New-York tribune. [volume], December 24, 1921, Image 6

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
$?em ??orfc ait?btmt
First to Lest?the Truth: News, Ml
torta!*?Adv art t semen t?
UMBtMr *f the Audit B-ura-u of CttwUHcraa
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1921
Owned by fTew Tor? Trlt-mne Trio., a New Torts
???erper_tieo. PublUhcd da?j. OgAaa ReliJ. Preai
?faot: O. V?rnor Hog-ers. Vice -Pr?-if<?*ntt: "HAlen
rto?*er? Held. ??crM?!-; It, *?. Me. ?eld. tVewurw.
-ddi-eas, TrU-.-r-e -B?utlriln*_ 134 Nawau. Streit. ?Serf
IWk TelsiAoa*. Bee?rmiB too*.
rr*BS?7^rp*rTQX RATES ? By mall. ln_*,?t_l,-*a, I
******* W TAB UNITED STATES
Or.s Sit One -
By Kali Faat-oald. Tear Monti-* MotiU- ;
Pally and Stj-Klay .tlf.<T9 S??*} tl.90
On* weak, s?**,
??lali-r e-o!y . Tt.Ot ??A? ,ii\
One week, ige.
?*.it-day only . ?.CD 3.a*} .?0
?anday only. Canada. ?.CO S..9 .6i \
tOBJEIGN BATT.?
Oafljr and fttmdty .t?AW |i_.*9 $Mo !
?Dally onW . 11.40 #.T? LAS
8ub?Jv ou'iy . 9.?3 6.1.1 -IS '
?atewd ?t U? roato??.-? at Njt? tork as lecaod
?.tu? Mali M-ttoc
GUARANTY
Vrj baa earchtte merchtn*!?? ??vertt*?ed In THF
TRIBUNE with eeeehit* ?efoty?tar If -?watlafao
?'len re-rotts In any easa THE TRIBUNE iuaran
!??*'. te Bay your money hack .ipon remuait. N* ted
'?.p?, tia quibbling. We make gnod BremjMy If
the adttrtlter dee? net.
inCMBKR OF THE ASSOCIATEn TTtXSii
Tb? A*sociated Fre?s Is ei.-t?jaiTol.T entitled ta
?*"?.? ?as? for republic-tlc-i of all rents dispatches.
.-redUed to it or not otherwise credited In this
?f-s-jer. and also the local nett? of sponteneo-js
.-r_rt*i T?-i5M:?5he.A here?.?.
.4.11 rlg-h'a o? -repubUcatioa of ail oil-tor matter ;
i-es-ein also are reeerted.
Breaking Home Tie?
The Tribune yesterday signed final
?papers for the sale of its old home
:tead, on Park Row,corner of Nassau
and Spruce streets. The transfer
?follows the recent purchase, of a site
for a new homestead on West :
Fortieth Street, where an edifice is
to be erected adequate to the enljirg-1
ing business of The Tribune.
It was in a small two-story build-j
ing on ground whence now uprears !
the present twenty-story Tribune
Building that Horace Greeley and j
his associates in the spring of 1841 '
i'pgan the undertaking which has '
grown and developed with the pass?
ing year?. Since then The Tribune
has never moved, as it never has
suffered the revolution of an essen?
tial shift in control or policy. In
the eighty years that have elapsed,
-with the winds of change so strongly
blowing, the foundations must have
been strong that thus endured. For I
The Tribune is still The Tribune?is j
still under its present managers true j
to the same principles that guided
Horace Greeley and Whitelaw Reid.
The prospective departure gives ;
ri::e to many wistful thoughts. About ]
the hall? hau hung a benison from !
the many distinguished men who
have given of their best to the mak?
ing of this newspaper and to service :
of the people. Unseen presences j
have stimulated those who followed
to be true to the old traditions while
they labored to adapt them to new
conditions.
A great newspaper is more than a
?st of subscribers or an instrument
of advertisers, or even a reflex of
the personal opinions of its conduc?
tor.-. It lives its own life, become?,
an institution which has its own
character and subdues its makers to
its demands.
But the public must be served. The
old home, with all its precious as- j
Sociations, did not suffice to take j
cave of the wants of new friends
and the old. No course existed but
to move, and the tower that has
been a landmark during the lives
of the oldest is no longer to speak ?
its old message to the city.
