New-York tribune. [volume], July 13, 1921, Page 10, Image 10

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herein also are reserved.
Tax Revision First
That a mistake was made when
/he tarif? bill was put first and the
pax revision measure thereby rele
jpated to subsequent consideration
now seems as plain to Washington
s it has been all along to the coun?
ty
The tariff as a source of revenue
fk manifestly inadequate to meet the
reeds of the government. It will
help, but the chief reliance must nec?
essarily be elsewhere. To put the
minor and supplemental ahead of
the major and the primary shows a
queer disregard of proper sequences.
In the second place, the country's
industrial welfare more demands a
revision of the taxation system than
it does new customs schedules. The
country, if forced to, could get along
with the present tariff. Factors
other than those which relate to
duties control in foreign and domes?
tic trade. Europe is not yet able to
dump much goods on us, and will not
be so able for some time.
In the mean time the excess profits
taxes and excessive surtaxes con?
tinue to strangle business and to
drive capital out of productive and
employing establishments. Business
is entitled to a chance to get its
share of investment funds now di?
verted into non-income tax paying
securities. It is denied this chance
and cannot make plans for future
activities, for it does not know what
it will be required to pay for money.
Every day and week that passes
without tax revision postpones the
return of good times.
In the third place, a tariff is al?
ways a source of business disturb?
ance. There is wrangling between
those who want particular levies and
those who do not. There is uncer?
tainty as to what to expect. More?
over, the tariff lends itself to easy
political representation. Already
the press which wants the Harding
Administration to fail is making the
most of the opportunity thrust on it.
We hear the old clatter about "in?
terests" and the payment of cam?
paign debts.
The Fordney tariff should not
have been reported until after gen?
eral tax revision was disposed of.
The present debate in the House is
doing harm. It should be brought to
an $id. This will put nothing back,
for it is known that the Senate in?
tends to pigeonhole it if it passes the
House. It may not be possible to
drive through a motion to recommit
the bill, but its sponsors would be
wise if they would ask for its with?
drawal.
Reading between the lines of the
President's letter to Chairman Ford?
ney concerning the proposed oil duty
lit is easy to see the President is at a
loss to understand why the tariff bill
?vas presented at this time. In this
opinion the country, without regard
to party, seems generally to share.
The responsible Republican leaders
should refuse longer to defer to the
wishes of Chairman Fordney. He is
an excellent gentleman, but his
mind, unfortunately, seems of the
single-track variety.
The Petroleum Duty
President Harding's oil duty letter
to Chairman Fordney told the latter
something he should have known
before but apparently didn't. We
have the spectacle of the head of a
great committee in the House who
has not kept himself informed as to
the work and policies of other de?
partments of the government.
The Tribune pointed out when
the tariff bill was reported that put?
ting a duty on oil would stultify
the efforts which the State Depart?
ment has been recently making to
assure American participation In
the development of the oil fields of
Mesopotamia and in the Dutch
Djambi region, and would be in con?
flict with our need for the freest
possible access to foreign oil
supplies.
The President politely asks the
House Ways and Means Committee
to take note of these facts, and
points out that we can't pursue two
contrary economic alms. It is vast?
ly more important, as Mr. Harding
says, "that we develop an abun?
dance of resources rather than tem?
porary profit to a few producers
who ?ep] the pinch of Mexican
competition."
The duties on erode oil were put
-
in the tariff bill at the last minute
at the insistence ?t? Representative
Chandler, of Oklahoma. This gen?
tleman is trying to help out some of
his oil well constituents on the well
known Winfield Scott Hancock the?
ory that "the tariff is a?ocal issue."
If it were necessary or advisable to
develop our domestic oil industry
through protection something could
he said for tariff taxes offsetting
the weight of foreign competition.
But America's industry is full
grown and we need foreign oil as
well as domestic oil. The owners of
the Southwestern wells need no
tariff stimulus to induce them to
bore. Their special interest should
not now be put ahead of the na?
tion's vital interest in foreign oil
developments and in supplementing
our domestic stocks with supplies
from virgin regions in which all the
maritime and industrial nations are
struggling to get a foothold.
?JL , , .?._?- . .??
