New-York tribune. [volume], December 27, 1921, Page 8, Image 8

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First to Last?the Truth: New?. Edi?
torials?Advertisements
Uwnbcr of ti? Au<tlt Bureau of Circulation?.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27. 1921
Omita by Ntw York Tribun* I_X. a >>'?* fork
Corporation. rubl_h<_ (?ally. Or__ R'td. r?*'
dort, G. Ter-ior l_|m?. Vj_-rit_dev.t: Holert
Holers B*U. S__!*ry; R. E. _____ TT*_ur*r.
l?in.13, Trlbiinr Buttdlntt. IS? Nassau Street. Nu*
?ork. Telephone, Beaktut? _00.
KPRSCPIPTTON RATKS ?B? ma?. _e_d_i
P _???.*. IX T??K r.MTKI> STATTS?
On? S_ __
_y Stall. f. ?;c>a! ?. V?ar Months Month
naU? ami Sunday .|1S.?9 J6.00 ?190
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Dat. only . 19.?0 CM ._?
?lb-? ir,.fV. F.i\
8__V ?i. . *? - - ?S ? ?*
S_t#xj only. Canada. 6.00 3 ?5 ..15
FOBBXGN HAT?S
Oatt *i_ Sunday. ?.? $!?.?? *?*??
I'aSl) only . IT.tO *.T0 MB
toada/ o-J'jr . 9'J b-l. ?*?
Entarfd at U_ _____ at N'av? Tcrk as Sawond
_?_ Mal' Statt?.-.
6UARANTY
Vou can tHK_i? _orth_HllM advcrtliM* In THE
TfliBUNE *!<h absolu:? ?at_y--f?r II dluattafao
t?o? result? In any _?? the TR:BI?NE ?uaran
turn to pay your money hack .?pon r?ou_t. No r?d
_im. No quibbling. W? make pood promptly If
th'i ?tfroiilstr dots no!.
MEMBKR OF TTir. ASSOCIATED rREf!
S5w Aa?ocla_d Pteaa t? exc_sl_. _titl?d to
C_ a_ ' r republloaUop of a' news d.la__3h_
?netted to /< or not otborwb? credited In thui
rster. tod also th? local U_T? of arentaueou?
- ri_??i published ?irreln.
AU right* of rep' MlcaUon of ?U other ?*?tt_
ba.P alto aro r_erT_L
The Steal Box Abroad
For some time disquietude has ex?
isted in many quarters as to what
sort of repute America is establish?
ing abroad. Ground for anxiety on
this score will scarcely be removed
if the Steal Box is opened and its
contents arc sold for publication.
It is announced that the contents
of the .teal Box are "the secret
minutes of the Big Four and the
Council of Ten?never before pub?
lished, hitherto seen only by the
Heads of governments and a few
confidential advisers."
Such minutes, of course, inti?
mately involve the business of a
large number of nations and the at?
titude of their representatives tow?
ard delicate controversial questions.
Yet they have not, it would seem,
been consulted concerning their pub?
lication. Some one in America sees
a chance to make money out of them
and has been given access to the
copy of our chief representative.
Talk about war profiteering! Was
there ever such a case! What will
* mericans be able to say in defen?
sive explanation when the storm of
riticism breaks?
Great Britain has a law which for?
bids a public man after leaving of?
fice using in a literary way docu?
ments which come into his posses?
sion while in office. In America
there has been no similar prohibi?
tive statute, for it has been assumed
that no American public man would
dream of such discourteous impro?
priety, no matter what compensa?
tion was offered to him. But there
ibvious need for Congress to en?
act a restraining law. Otherwise
when an American delegate partici?
pates in an international conference
he may hi ar the gibe, "What do you
expect te sell your copy of the c i -
fidential minutes for?"
Increasing Negro Migration
Analysis of last year's census fig
tires reveals throughout the Union a
marked inclination of the negro pop?
ulation to migrate from state to
state. Thus, while in 1900 only 15.6
per cent and in 1910 only 16.6 per
cent of the colored people were liv?
ing in other than their native states,
in 1920 the percentage rose to 19.0.
There has been so much 1 ilk at in
F rvals for many years about negro
migrath n from the South, because
of the political end social discrim?
ination against the race, that it
might be supposed that the move?
ment was chiefly to tip- North. It is
true that there has in the last decen
nium been a considerable migration
J-rjni the South to the North. But
much more marked has been the
migration along lines of latitude,
from East to West, or West to East.
New York, of all important states,
shows one of the least changes, the
percentages of negroes born here
who have gone to other states to live
having been 18.3 in 1900, 19.2 in
1910 and 19.S in 1920. New Jersey
shows a greater increase, the per?
centages for the three years being,
respectively, 16.9, 18.3 and 20.G. In
the Middle West the migration and
its increase are both much larger,
the figurer, for Ohio being 19.8, 22.2
and 24.4 and for Indiana, 21.9, 27.5
and 32.5. Even those record? are
far surpassed by Kansas, with per?
centages of 26.7, 82.1 and 28,9. He- j
numbering the war which was'
waged to make Kansas a free state, j
there is a touch of irony in the fact i
that considerably more than one-i
third of the negroes born in that
state have gone out of it to live.
