws of the land
as the Eighteenth Amendment, which
evoked this universal committal on
his part. Mr. Cox, if successful, will
be bound by his own declaration not
only to enforce the Eighteenth Amend?
ment against the opposition of his
party friends and advocates in Illinois, i
Ohio, New York and New Jersey, but;
also to enforce the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth amendments against the
avowed opposition of his influential
political supporters in the South.
It must, of course, be taken for
granted that Governor Cox's attitude
on the Nineteenth Amendment is the
same as that on the Eighteenth. The
same insistence upon the adequacy of
the enforcement of the amendment to
assure prohibition will, of course, ay
ply fo the Nineteenth, guaranteeing
political equality to women. Is the
Governor ready to assure us that tha
question of woman suffrage, includ?
ing the negro women in the South, is
assured beyond the possibility of an?
nulment by the last amendment to the
Federal Constitution?
KELLY MILLER.
Howard University, Washington,
p.c* s???, ai, im.
The Conning Tower
TO ANNA, A NEW HANDMAID
"Stay, lady, stay, for mercy's sake,"
(Amelia Opie wrote that line)
Thou wilt not have to brew nor bake,
And every evening shall be thine.
Cook but the bacon crisp and black;
Tuck but the sheets in straight
and tight,
And thou mayst have a wad of jack
And hound the movies every night.
Give me my beefsteak rare and red;
Don't move the papers in my
room;
See that I am but fairly fed;
Use now and then the mop and
broom.
Imponderable my demands;
But leave me, and my heart will
break.
On bended knees, with folded hands:
Stay, lady, stay, for mercy's sake.
Manufacturera of high priced cars,
honking in the dark to keep their
courage up, aay that they will not re
dace the cost to the consumer; down?
town restaurant proprietors say that
they are unperturbed hy the Carry
Your-Lunch movement. "Men come in
for lunch," the manager of Stanley's
restaurant said, "and talk over their
business. They could talk in their
offices, but they like to come in here
and kill two birds with one stone."
What, we wonder, is the bill-oMare
name for the stone?
The assistant managing editor, whom
it Irks to see a paragraph beginning
with the definite article, saya he bought
an evening shirt yesterday for $16.
"The piqu? of high prices, I call it,"
he madwagged.
Hahn told him the "deal" to "throw"
the series had been arranged.?eve?
ning Telegram. "?
Why, paper coating what It coats,
the quotes?
The Diary of Our Own Samuel Pepys
September 22?Early to the office, and
finished my stint, and so with Mr.
Kane to the courts, and he beat me, and
to B. Pemberton's for dinner, of steak
and apple pie, and with A. Samuels to
see Miss Alice Brady, a good actress,
act in a fustian play, "Anna Ascends,"
in which she and Mr. G. Rolland did
j finely, but the play without merit so
| ever, methought. Met Mistress Beatrice
I Kaufman, and drove her home in my
! petrol-waggon, and we had "each a
j beaker of frosted chocolat?.-, and I left
her, and went to a shop and had a
turkey sandwich, and so home, but my
wife would not let me read, because?
of the light, so ? went to the library
and read there a chapter-of "Caliban.",
23?With G. Parsons to the courts,
and bent him, but at some pains to
do it; and so to the office where all
day at my stint. To the doctor's to
call fot my wife, and so to Douglaston,
to Mistress Elda's, and had the best
dinner I have had in a month, in espc
ciall a lemon meringue pie, which I
was holpen twice to. So home with my
wife, and read her a tayle of Hugh
Wiley's, full of comickall dialogue. !
24?Met with Will Campbell the bar- j
rister, and drove him to the city with
me. T'o the office where 'iard at work
all day, despite the tayle current that
our building was to bo blown up. But !
I took my obituary from the morgue, ]
and gave it to the city editor, that he
might be prepared. R. Hayes and
L. Ayers come to luncheon, end then
I back to my desk, and in the evening
to dinner with H. Canby and L. Dodd.