Dual Alliance and League
The Anglo-Japanese treaty is to
run for a year after notice of in?
tention to terminate it has been
given by either Great Britain or
Japan. But the scope and effect of
the agreement have been made a puz?
zle by a communication which the
two powers sent to the secretariat
of the League of Nations, under date
of July 7 last. The league is in?
formed that so long as the treaty is
in force its provisions will be modi?
fied by Article XX of the covenant,
which requires members of the
league to renounce all special agree?
ments in conflict with the league
charter.
Since all members are on an equality
and are allied for common purposes,
any special compact between two for
mutual defence of their rights and
interests against a third member
is theoretically outlawed. Great
Britain is bound to side against
Japan and Japan against Great
Britain in any case of disputes in
which one or the other is found to be
in the wrong by the League Council
or Assembly. The dual community
of interest is thus broken. There
can be no easus fecderis against an?
other league member as to which
either signator may exercise its inde?
pendent judgment.
Since, also, the covenant provides
for treating as a member any non
member involved in a dispute with a
member, a pledge in advance by two
powers to assist each other is a
violation of the whole spirit of the
peace enforcement sections of the
league code, What is left, then, of
the dual treaty, unless it is assumed
that the League Council will be
deadlocked on the merits of a dispute
and no judgment requiring joint
action to maintain peace can be
rendered?
- The status of the Anglo-Japanese
alliance, therefore, remains clouded.
All depends, apparently, on the vital?
ity and authority which the league
is able to demonstrate.
Probably the notice sent to Geneva
means only that, taking into ac?
count the league's present infirm?
ity, Japan and Great Britain haven't
yet determined to what extent their
obligations as members have super
! seded their obligations as allies.
Such a condition of suspended judg
! ment is a menace rather than an
aid to peace. It is also one argu?
ment more against the renewal of
a contract whose implications are
so little understood, either by league
members or by nations outside the
league.
Saving Italy From Germany
From Rome come reports that the
Germans are once more busy in
Italy, both economically and po?
litically. A special effort is being
made at this time to capitalize the
apparent alienation of France and
England.
During the decade preceding the
I war German business interests were
highly successful in Italy. German
banks and industries were firmly es?
tablished, and Italy, particularly in
the north, was in the way of becom?
ing an economic province of Ger?
many and the German Ambassador
a pro-consul. Italy at the time was
a political ally of Germany and Aus?
tria, and a condition of dependence
existed which patriotic Italians
greatly deplored.
To-day there is in Italy an under?
current of resentment against
France and England. The French
policy in the Balkans many Ital?
ians are unable to understand.
And England, even as long ago as
1915, was criticized for the way she
used her coal power when dealing
with Italy. How Italy's lack of coal
is still an important political factor
is evident from the report that the
Germans are prepared to finance the
electrification of the Italian rail?
ways and the development of vast
hydro-electric plants which would
make the Italian railways practi?
cally independent of outside sources
of motive power and at the same
time operate a large number of in?
dustrial plants.
American business interests not
only have long been interested in
this electrification project, but also
in many others which the Germans
are now endeavoring- to recapture,
It is possible that Italy may once
j more fall under the domination of
Germany.
Why should not America, an old
friend and ally of Italy, do the
work? The Italians would rather
the work fell to America, but natur
ally they cannot be expected to wait
forever. It ought to be possible to
make use in some way of the debt
of Italy to us to assist in this great
undertaking. The new Ambassador
to Italy has a great opportunity. Hd
should be able to do in Italy?the
bringing of Italian and American
interests together?the counterpart
of the work so excellently begun in
this country by the Italian Ambas?
sador, Signor Ricci. If ho is suc-^
cessful we may be able to counteract
the German influence and play
an important r?le in international
affairs.
* ? " .-?
The Shipping Triumvirate
"I went to the ship owners and
ship operators," said Chairman Las
ker of the Shipping Board when an?
nouncing the names of the three
chiefs of the board's executive staff,
"and told them they must give us
the men we sought for operators no
matter how great the loss to them."
This method of drafting is as
creditable to Chairman Lasker as to
the men drafto?. It shows again
that when a specific call comes to
Americans big enough to succeed in
their own business something in
them leads them to say: "Here I am.
What's to do?" One of the new men
gives up $250,000 a year and the
other two make similar sacrifices.
Here's a spirit that, like faith, can
move mountains.
The shipping men, who have seen
at close hand the weakness of divided
control, wanted one-man control.
But the chaos is so complete that
perhaps Chairman Lasker is right in
holding that one man could not do
the job alone. At any rate, the
courageous men who are indomitably
working to create a new great na?
tional industry will do their best to
make the new system work well.