Tangles
That there is a difference between
tin alliance with European and with
Asiatic powers is now claimed by
ertain friends of the irreconcilable;--,
ivho advise them to be now recon
?ilcd. Two closely connected ideas
are advanced to support this con?
tention, the first being that Wash?
ington referred only to Europe in
his warning against foreign alli?
ances, and the second that, while we
are not now nor ever have been a
European power, we are an Asiatic
power by the very fact that we pos?
sess the Philippine? and have acute
interests in the Pacific.
Perhaps no argument better shows
the futility of accepting a policy
formulated for a different era and
different conditions than does this
admission that Washington in his
I'arewell Address could not possibly
have envisaged the eventuality of an
Asiatic alliance. Those who support
'his theory declare quite rightly that
he nation to which Washington ad
?iressed his warning was a loosely
unit group of states strung along the
Atlantic coast, with powerful Brit
i'sh, French and Spanish neighbors
nil about them. The America of to
lay is a strongly centralized power,
with weak neighbors, and by its very
* conomic and geographical situation
??cornes in fact an Asiatic power.
fhat Washington when he issued his
iddress foresaw the pressent situa?
tion is, of course, out of the ques
:ion. It follows, therefore, that to
?mdeavor to apply to the situation of
?o-day a doctrine laid down for the
'riginal thirteen states is to fail to
? ccognize how much conditions have
changed and how this very change
??ec-assarily modifies the force of this
< loctrine.
7^0 far as the second point is con
? rired, that America is to-day an
Asiatic power is an argument which
though often ignored cannot be re?
futed. This very fact was one of
the reasons why the present con?
ference was called. By those who
oppose tino four-power treaty on the
??round that it violates the spirit of I
Washington's advice these two points
^rs worth considering. So doing-, ?
t>!**y may jn-Nti??** t?&ait ?Sinai i?V \
(?* tratb |b*ft WuhJaft^-i vfcatii*!
he l??ked tu the cast o* the weak,
had little thought of e?tabii?hingr a :
permancuit policy. Indeed, he him-1
self says in the Farewell Address:
??PWith me a predominant motive has
been the endeavor to gain time for
our country to settle and mature its
yet recent institutions and to pro?
gress without int<*rr?ption to that
degree, of strength and consistency
which ia necessary lo give it, ^hu
n-anly speaking, command of its own
fortunes."
The command mentioned by Wash?
ington has been attaiued. The con?
dition on which he based his advice
ha? lapsed. His language leaves no
doubt, that if he were alive to-day he
would say, as his language plainly
suggests, that counsel formerly good
is now non-pertinent.
Naval Auxiliary Ratio?
The Hughes program of arma?
ment, limitation aimed not so much
&l reducing the strength of navies
| as the offensive strength of navies.
The main offensive, weapon is the
capital ship. If capital ship
: strength is cut down to such an ex?
tent as to foreclose oversea offensive
the chief purpose of the naval limi?
tation negotiations will be accom?
plished.
The conference has already turned
this corner. The five chief mari?
time powers have accepted the
Hughes capital ship ratio?5-3-3
1.75-1.7?. Great Britain and the
United States will have capital ship
fleets limited to 525,000 tons. Japan's
allotment will be 315,000 tons,
Prance's 175,000 and Italy's 175,000.
Agr?sement on this part of the pro?
gram is complete.
Discussion now centers on trie re?
ductions to be made in auxiliary
strength?for the greater part de?
fensive in character. In this cate?
gory Mr. Hughes put auxiliary com?
batant craft, submarines and air?
plane carriers and aircraft. He rec?
ommended no restriction on aircraft
and the limitation of airplane car?
rier tonnage to 80,000 for Great
Britain and the United States and ?
48,000 for Japan. On the principal j
ship ratio France and Italy would
be entitled to 32,000 tons apiece. No
opposition has been shown to such
an apportionment.