You can't accuse Governor Cox's
Dayton News of suppressing anything.
Last Wednesday it printed a picture of
Terence MacSwiney, who "is' dead in
London as the result of his long, self
imposed fast."
In Pittsburgh, we learn from the
worshiped Globe, the Fair Prico Com?
mittee's threat has forced reduction in
food prices of from 25 to 100 per cent.
Looks like a return to the free lunch.
None of the brave songs? of the '90s
sent in to us is unfamiliar. Apparent?
ly we spent all our adolescence listen?
ing to the sad banalities of twenty-five
years ago. But L. L. C. submits
"Bright Eyed Laughing Little Nell"
(circa 1&87), and our tears spatter the
copy:
f had a dear companion,
But she's not with me now,
The lilies of the valley
Are blooming o'er her brow.
And I am sad and lonely
And weary all ??he day,
For bright eyed, laughing little Nell
Of the Narragansett Bay.
CHORUS
Toll, toll the bell,
At early dawn of day,
For rosy Nell so quickly passed awayl
Toll, toll the bell,
A sad and mournful lay,
For bright eye, laughing little Nell
Of the Narrow-Gansetf-Bay.
The esteemed Satevepost's editorial on
The Bum Sports Club doesn't even in?
clude the line, "an someparagrapher has j
called it."
What Says Ex-PvtTzebnlon Zzisko? I
Sir: I wish to enter a protest about |
this here cash bonus for soldiers. If
there Isn't enough money to go around
why can't they pay ua off alphabetically,
like they did in the army?
A. AARON'S,
Ex-Corporal, A. E. F.
"Irresponsible humorists" is how
Mr. Frederick J. Haakin characterizes
Heywood Broun, H. Li Mencken, Abe
Martin, and Ring W. Lardner. Non?
sense! Add George Ada and Bert Les
ton Taylor to the list, and you have the
nation's half donen moat responsible
humorists.
"We have had a prohibition amend?
ment for almost ? year," said Com?
missioner Bird S. Coler, "and it is
being generally ignored, due to the
failure of officials to enforce its pro?
visions." We have had the tSth Amend?
ment for fifty years and-??
Southern paper? pleatfr sopy.
',".-; - ' uff**.
IF DAVID COULD DO IT WITH A SLING. WHY NOT HENRY
WITHAFLIV? .
?Copyright. Its?. N?w Tork Tribu??* ?nc >
Gioliiti and the "Liberals"
B\) Frank H. Simonds
JLs the "reformer" in international
politics condemned to the samo mis?
fortunes and the samo misapprehen?
sions as his fellow amender in the
Seid of domestic politics? The ques?
tion must naturally come to many lips,
a3 it is perceived that "liberals" for
whom The New Republic is a spokes?
man in this country and The Manches?
ter Guardian an organ in Grgat Brit?
ain, are acclaiming the Italian Premier
Giolitti as a convert to their own
gospel, which has as its cardinal doc?
trines the recognition of Red Russia
and the forgiveness in the pecuniary
a? well as the other senses of the
impenitent German.
This praise must amuse when it does
not embarrass the craftiest of Italian
statesmen, who is one of the ablest of
all machine politicians on this planet.
Charles F. Murphy, of New York, and
Thomas Taggart, of Indiana, have been
equally gladdened and troubled by the
plaudits of "reformers" in their time
notably when they gnve their enthusi?
astic support to Mr. Wilson, following
but not preceding hin nomination.