They hear with special pleasure that
the trio are to have a free hand?
that the business of looking back to
see what is permitted is over.
To liquidate a fleet of 1,470 ves?
sels, which must be kept in operation
while being transferred to private
management, is a great undertaking.
But it can be successfully done.
If the Shipping Board sticks to its
avowed policy and pays no attention
to the clamors of special interests
the country will soon have a self-sus?
taining merchant marine in which
many will take proper national pride.
Hyian Finance
The opinion that Grover A.
Whalen, Commissioner of Plant and
Structures and one of Mayor Hy
lan's most trusted advisers, fails to
make the most of transcendent tal?
ents by continuing in the city em?
ployment is confirmed by his " re?
markable report as operator of the
Midland-Staten Island trolley line.
Mr. Whalen announces he is a
genius as an accountant. In con?
nection with the announcement that
with a five-cent fare he has been
able to make a profit of ,$5,000 he
makes a report that might be dia?
grammed and hung up for instruction
in every school where bookkeeping
is taught. Ponzi was a figurer of
no mean talent, and so was 520 Per
Cent Miller, but Mr. Whalen fairly
beats them.
The method he follows is as
simple as it is effective. It may
be called the method of exclusion. If
the inclusion of one item would
make it necessary to report a loss
he excludes it. He allows nothing
for interest on $350,000 advanced by
the .city, nothing for depreciation,
nothing to meet the value of the
property he uses, and nothing for
the fact that his six months cover
four fat months and two lean ones,
whereas the next half year will have
but two fat ones and four lean ones.
Great is Hylan finance and Wha?
len is its prophet. His the hand that
can make anything pay?at least on
paper.
The Flying Dutchman
The sea serpent is a thing of the
past. The hotels at the beaches are
able to get all the business they can j
care for without it. But in its place !
has come an equally intriguing topic
for the ship reporters to discuss
with sea captains?piracy on the
high seas by ships of mystery.
It appeai-s that the Flying Dutch?
man is abroad once more. The old
Dutch skipper who was returning
home by the Cape of Good Hope in
the face of obstinate head winds
and swore a mighty oath that he
would double the Cape if he strove
till Judgment Day, and whose bluff |
was called by an angry Heaven, has
apparently finally rounded the point j
and is now somewhere &ff Hatteras. '
But as ancient mariner he nat?
urally doesn't understand modern
shipping methods or the Morse
code. He sails the stormy seas
without light or sound and strikes ;
terror into the stout hearts of Nor- !
wegian captains. Sea serpents in
their day affected the waters off At- j
lantic City when it was undry and
men of the sea spun their yarns
with one foo* on the brass rail and
an elbow on the counter uncrooked.
Bat the Flying Dutchman, or the
Flying Bolshevist, ranges the ocean
from the Grand ^anks down. No
one has definitely 3een him, but :
nevertheless he is a topic of con?
versation whenever Jack comes to
shore.
It is useless to be skeptical. I
Did not Maude Adams induce even !
the most blas? to shout that they be.
Ifeved in fairies? And if foiriei,
why not a phantom ship? There is no
Marryat to tell its story, so we soon
are likely to hear its film rights have
been sold for eovcral billions. Some
tales it is useless to deny. Stevenson
never claimed that Treaauro Island
was veracious, but when he finished
it he confidently remarked that if
the kids did not swallow it with de?
light it would show they had gone
rotten since he was one.
Navy Sovietism
,_, ?
In the French Revolution Captain
and Cook Dined Together
To the Editor of Tho Tribune.
Sir: Apropos of what Quarterdeck
has to say in Sunday's issue on tho j
subject of Bolshevik practices in the
navy, more might still bo related of tho ?
French navy in this connection. j
The founder of tho French nirvy was j
Colbert, tho great minister of Louis
XIV. Ho made a servico d'?lito which
resulted in attracting tho best blood ?
of Franco. They made a glorious rec-1
ord, but by the time of the Revolution
nearly all the officers were aristocrats
and of course had to flee. j
The crews at this timo wore mostly
conscripts within the reach of tide|
water, who had never been to sea, with j
a few fishermen coasters and deep-seaj
sailors. According to Admiral Jaurien !
do la Garinc, in his History of tho
French Navy, Mr. Daniels's idea of hav-1
ing officers and crew moss together was I
actually carried out, tho captain sit?
ting at one end of a long table and
the cook at tho other, with the crew on ;
cither sido. The captain was elected
by lot and was changed every other day.