As to submarines and combatant
auxiliary surface "craft there are I
sharp differences of opinion. Great i
Britain has asked for the abolition ]
of the submarine on the ground that j
illegitimate as well as legitimate use j
may be made of it. That raises a I
special set of questions which need i
not bo gone into here. The con?
ference will deal first with surface!
craft. With regard to them France !
has appealed for a waiver of the
capital ship ratio. Mr. Hughes con?
ceded that allowance ought to be
made for the cessation of French
naval construction after 1914. His
program fixed the tonna-ge of cruis?
ers, flotilla leaders and destroyers at
450,000 tons for Great Britain and
the United States and 270,000 tons
for Japan. On the basis of the 5-5- '
3-l.75-i.75 ratio Fiance would be
entitled to about 150,000 tons in
cruisers, flotilla leaders and de?
stroyers.
But, as M. Briand intimated in his
cable to Mr. Hughes, France will
ask for more than this. Her special
need is in cruisers and other sur?
face auxiliaries, not for aggression,
but for defense. In fixing the ratio
for these vessels more elasticity is
possible than it was in fixing the
capital ship ratio. Auxiliaries can?
not maintain an oversea naval offen?
sive. For economy's sake it is de?
sirable to hold even tonnage of this
i sort down. But concessions in the
! spirit of Mr. Hughes's recognition of
I the peculiar position of France and
; Italy can be made without imper
; iling the results already achieved
in restricting navies in the future to
\ police and self-defensive uses.
?I ,' ... y <
Stop, Thief!
Newspaper headlines proclaim a
1 returning wave of banditry. Crimes
of violence, hold-ups and burglaries
often increase in lurge cities at this
j season of the year. Just now, when
j there ia much unemployment, they
i are likely to be more numerous than
j ever. All the more reason, there?
fore, for extraordinary efforts to
j check them.
It is sincerely to be hoped that this
i year's crime wave will not equal
j that of last year. Mr. Hylan and
\ Police Commissioner Unright, both
j tenderly solicitous that the city shall
! have "a fair name outside," will
; need unusual vigilance if they are to
; cope successfully with the invaders.
But their policy of secrecy will not
I help them. To assume that every
; public mention of crime is a reflection
j upon the administration is foolish.
A man who has knocked down and
? robbed another or broken into a safe
?and carried away its contents will
I suspect that he is wanted by the
! police, even if he does not read in the
i newspapers that they are on his
! trail. Making the crime public does
not at all hamper the detectives in
their attempt to capturo the crimi?
nal. > 4 * ??->!$*?
Nor is the reporting of a crime by
its victim or by the newspapers a re
! proach to the Police Department. If
\ the people of the city are aware that
bandits are abroad they will take
better care of their valuables and
avoid dark streets after nightfall.
The more publicity criminals receive
the more are their opportunitiea
18urt*U?d.
?Mr. Esurtgfct ?tU dtiutovt* that &*
L
can better meet the situation by
keeping an open crime blotter in
Police Headquarters and giving out
crime news. The public is entitled to
the warning that will thus bo given.
There is no denying that crime is
on the increase. There is no sense
in trying to make light of it. Many
?of these crimes are committed by
amateurs, making detection more
difficult than in instances where old
and known offenders can be rounded
up and forced to confess.
For the remainder of the winter it
will be necessary to guard more
carefully the approaches to the city,
to enforce the vagrancy law more
drastically nnd, abovo all, to keep
the public informed as to what is
going on. IP Mr. Enright will do
these things ho will stand a far bet?
ter chance of checking the crime
| wave than if he insists that there
isn't any crime wave and regards
every report of one as enemy propa?
ganda.
The Release of Debs
The release of Eugene V. Debs
will doubtless be agreeable to many
persons, and President Harding will
be. congratulated on his magna?
nimity.
Yet it is worth while to remember,
though with no rancor, what Debs
did. His offense was deliberate in?
terference with the prosecution of
the war. To this he practically
pleaded guilty. If his advice had
been followed in this and other
Ally countries the German flag
would now be floating over the. Cap?
itol and all would be sweating to
meet the tribute exacted by our Ger?
man masters.
The Kaiser, as he handled the
business of his new possession,
j would probably not be as merciful
I to Debs as is President Harding. As
' Debs walks abroad let us not forget
j what he did. And let us hope that
I his release will not inspire others,
? should a new crisis occur, to follow
his exami'v- in flouting patriotism.
| Debs was in no sense a political
j prisoner. He attacked the social
j bond and thereby committed a sort
of crime that a more enlightened
age will regard as of all the most
intolerable.