The Transparent Truth
The truth about Giolitti is too trans
parent,-however, to permit even th<
"liberals," however deceived them?
selves, to mislead their fellow man
In 1915 Giolitti guessed wrong abou
the wishes of his Italian fellow coun
trymen, and his mistake nearly cos
hiin his life and did cost him his po
litical power for the time being. H
worked to prevent Italy from enterin?
the war. Hi? reasons may have beei
patriotic or personal, influenced by far
seeing glimpaea of the perils the strug
gle had for Italy or dominated b;
German considerations. He may hav
used German aid in Italy to preven
his country from entering a war whic
he believed would be disastrous to i
or he may have been a German agen
as some of his enemies outside of It.al;
even more than within,-openly charg?e
To-day this circumstance is not in
portan?. What counts is that, lik
Caillaux in France, Giolitti guesse
wrong and paid the price always e:
acted of politicians for i.-istakea <
judgment in important public quei
tions. There w*b nothing left for Gi?
litti but to go home and wait, bu
being a very experienced politician, 1
could conclude that, although he wi
an old man, he could expect to have h
revenge.
The Fiume Failure
As soon as Italy entered the atrugg
and it began to be .undeniable that tl
war would be long, not short, si
Italy's expense at least in proporti?
to any possible reward, Giolitti's sto
began to rise. "He might have k?
us out of war," said the Italian publ
paraphrasing a famous campaign ci
The longer the war th? wiser Gioli
began to appear, whatever had be
his reason's for advising against ?ti
ian participation.
i When Italy mnde her bargain wi
her French and British allies at Lc
don her statesmen, the successor?
Giolitti, failed to obtain a promise
Fiume. This was a second blund
To be sure, Giolitti was willing In \
spring of 1615 to have Italy stay n<
tral without Trieste, but that was i
elent history by S?l8,? Sonniq? ?
Orlando wer? eof&n?U?? to a?*,l
.??stlona, 'mr to m tfeis.-?MU?-<S
litti, like all Italians, was asking "Why
not Fium-i?"
Now, few liberals will disagree that
the President's stand in the matter of
Dalmatia, if not of Fiume, was right?
that even in the case of Fiume there
was much to be said for his position.
Italian ambitions in the Adriatic can?
not appeal to the liberals, who criticise
the treaties of the Paris Conference
for their failure to conform to the
fourteen p?^ nt3. Yet the whole Italian
course at Paris was more or less de?
termined by the Giolitti criticism. Or?
lando and Sonnino were afraid to come
borne with a treaty which did not in?
clude Fiume. So they finally failed
and quit.
Giolitti Gains
But France had been the stumbling
block for the Italians at Paris. If
Clemenceau had supported Orlando in
the Adriatic Orlando would have stood
with Clemenceau on the Rhine?Latin
against Anglo-Saxon. Since Franc?
refused, Itslinn policy, always directed
at getting Fiume and keeping Dalma?
tia, sought to weaken French policy a1
every point, and naturally fell in witfc
every British move.
The thing has happened often enough
in machine politics that the party out
of power makes a bid for "reform'
support by adopting the most extrem?
moral program. Since all the suc?
cessors of Giolitti from 1914 onwan
failed to get Fiume outright, Giolitti'i
position grew stronger and stronger a
home; Meantime Italian opposition tc
France became more and more emba?
rassing to the French. When Franc
occupied Frankfort Italian statesmei
joined the British in expressions o
horror, although Italy was contem
plating permanent occupation of Jugo
Slav territory and the French stay ii
Frmkfort was bound to be short.
A Practical Man
Finally Giolitti came into power anc
being a practical man, went to confei
ence with Millerand, and out of th
conference emerges i ot a declaratio
that Giolitti bas persuaded Milleran
of the moral duty of France to conseT
to the modification and revision of th
Treaty of Versailles. Nothing of tn
sort. A statement that France reeog
nizes Italy's right to settle her Adriat
problems with Jugo-Siavla direct,
pretty euphemism for saying Fran?
will mind her own business in ti
Adriatic and look the other way,
necessary. At the same time the off
cial report speaks of a Franeo-Italii
alliance, of Italian recognition of tt
Treaty of Versailles a? Immutable, ai
it may be safely deduced that if Fran?
g$ti_i across the Rhine again I tali?
eyea will be fixed in the opposite c
rection and thero will be cotton
Italian ears.