Tho English kept such a close block?
ade that the ships could get to sea
for practice only when foul weather
drove the English offshore. The result
was that the bulk of the crew were too
seasick to go aloft or work the guns.
All these causes had much to do with
their defeat in battle, but the main
cause was lack of discipline.
F. M. BARBER,
Captain U. S. N. (retired.)
New York, July 11, 1921.
Caruso Will Sing Again
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The discussion about the ac?
tual or future state of Caruso's voice
gives but little idea of the immense in?
terest of the artistic world concerning
the health of the illustrious singer, as
well as the chances we still have of
hearing again the golden voice of our
beloved comrade and friencj. After
conflicting statements of various per?
sons, more or less authorized, perhaps
the opinion of singers will be found to
carry some weight. Let it be said on
our behalf that when Caruso returns
to normal health he will have recov?
ered that voice we consider matchless
in the world.
Caruso sings with such graceful ease,
such facile convenience, his method re?
quires so little effort (being the per?
fection of tone production), that we do
not hesitate to affirm that any exercise
of the human machine tires him more
than the act of singing. Those who,
like ourselves, have been fortunate
enough to observe leisurely the ad?
mirable method of singing of Caruso
(all wrapped up in happy amiability,
tranquil and sane health) will declare
with us that as long as Caruso will be
ablo to put ono foot in front of the
other he will sing, and you may be
sure that he will sing better than any?
body else. JACQUES BARS.
Brooklyn, July 10, 1921.
Withhold Bonus, Burn Bonds
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: As the Treasury at Washington
is in such bad condition as to make
tho paying of the soldiers' bonus a
hardship, let me suggest a remedy.
I think the former service men who
feel they have something coming in the
form of back pay would be willing to
forego their claims if others with just
claims would forget theirs. So let's
all get together and burn our bonds
and eliminate the bonus. That would
make former service men feel that
theirs need not be the only sacrifice.
My salary was $220 a month at the
time I was drafted and I bought two
$50 bonds while in the service and paid
for them at $5 a month. Now I am
willing to forget the war and tear up
the bonds.
No doubt an awful wail will go up
from a few, but, for that matter, I
saw quite a few soldiers that seemed to
feel that way about going to war. I
think that the majority will agree
there is no special reason why the gov?
ernment should hold one obligation so
sacred and eliminate another equally
just. L. G.
New York, July 11, 1921,
The Bobbed Hair Girl
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Your handling of the current
flurry of opinions about "The Bobbed
Hair Girl" in to-day'* editorial is as
level-headed as the opposition would
imply the girls are not. We of the
shorn locks sorority thank you.
Is it amiss in this discussion to ask the
head of the large insurance company
which has put a ban on bobbed hair
women employees whether a correspond?
ing order has been issued to their rep?
resentatives to cease soliciting insur?
ance from short haired women?
Tho increasingly large number of
self-respecting, self-supporting bobbed
hair girls now holding responsible po?
sitions will hesitate before turning
business toward a firm that use? this
flimsy excuse aa a stumbling block to
women's progress.
RUTH BAER PE-TTIT.
New York, July 12, 1921.
A Dwindling Group
(From The Springfield Republican)
The President broke another prece?
dent by going to the Capitol and taking
lunch with a group of Senators. The
list of unbroken precedents must be
short enough by this time to be printed
in small space.
The Conning Tower
!iT?pi(Ni:sa BEAWUSTMBNT
"Ouslnesf? is bum," s?ghed the young stock
broker,
Lighting a weed In tho Sprlnir Lake smoker.
"fltiMiiv'-.i ?i dead," mon tied the capitalist
barber,
Trlmmintr a still In tha breeze at Bar
Harbor,
?'?lurtincsB is punk," mused the dealer in
Hold,
Slnklni? ? putt on tlio sixth at Lnko Placid.
ftiwineitti In sad?on tho vnrire of stagnation,
Now Is the time for a good Imite vacation t
O. M. M.
In London the other day Sinclair
Lewis aald that now that he wan an
author?and no longer a journalist?
he had to train himself to write ?lowly.
Thnt, wo hold, in almost a non-soquitur.
We know many journalists who put
tho utmost effort, the last ounce of
laborlousness, into their work, and who
write incredibly slowly. And we know
authors who count that day lost whoso
I. d. h. doesn't see at least 2,000 Word3
v,' ritten.