A Collective Santa Claus
A Chicago paper, years ago, pub?
lished a story of a stranger in New
York who was held up by a bandit
with the usual request of "Your
money or your life!" "Take my life,
then," said the stranger. "I'd rather
he shot than be without money in
New York."
To-day there are many thousands
1 of people in New York without
! money, and none of them is partic
! ularly eager to be shot. Look about
i you Christmas Day and you will
discover that this is not such a hard
and unfeeling city as it is reputed
to be by some ef its neighbors.
Charities, public and private, will
bring Christmas into many homes
which would otherwise bo very un?
happy. Few appeals for Christmas
funds are ever made in vain to New
? Yorkers. Nowhere is there mor*e of
! the Christmas'spirit.
The children of the poor will be
j particularly well cared for. Food and
j clothing and toys and candy will be
distributed literally by tons. This
is a busy town, and often a hurried
one, but on Christmas Day it always
remembers the unfortunate and sin?
cerely seeks to make Christmas a
merry one throughout its borders.
Down the Bay
In a building that looks like a
I huge prison and whose occupants are
I in many respects under prison re
! straint nearly 3,500 persons, of both
? sexes and of all ages, looked sadly
j out of windows. A large part of them
I were poor creatures who had beer:
. caught in the machinery of a huge
I circumlocution office whose wheels
j revolve slowly Una not always intel
| ligently.
The spectacle was pitiful, anc
, thought of it wrung the heart anc
I suffused the eye. No wonder Secre?
tary Davis was led to issue a sus
I pending order peimitting a landing.
The great beacon of the Libertj
i Statue blinked dimly through the
j fog, the lights of Christmas twinklec
! along the shore, and each day a,*
I darkness closed down the stupendous
: beauty of New York blazed inte
: glory. But, though the spires of the
modern Eldorado sent forth their
gleaming- invitation, the invisible
hand of government interposed t(
bar nearer approach. Think of tin
feelings of the human beings thin
taunted and tantalised!
''Quota is exhausted," they heard
How they must have hated these
words of dreadful significance ! Ant
whoso wa3 the fault that they were
spurned as they knocked on the door'
Not theirs, AJ? they did was to emptj
pockets of meager savings when tole
to do sei. Their fete was in othei
hands, their power was no greatei
than that of a bale of goods. The3
trusted and were deceived.
Whose was the fault? Plainly il
was with an inept bureaucracy
which did not realise that it wa;
dealing with a human problem?
with an agency to which an immi?
grant is too much merely a number
a name on a list, an entry in a led
ger. The immigration administra
tion did not see that the quota sys?
tem required many things to be
doue. When exposure of failure
came a fluttering attempt, now hap
pily abandoned, was made to lay th(
blame on the steamship companies
The 'prepo8terous claim was hearc
that the fiteatuMiiip c'ompaolt?* giaat
ly to their pecuniary disadvantage,
had deliberately brought in immi?
grants that they knew were not
laudable.
Obviously, through the consular
service or otherwise, some sort of
clearing house must be established in
Europe to certify whether or not a
particular applicant for a ticket,
may embark. And when the certifi?
cate is duly issued and the reserva?
tion is made the certificate must bo
honored on this aide. The govern?
ment must stand behind its own
document, ami not put the risk on
the poor traveler who has no means
of knowing whether or not he is ad?
missible.
It is not enough merely to suspend
for three months the rigors of the
new system. A way must be found
to prevent the necessity of suspend?
ing the law.
The Vicious Mistletoe
Great wan the consternation ;
among the underwriters when they
read the report from Washington
that it was the intention of the j
President to place lighted caudles in
the windows of the White House on
Christmas Eve. Calling upon him
at once in the name of annual fire
; losses estimated at $500,000,000,
they urgeel him not to set such a
pernicious example. Always willing
to oblige, the President answered
that their request would be heeded.
So goes another custom sacrificed
to modern notions. Three years ago
the country was deprived of the
wassail bowl. To-day it is being de?
prived of the yule candle. To?
morrow the society for the preser?
vation of forests will undoubtedly
come out with a stirring appeal
for the abolition of the Christmas
i ? on the ground that every j
( hnstmas tree spared to-day means
so many feet of timber a generation
hence. It is also understood that a
movement will soon be inaugurated
for strictly hygienic reasons to pre
! vent bobbing for apples in the
Christmas Eve sarsaparilla bowl.