As for Giolitti, he has got Fiume,
will have it shortly, and he is goii
to keep Dalmatia, as the Treaty
London promised, although the pop
Itttion of th? northern half of Palmal
is far more Slav than that *f Lend
i* British. A* for the Qritith at
tude, already the Italian papera ha
announced that Lloyd George mat
felted great sympathy with the Hall
point ?of view whan ha talked wi
Giolitti and that h* ?bowed ev
greater sympathy when he talked wl
Nitti?how great may be gathered frc
the fact that Nitti supported George
?11 test questions with France. With?
suggesting that anything wan put
writing? it may fee ?induced thai G?ei
*?* NlfrU jwdetvtapa 4M lite ?ouni
ir?ll'*t**irw var w *w? art* ,
of Fiume or open the way for Jugo?
slav troops in Dalrnatia.
Now, the worst of all this otherwise
normal diplomatic bargain is the fact
that from the Baris conference onward
there was no reason why any one
should misunderstand Italian policy.
Italy knew what she wanted; she
found that she covld not get it im?
mediately, because both Great Britain
and France were under American in?
fluence. What Italy wanted was what
Orlando demanded at Paris, namely
Fiume, and Orlando wanted Fiume
mostly because not to get it was to
restore Giolitti to power. Thus Gio?
litti made Italian policy when he was
out of power, and gave it a similar
direction when he came back.
All of this is fair diplomacy and
better politics, but it is a long way
from the Liberalism which journals
like The New Republic profess and
eeek to promote. A politician like
Giolitti is not a liberal or a reaction?
ary; he is a politician, trained to take
advantage of any principle or an?
policy, but necessarily too cspt-rienccil
to permit himself to be the victim of.
the principle or lose any practical
benefit by any too lor.;; devotion to any
principle. Sometime- it may be uhe
ful to have the support of a profes?
sional politician for a reform cause.
Usually It is possible when the poli?
tician is trying to get back into power.
But always it is dangerous to rely
upon the politician, and a littlo hazard?
ous to see in the politician's cham?
pionship of a moral issue a transfor?
mation from a boss to an apostle.
Game Played Out
Giolitti has gbt Fiumo for Italy
without paying for it in Dalrnatia. He
has imposed upon his political oppo?
nents a policy which drove them to ac?
cept "the cue of the Briiish Liberals
and belabor tho French. In his own
good time he came back to power, and
at Aix-Ies-Bains the French have seen
the light. Giolitti will continue to ad?
vocate peace with Russia because his
domestic situation leaves him no
choice, but it Is utterly unlikely that
we shall hear from him any new de?
mand for a revision of the Treaty of
Versailles. Italy never ?objected to
French policy on the Rhine; what she
protested and fought again i.'. was
French effort to establish \merican,
not Italian, will in the Adriatic by
supporting Wilson against Orlando.
This little game has been played out,
but certain awkward explanations mtf
presently be due from the "liberals
when Giolitti proceeds to take "his" la
northern Dalrnatia.
(Copyright, 19?0, MeClur? Newipaper 8yS4
dicate)
Let Them Build Their Own
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: It is reasonable to assume thai
among the thousands who are suffer?
ing from the housing shortage are
such paople aa concrete worker,
structural steel workers, bricklayer?? -
carpenters, masopa, cabinet maker??
plumbers, roofers and the like. As
construction contractor? declare ths?
the main reason for the dietrenini
standstill of building is the enorm???
wage? demandad by theae worker?, *W
would it not be a good Idea for the??
to combina and build dwelling? *?*
themselves, thus relieving the situ?* :
tjon by just that many horn??
The dealers In building material?.
whose extortions ara included to jM j
Indictroant, could ba. taken into ?h? <
combination and, >y logical sequ???*? I
tho workers nsceiaary to produce ???
material, vsnd'thar? you are. i>in<*( *
they would all ba paying them??-*??
they could maka all prices and ****'
just as high ?? they pl?a??d?
evlrybady would b? happy.
C. #. DENSI
.rets,'