Eternal Vont h Seeks Lodging; or, la Ponce
de Leon in the Audience?
(?From Tho Aehevllle fN. C.) Citizen]
ROOM and board wanted, by permanent
ynunir man, close In preferred. Address
J. H. O. P7-3-3
No gambler are we, but we should
like to bet a few doubloons against
tho crew drawn by Winsor McCay in
The American, rowing, ne they must
row, with all the oars on one side of
the shell.
Movie Hymn of Hate
Oh, up the river
With Jimmie Cloud;
Tho movie captions
He read3 out loud.
DOLLY AND RUTH.
Said Mr. Hughes to Mr. Pepys
Dear Mr. F. P. A.: Your Mr. Pepys
is as sympathetic as tho person who
rebuked the breadless French peasants
with the contemptuous query, "Why
don't they eat cake?"
Your Mr. Pepys was "wearied by the
sentimentality" of "The Old Nest," and
"could not see why tho mother, of ap?
parent capability, should fold her hands
and say, Life is ended, because her
children had left home. Why, me
thought, not go to visit one of them?"
The original Mr. Pepys, I believe, was
similarly bored by King Lear, who
tried visiting his married children.
The mother in "The Old Nest" does
not fold her hands and say, Life is
ended. She is brave and busy, but she
suffers because the children she loves
must be away. She says she does not
blame them, she wants them. My own
mother is busy and very studious, and
her children aro devoted, yet she suf?
fers agonies of loneliness.
I am afraid you have never been a
mother, but I had thought you had had
one. Would she find all her sorrows
erded if she could visit you in your
busy New York for as long as you
found it convenient?
The tragedy of motherhood Is tre?
mendous, eternal, and pitiful even if, it
wearies you. It wearies mothers still
more to see the children they love
and held in their laps, growing up, go?
ing away and loving other mothers'
children.
Your sense of humor is famous, but
surely you were not at your best when
you advised a lonely mother to go
visit one of her children and be happy
ever after.
In my picture "The Old Nest" I tried
to show restraint. The tragedy is not
due to villains or conspiracies. As in
Greek drama, it is ineluctable fate
that wrings the heart, and I claim that
my Mrs. Anthon has as good reason for
grief as ' Elektra, Medea, Iphigenia or
any of them, and is quite as brave,
la a treatment of her sorrow illegiti?
mate just because it is inevitable as
death ?
The case with which you toss aside
the anguish of lonely motherhood is
strange in one who emits about 365
screams of woe a year over the par?
turition of a last line and whose suffer?
ings in the presence of a grammatical
indelicacy exceed those of a woman in
travail.
Criticism seems to be the only field
of activity in which one boasts of his
limitations and lack of responsiveness.
Elsewhere, deafness, blindness, astig?
matism, paralysis, dyspepsia and the
absence of the knee-jerk are accounted
afflictions. Yours nearly always.
Los, Angeles. RUPERT HUGHES, i
It still is true that our Mr. Pepys
was "wearied by the sentimentality"
of "The Old Ne3t"; but it was not his
notion that a.mother's visit to her chil?
dren would give her sempiternal hap?
piness.
Shrewd guesser that Mr. Hughes is,
although we never have been a mother,
wo have had one. If sho could visit
us in "our busy New York," the visit
itself might not dispel all her sorrows,
but it might dull the acuteness of her
loneliness. We wish such a visit were
possible; and one of the first things |
we should do would be to introduce j
her to Mr. Hughes, for she would !
know that for nobody in our family
had we deeper and more unassailable
affection.
The tragedy of motherhood is, as
Mr. Hughes says, tremendous, eternal, |
and pitiful. It does not weary us. I
But we felt the tragedy of motherhood |
when we were seeing "The Old Nest" i
hardly more than when we were hear?
ing song3 like "The Picture That Wa3 !
Turned Toward the Wall," "My Mother)
Was a Lady," and "Just Tell Them j
That You Saw Me." No, the treatment
of her sorrow ij not illegitimate; but j
"The Old Nest" wearied us just the
same.
If th? original Mr. Pepys was bored
b? King Lear?which might have been
so, as his critical sense was almost as
fallible as Our Own Mt. Pepys's?he I
never, so far as we recall, said a word
about it in his Diary. But he said
that "A Mid-Summer Nights Dream"
was "the most insipid, ridiculous play
ever I saw in my life." So, 250 years
from now, our statue may be pointed
out as that of the mm who was
wearied by the sentimentality of "The
Old Neat.* T, p. A.