Have the makers of the new civili?
zation yet considered the evils that
lurk in the mistletoe?
The Forest Service
Keep It in Agricultural Department,
Where Roosevelt Placed It
To the Kditor of The Tribune.
Sir: Your editorial of December 19,
"Revived Ballingerism," about the
i threatened impairment of the efficiency
I of the United States Forest Service
| by taking it out of the Department of
Agriculture, where Roosevelt so wisely
placed it, gives publicity to a proposal
fraught -with grave danger.
With our rapidly "diminishing re?
sources of wood, ? raw material which
j enters into every part of our daily life,
; from the paper on which this is printed
to the houses in which we live, it is
inconceivable that we would knowingly
throw away the work of the last decade
in forestry.
Have we not learned the lesson of
the war? When the submarines re
! ciuced the Allied tonnage to the danger
| point it was necessary to rely on French
! forests for the material to build the
j wharves for laneling the American
j army, to build depots, to build rail
| roads (ties) to bring the army to the
I front, to build barracks and hospitals,
I and for hundreds of other essentials.
I Had not France been practicing for
i estry for generations the American
i army could not have been thrown into
I the balance.
j England has learned her lesson and
j provided for purchasing and reforest
? ing land3 sufficient to give her rnde
; pendent supplies of wpod for emergen
i cies; in spite of her need for economy,
! she is spending about $75,000,000 for
?' the purpose. Experts know that, had
; the war come ten years later, the
? United States would not have had the
j lumber for its vast cantonments and
! manufacturing expansion. The short
! age of forest products already is keenly
j felt tn many American industries.
The proposed removal of the Forest
| Service from the Department of Agri
! culture has no compensating advan
j tages. and would cripple the nation's
| principal reliance in a situation which
! ia certain to be difficult at best. It
j would be not only unintelligent, it
I would bs suicidal.
, HARRINGTON MOORE.
New York, Dec. 22, 1921.
Patent Office Relief
| To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Your service in calling the pub?
lic's attention to the distressing con?
dition of the Patent Office ia greatly
appreciated. That it is impossible to
: keep the responsible positions tilled
with competent men at the present
j salaries has been shown. Here is an
i example of how the law of 3upply and
; demand works: Seventy of the men who
; left the Patent Office recently, receiv
| ing an average salary of less than
$2,250, took positions with an initial
j average? salary of over $3,100. The
?new bill for the relief of the Patent
Office provides for men holding the
same positions, examiners and assist?
ant examiners, an average- minimum
salary of $2,516 and an average ma.\|
? mum ?alary of $2,800. or nearly 10 per
? cent less than these same men can
? command at once when they leave tha
! office.
The patent committee of the Na
j tionai Research Council has called at
I tention to the fact that although a
j college education is a necessary quali
j fication for admission to the examining
I corps the government does not pay
these men enough to enable them to
j ?end their own children to college.
E. W. MARSHALL.
New York, Dec. 22, 1921.
Havens of Obscurity
(From Tha Dallas Harald)
D'Annunzlo now baa his nonpareil
type on page IS, Korfanty his agate
usji*f mi?c?nan?ou? tillar?and De Va?
lar? iiity prefit by t?ek ?aa-iir1-?
\ The Tower
To The Boss
When Q. H. Flaccus penned a
pome,
Tracing the letters with his pen
point,
He set the verses that were Rome
In Caslon Old Style 10-point.
(O yc whose job it is to print
My stuff, I bid ye take the hint.)
Of woman, win?, and song he wrote ;
To Pyrrha, Mercury, and Venus;
But most of all that c.igcy pote
Indited to Maecenas?
The bird, as many may recall,
Who slipped Q. IT. the wherewithal.
Am I a better bard than he?
Do I write greater, grander
verses ?
Then who am I that i should be
Neglectful of ses/rrces?
"Maecenas, thou of royal line I"
He wrote of his. ... I sing of
mine.
O noble chief! 0_princely boss!
Thou art a king, believe ra?,
Mawrufs !
Be thou exalted! (Watch me toss
The celebrated taurus.)