IT CERTAINLY WILL BE AGREAT COMFORT TO THF
REST OF THE FAMILY ^
Copyright, 1921, New Tork Tribune Inc.
I
-1
Neglect of Mentally Disabled Soldiers
Dr. Thomas W. Salmon Points Out the Inadequacy of Hospital Facilities the Govcrnmenl
Has Provided in This State and the Relatively Simple Means of Bringing Relief
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: In testifying before the Senate
committee last Wednesday regarding
the neglect of ex-service men suffer?
ing from mental disorders I apparently
gave the impression that the 400 sui?
cides in tho whole country among dis?
charged soldiers had occurred in New
York State. This is not the case, but
the tragic consequence^ of neglecting
mental diseases, whi^h I wae endeavor?
ing to place before the Senate com?
mittee, are sufficiently emphasized by
New York's own proportion of this bat?
talion of young ex-service men who
preferred death at their own hands to
life.
It did not require the training of a
psychiatrist to appreciate the necessity
of making provision for mentally dis?
abled ex-service men. Every one who
had sons or young friends in the serv?
ice has been struck by the abnormal
emotional states which follow the war
and interfere with the resumption of
peace-time activities. The restlessness,
discouragement, depression and irrita?
bility characterizing these conditions
are familiar to all.
Casen for Diagnosis
Discharged men who are having such
difficulties, but are nevertheless mas?
tering them, represent one end of th<
scale of post-war mental casualties
while the stream of insanity that it
now entering hospitals from the metro
politan district at the rate of five i
day represents the other. Betweei
these two extremes lie many problem;
in which sympathy and understanding
and, above all, the prompt applicatioi
of skilled diagnosis and treatment wil
determine whether the outcome is t>
be a minor mental disorder or one o
the grave types of insanity.
New York's Need Greatest
Few people realize the pitiful inade
quacy of the facilities that the govern
ment has provided in this state to mee
a need that could have been accuratel
foreseen while convoys of the mentall
disabled were still returning froi
France. Lack of hospitals throughou
the country is distressing enough, bt
in this state it is greatest.
I? Chicago an observation hospiti
of ninety-seven beds is set aside by th
Public Health Service for the receptioi
study and classification of mental pz
tient?. Boston has a Public Healt
Service neuro-psychiatrie hospital <
226 beds at West Roxbury, and, throug
contracts, the excellent facilities of tr
Boston Psychopathic Hospital are avai
able. A special Public Health Servi?
neuro-psychiatric hospital of 400 be<
?3 provided in Philadelphia. Ne
Orleans has a reception and art obse
vation hospital of eighty beds.
In this great state, that furnishi
a number of soldier? equal to tl
Btrength of fifteen divisions, there a
no beds at all for the continued ca
of mental patients in government ho
pit?is, and the only observation facii
ties consist of a few beds set apart
Fox Hills and the Marine Hospital
Stapleton that constitute way statio
for patients going through the cour
to the nearest state hospital for t
insane. For the border line case?t
man who needs encouragement, pies
ant surroundings and ?killed treatme
?there is nothing, unless he is willi
to go to Ward's Island. The nearest
hospital for functional nervous dis?
eases is at Perryville, Md., and patients
from New York must wait weeks or
months for vacancies there. Incredible
as it may seem, there are no facilities
whatever for the out-patient treatment
of mental disorders.
The State's Profit
It is true that the government pays
for the care of ex-service men in the
state hospitals, but only a little more
than half the amount so paid goes for
the purpose for which Congress ap?
propriates it. The balance constitutes
a clear profit of several hundred thou?
sand dollars a year which the state
makes out of the failure of the gov?
ernment to provide for our own soldier
citizens. What would we think of s
mother who was content to profit bj
the misfortunes of her children?
Nearly a year ago the Legislature ol
New York, moved by a statement ol
the actual conditions made by the Di
rector of the Bureau of War Risk In
surance, appropriated $3,000,000 for i
military hospital for mental patient:
at Creedmoor. Governmental red tapi
prevents the signing of an agreemen
which would permit construction to b'
started immediately u^on one of th
most carefully designed mental hos
pit?is in the world. The Sweet bil
contains a provision that will solv
this problem, but the Sweet bill is no
yet law.