Eight years for thee I've worked
along
And never lauded thee in song,
So let my gratitude and praise
Go thundering down through the
ages!
Thou ran'st for years my halting
lays,
And paid me weekly wages.
Hail my Maecenas! May this be
The merriest Christmai.tidc for
thee!
"One of the troubles of nowadays,"
said Vice-President Coolidge, "is that
so many people have been paying too
much attention to politics.'' Another
possible trouble, to our expert notion,
is that so few people have been paying
attention to politics. Outside of edi?
torial writers and politicians, we doubt
whether there are many who give poli?
tics attention for an hour a month.
In the art of retelling a story in
more time than it took to tell it, no?
body?at least so this reader of "In
the White House Looking Glass" thinks
?surpasses Mr. Joseph P. Tumulty.
A Telephone Talker
"Go right to him?tell him who you
arc. Don't bother about that college
boy stuff. He's a regular fellow. Just
what you can do. He runs the tele?
phone company. Tell him who you are,
not that college boy stuff?he doesn't
care who you are, he's a regular fel
i low, no college boy stuff. Just talk
i right to him?tell him who you arc
?and what you want. Damn the college
boy stuff. It doesn't matter with him,
he's a regular fellow. It's what you
j can do, not that stuff. Now he runs
the telephone company and it doesn't
! matter whether you have a college de
J grce, but just what you can do. He
j runs the telephone company. Now re?
member what I tell you. Goodby. Don't
forget now. No college boy stuff, just
talk right to him. He's a regular fellow.
Goodby. Don't pull any of that col
lege boy stuff. Now remember, talk
i right to him and don't forget he's a
regular fellow and he runs the tele?
phone company. Goodby. No college
boy stuff. Just talk right to him. He's
?: a regular fellow. By By."
''Gayer than moat was I," reverted
a drum.---Thomas Hardy in The New
j Republic.
"With ample time to delib," asks
S. H. A., "could you corrob Mr. Hardy's
reverb?" No, but if Mr. Hardy wants
to gen R movement to abbrev it
wouldn't exasp U3 a bit.
A XMS QUERY
I'm living in a merry dream!
| Some fairy wand has come to bless
The town?for kindly spirits teem
Where mortals once walked spiritless.
The cook, the cop, the janitress?
They ain't just what they used to be!
Can anybody here please guess
? Why are they all so good to me?
! My little flat is fed with steam;
, The sizzling pipes know no recess
: While from the faucet "HOT" a stream
; Of water flows in steadiness.
And mail!-?misspelled?with poor ad?
dress
j Comes at the first deliveree!
I Oh, print it in italic stress -
I Why are they all so good to mc','
Friend wifey serves my tea with cream
1 And greets me with a fond caress.
?Just now sha always finds some scheme
: To make nie glow and effervesce.
? And at the office, lo! I press
i The button once and ?breathlessly
? The office boy responds: "Yc3?yes"
! Why are they all so good to me?
L'ENVOI
i PRINCE OP ALL PUZZLES -Come,
| confess!
| This is the unknown quantity ;
I This is the X in the X-M-S.
? Why are they all so good t?j rae?
YIP.
P. S. Merry Xrnas! Y.
Perhaps it comes but once a year,
but this time it will last from about
noon to-day until about 3 o'clock Tues?
day morning.
If it isn't one thing in a newspaper
j office, it's another; and we doubt
whether a truer word about journalism
! ever was written. Yesterday after
? noon, frinst, Old Jimmy Montague en?
ters with tho suggestion that the new
subway gates are a measure of
economy. "I think," suggests the gifted
bard, "that the power generated by the
turnstiles probably is running the sub?
way."
How it must discourage, when he
first sees the Featherweight Gatea, the
; Hon. Jack Dempsey!
Speaking of the F. G., we begin to
j understand the locution "You could
jhav? knockad me over with a feather."
F. P. A,
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE WHOLE DARN FAMILY*"
Copyright, 1921. N?*w York Triliu/i? In?-.
Maine in Winter
Not So Bleak Down Wiscasset Way
as Imagined
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: I have read your editorial on1
"The State of Maine," which was
copied in a Portland paper. It was a
good editorial, and I, for one* citizen
of Maine, would like to thank you for
it.
When, however, ypu write of our
"bleak winters" and our "country peo?
ple, perhaps hibernating," it seems to
me you have the mistaken impression,
held by so many of our summer
[ visitors, that because our summers are
delightfully cool our winters must be
\ frightfully cold.
While it is true that we have cold
and snow enough for alt practical pur
| poses, especially back from the coast,
| our winters are little if any more
| severe than in other places of the same
i latitude. Along the coast our winters
i are only a, trifle colder or more snowy
! than in Boston and New York.
To-day with a strong wind blowing
? from the southweat the thermometer
j outside my window stands at 50 de
1 grees, and nearly all the snow which
| came last month has gone. It seldom
? comes to stay before the middle or
last of December, and sometimes not
| until January is well over do we have
' enough for "good going."
Here is a fact which may surprise
: you: In those cold winters two and
? four years ago, when practically every
j harbor north of Hatte ras was closed
I by ice or kept open only with the
! greatest difficulty, the Sheepscot River,
I from the sea to Wiscasset, a dis?
tance of about fifteen miles, was
open and as blue as in summer. Two
years ago, when ice and storms
' demoralized transportation all over the
country, the little steamboat Winter
; Harbor, plying between Wiscasset and
Boothbay Harbor, did not miss a trip
or connection the whole winter, except
on one day when there were no trains
to connect with. And this was on what
is usually called "the bleak Maine Coast."
H. A. SWANTON.
Westport, Me., Dec. 18, 1921.
A Poser
, To the Editor of The Tribune.
! Sir: May I ask for a solution of the
I Japanese expansion question?
I am writing an essay on the subject,
"How May Japan Provide for Ita In?
creasing Population Without Infring?
ing on the Rights of Other States'.'"
! Although I have read eight books on
i the subject, together with articles in
innumerable periodicals, there seems to
? be no solution offered.
Is the industrialization plan the only
one which will sol;e the question? Is
\ there any possible way in which the
' Japanese c<ould migrate to the more
sparsely populated regions of Latin
' America? >S.
New York, Dec. 23, 1921.
The Old Cruiser Dolphin
i To the Editor of The Tribune.
I Sir: I, like your correspondent
i George Fentrick, saw the Dolphin on
i her arrival in New York. She was the
j first vessel of our new navy, and tn
me, familiar as I was with the beauti?
ful lines of oar wooden vessels likt.
j the Swatara, Kcarsarge or Colorado,
! she looked ugly ??ough.
One of four ships?the'others being
! tho Boston, the Atlanta and the Chica?
go?built by Secretary W. E. Chandler,
? she was completed during the Cleve
! land Administration, which declared
I all four to be structurally weak and
j sent them to sea to hunt a storm, while
| payment for them was held up. The
?oasequence was that John Roach was
driven into bankruptcy and died of aj
broken heart.
The vessels gave lonat and useful
service, one of them being for a time, ?
and perhaps is now, at the Philip- ?
pines.
Mr. Cleveland, with a profound con?
tempt for American designers, then
had two ships built from English plans,!
the Maine and the Texas, both ugly in
the extreme 8nd known throughout the
navy as "hoodoos." W, H. PRICE.
Brooklyn, Dec. 22, 1921.
"Stand Pat" in Webster's
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: In your issue of* December 6
we find an article under the head?
ing "Foreign Delegates Are Puzzled by
News U. S. Will 'Stand Pat,' " which be?
gins as follows: "The information that
America will 'stand pat' on the Hughes
proposal has created mystification
among certain foreign elements. They
have examined their Websters and
Standards, and gone to the Century and
the Encyclopaedia Britannica, but never
a trace can they find of the true mean?
ing. The verb 'to stand' is, of course,
well enough known, and bo also the di?
minutive of the cognomen Patrick.
Webster reveals the fact that pat also
means "a light, caressing stroke with
the hand or fingers."
Of course we understand that this is
apparently by way of fun, but we can?
not believe that The Tribune would
wish to misrepresent so well-known an
American institution as "Webster." We
; are therefore taking the liberty of
calling your attention to the following
definition of "to stand pat" in Web?
ster's New International Dictionary:
to stand pat. a Poker. To play, or
signify one's intention of playing,
one's hand as dealt, without resort?
ing to the draw, b Hence, colloq.,
to oppose change of any kind; esp., U.