Means of Relief
The relatively simple means of bring
ing relief to these men are (1) the cor.
struction of the Creedmoor Hospital a
soon as the red tape entanglement a
Washington ?9 cut; (2) the imm?diat
provision of an observation hospiti
and clearing house in New York Cit
through lease of available buildings
(3) the institution of a system of oui
patient treatment and community st
?ervision so that men who do not rt
quire hospitalizaron may, nevertheles
receive aid.
The indifference of government off
cials has already permitted two built
ing? admirably suited for use as obse:
vation hospitals to be diverted for oth<
purposes. The services of specialis
in mental and nervous diseases in tr
city who would very gladly help ha?
been unobtainable through insistent
on the part of the Public Health Ser
ice in using its own full-time men :
its own way and in its own time to i
this work.
Broken Men
From tiny sources that arose
every city block or country hamlet
great stream began to gather foi
years ago. A year later, in a wave
magnificent manhood, it broke throuj
the German lines in France and B?
gium. To-day the backwash of th
wave?a trickle of men broken in mil
or body?is still flowing. If a coun
or a city ward gave a thousand m
to th? war it has mnr not more th
ten disabled men who require care
the hospitals.
Surely the community that helped
train, arm and equip a thousand m
for battle can give five broken ones t
best fighting chance for their liv
health or reason that modern seicr
and humanity can provide. To-day,
far as thei insane are concerned, mer
not justiee, is being asked from t
government. If this request is den.
should not the city and state thra-l
selves undertake the task, even with i[
faint chance of future reimbursemes
for their outlay, rather than stand bj
and see those whom we seat out eajh|
lously neglected?
THOMAS W. SALMON, M. D.,
Member National Hospitalisation
Committee, American Legion.
New York, July 11, 1921,
In Defense of High Heel?
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Your correspondent James R
Pitcher objects to high-heeled shoes
for women. As a matter of fact, worn?
do not have to wear high heels if they
do not want to. Their footwear com?
both with high and low heels. A g Ian?
at any shoe store window demonstrates
j that. They take what they want, ana
i therefore if they prefer high heels le:
. them wear them. It is quite evMent
! that a vast number do want them. Tfce
; "highbred and refined women," to quat?
' Mr. Pitcher, in this country and abroad
have been wearing high heels formanj
i generations and will undoubtedly con?
tinue to do so for many more.
A properly designed high heel is ??
' going to do any harm to the worn?!
?with an aristocratic and shapely fo?'
| Such a heel does not, as Mr. Pitfhe:
i seems to think, come half-way unde:
i the instep. There are some high hee.:
faultily designed which do cometo'
I much under the instep, but any wotn?i
who is accustomed to wearing hig!
I heels properly designed will detect th?
fault at once and reject the shoe.
There 13 a great difference in ??*t
Some are long and narrow, while oth?
ers are short and stubby, and one W
and one height of heel will not ?atisij
all women. The woman who is mBCl
overweight and the woman whose
ankles are not straight would do belt*:
to avoid the extreme high heels, i*'
they will no; look well and their than
will soon lose their shape.
But there are vast numbers of worn?
who can wear high heeis who f**f"
them and who suffer great discomfort
in low-heeled shoes. Those who tai?
pride in the appearance of their f?:
always insist on high heels when th*T
wish to look their best. My wife h??
worn nothing but high heel? on h<T
shoe? ever since she left school, ?k
she r.ever expects to wear any owff
kind except when golfing or pUr-1*
tennis. And there is nothing ta? ??*
ter with her health, either.
J. B. WALKEE.
New York, July 11, 1921.
Unwilling to Learn
(From Th? Philadelphia ln?*if*t)
Wilhelm of Dcorn has one strap ?
authority left which he will not r*H*
quish. He has forbidden his third ta'-.
August Wilhelm, to take a job with t*
movies. The prinee needs the tttors.
badly, it is said, but none the less *
has yielded to the paternal ??d "
imperial will. What would h?T* "*r
pened if he had defied it?
The former Kaiser obviously h** *?
Bourbon habit of learning nothing ***
forgetting nothing. Deposed roy?^
cut a .auch better figure earniaf
honest living than loafing abo?*
casual charity. Bat even in his **"
Wilhelm still thinks of a H?hend?
as a being ?et apart from o^3**^
men. He feas not pride eno0i^?|
meet his fate heroically?only en?wj
to feed hi? personal vanity.