S. politics, to oppose any change in
policy, esp. in the tariff policy. The
phrase was first used to express the
attitude of leaders of the Republican
party by Senator Hanna in 1902.
Hence: atand-pat-ter (stand-pat-er),
stand-pat-tism *.-iz'm), n.
G. _*. C. MERRIAM COMPANY.
Springfield, Mass., Dec. 20, 1921.
|
Pullman Berth Problem
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Watch any city Pullman office
and you will hear most every one ask?
ing for lower berths. I have known of
?cores of cases where people wishing to
| make some trip have given it up be
j cause they could get no space. They
; unreasonabIy?assumed that they simply
j couldn't sleep in an upper berth. Every
; lower berth was sold and the railToad
! naturally objected . to putting on a
! whole car for one or two lower fares
when moat of the upper berths were
still available.
Without losing a dollar the railroads
could cure this situation if they woula
adjust prices so that instead of being
one-fifth les?, the upper were only one
half the price of the lower berth?i. e.,
raise the lower and lower the upper.
People who want to economize would
then call for uppers; people who don't
care what they pay would still take
lowers and the car would fill up. Why
not try this sensible solution, which
will please both rich and poor?
OLD TRAVELER.
New York, Dec. 23, 1921.
Strange, but True
(Fra?t% The Providence Journal)
Talk about carrying coals to New?
castle, importing pepper into Hindu?
stan, sending fir trees to Norway, or
pouring water into the sea! According
to Secretary of Commerce Hoover,
British coal is being delivered at our
Atlantic ports at a price to compete
with the product of American mines a
few miles distant.
More Truth Than Poetry
By James J. Montague
Philosophic Doubt
/ wasn't good the whole year
'round;
I did just what I wanted to!
I'm eight years old now, and
I've found
That Santa Claus ain't really
time.
I'm pretty sorry for the boys
That think they won't get
baseball bats
Or 'lectric trains or sleds and
toys
Unless they're little sissy-cats.
I sassed my teacher just last
week,
An' lost a bran new big leagu?
ball;
I slapped my sister on the cheek,
But that don't worry we at all.
If I'd been bad a year ago,
My golly! I'd be in a fright,
I'd get to thinking, and I know
I'd never go to sleep all night.
It's nice to feel that what you've
done
Ain't held against you any
more,
And >ou can have all kinds of
f?n
Without nobody gettin' sore.
It makes no difference to me
If I've not acted like a saint.
For Santa Claus ain't here to
se?s?
Or anyhow I hope he ain't.
But golly! now it's ChristniM
Eve,
An' I am up here wide awake,
I'm not so sure that I believe
That Santa Ciaus is iust a
fake.
The things I've done?if he just
knew!
I'm awrful worried?Oh, ge?
whizz!
I want to think he isn't true . . ?
But I'm a goner if he is!
The Bootlegger's .Slogan
Business as Boozeual!.
Excellent Choice
We hope Postmaster General Ha****
accepts that movie offer. The photo?
play business needs more men uf
letters in it.
Neelful
A good many people want an opeft
door policy in this country?mean?
ing an open cellar ?Joor.
(.e.'opyriBht by J?m?s J. Mootafu?)
Information Abut China
; To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: A number of organization?
! have been formed to meet the demand
! for information about China and be?
'' neighbors, among them the Chin?*
! Information Service, of which ti*
| writer ?3 secretary. The service *??
started at the outset of the conferece?
! by a group of recent Columbia ti**
l versity graduates, most of them cla?"
! mates of Dr. Wellington Koo, Chine??
I Ambassador to Great Britain and on?
! of the leading delegatos at the con
I ferer.ee.
AM the work done by the service ?S
'voluntary and non-political in nature.
?Its object is to supply up-to-the-*n:nut*
and authoritative information aboii?
China. To responsible 'organization*
a.id individuals the service will aenc
a weekly bulletin for the duration cf
the conference, based on interviews,
with leading representatives of Ch:r??
in this country, telling of prescr.7-d??
conditions in China and the aspira*??**1
of that countr-v. iiiere Is no charg?
for this service. Inquiries may be ?*?
dressed to
M'ALISTER COLEMAN",
No. 19 West Forty-fourth Strci?
N?w York, Dec. 22, U21.