The actual migration from South- \
ern btates is doubtless larger than
from Northern states, but the ratio j
of it to the whole negro population '
is generally much less. Virginia,
.Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee j
?how figures similar to those of their
neighbors at the North. But from I
North Carolina the migration is !
actually decreasing, the percentage j
of negroes born there, but removed,;
having been 18.6 in 1900. 17.7 in
1910 and 18.5 in 1920. In South
Carolina the figures under the three
contuse:* were 12.9, M.2 and 16.7, ?
and in Georgia they were similar,
bat a little ?ess, in each year. From
Louisiana and Texas the migration !
is large, though the actual percent?
ages are still small. The percentage
of native "negroes who had migrated!
from Louisiana was only 8.2 in 1900, '
11.5 in 1910 and 15.4 in 1020; and
in Texaa the figures were, respec?
tively, 4.5,9.3 and 10.(5.
The colored people form one of
the most restless and migratory ele?
ments of our national population.
But this trait cannot be considered
! a traditional and inherent character
; istic, but rather is the result of ox
i traneous circumstances. Migration
! of a certain hind is. of course, neces?
sary, desirable and profitable, such
las that from the Atlantic states
: which settled and developed the
i West. Hut migration in order to
| make permanent settlement, in an
1 ether state is very different from
I that which is just a restless drifting
i about from state to state.
Workers soi the Workers
If actual workers were willing to
join the new Workers' Parly its he
? ginnings might be significant. But
i actual workers arc not for soviet.
\ government. Even in Russia the
' Soviet loaders are not workers. Not
only are their hands white, but with
few exceptions they have no profes
| sion or technical experience. They
! ere agitators and pamphleteers who
i have seldom clone a day's work of
i any kind. Parasites of labor, they
; lived on the proceeds of the passed
hat until a tyne when they could
? put their harms into the public
: treasury.
In the United States workers, like
: other healthy Americans, are Demo
? crats or Republicans or Socialists,
; or even Socialist-Laborites. They
! have as many different political be?
liefs as have other people.
To-day, when the Soviet govern?
ment has succeeded only in reducing
! Russia to wretchedness and anarchy,
workers refuse to take any interest.
! in revolution as a remedy for social
; conditions. Be'ng workers they
i want work and plenty of it. And
they know they are far more likely
to get. work under our form of gov
! ernment than they are under such
? a rule as has been established by
| Trotzky and L?nine.
Outside Looking In
Long, lean years have led the boys
in Tammany Hall to take up their
belts and hope hard for the future.
Even when they elected a mayor in
1917 other sources of patronage fell
into the hands of the opposition.
There were never more than a quar?
ter enough jobs to go round.
This year the organization had a
clean sweep. And for weeks now
hungry but expectant glances have
been fixed on the windows of the
? City Hall that look out on the spot
! where George Washington stood
! many years ago and spoke to an
! other hungry and expectant but far
, more stoic army.
The first few weeks of the second
ten . are not going to be weeks of
unalloyed happiness for the Mayor
re-elect. Charlie Murphy has a list
that i. three or four times as long as
the list of possible appointments
j that lies on Mr. Hylan's desk. The
? district leaders are getting insistent.
| Good, faithful party workers are de
[ manding deputyships and clerkships
land stenographerships and janitor
i ships in no uncertain voices. If
j they don't get them there will be
j trouble.
Then, too, there is Mr. Hearst. He
j got James Donegan into the City
; Clerk's offices, but Donegan can't put
I the whole Independence League on
the pay roll, and Ar. Hearst is
growing weary of supporting it. He
is sure to have a few words to say
about jobs before he issues that an
; nual invitation to Palm Beach.
Success has its rewards, but it
: also has its anxieties, and respon
? sibility for providing bread and but
; ter and creature comforts for men
: who have been practically' starved
; for eight or ten years is not the least
! of thorn.
A Near-Sighted Reformer
', The Rev. O. R. Miller, of Albany,
is a clergyman and a reformer- Also
he is superintendent of the New
I York Civic League, an organization
which is supported by people who
believe that its purpose is to purify
the state legislator.
Such being the case, the following
utterance, quoted from "The Times,"
concerning Senator Lusk by Mr.
Miller is noteworthy:
"Aftor the expenses of that ban?
quet (tho banquet of the police, de-j
tectives seeking: special legislation S
in Albany) had been paid there was j
still about $1.100 left. The detec- '
tives naturally thought that the'
money could not be put to any more
appropriate use than to buy a fine i
pr?sent for Senator Lusk. Hence
they used the remaining profit from j
the banquet to buy a fine cet of !
silverware for Senator and Mrs.!
Lusk, which cost about $1,100. it!
was presented to them the day after I
the banquet. That is the whole story. '
Ko detective contributed a cent
to this present, and it ahojhl be re
racmbered that none of them profited
from the bill, for it was vetoed by
Mayor Hylan long before the. ban-1
ijuet."
Here we have a justification of'
the giving of gifts to a legislator I
by parties having special interests!
before legislatures. The gift is fur- !
Iher justified because the bill for!
which the Senator had presumably
toiled did not happen to succeed.
This method of reasoning would I
make perfectly proper any present!
to a public official if the official !
didn't happen to deliver the goods, j
The Rev. O. R. Miller may be a I
very well meaning person, but he is
too near-sighted morally to exert an
uplifting influence on the Legisla?
ture, His code is one more rigor?
ously observed in Tammany Hall
than in religious and reform circles.
Flexible Tariffs i
Senator Smoot has introduced a
bill to carry into effect President
Harding's flexible tariff suggestion..
Representative Longworth, one of
the most influential members of the
| House Ways and Means Committee,
j also has spoken in favor of the
flexibility idea. Opposition to the
President's theory has been shown
by protectionists of the more rigid
type and, not unnaturally, by Demo?
cratic newspapers, which, not belicv
I ing in protection, would regret to
I see its methods of application ini
! proved and modernized. It is
: argued, for example, that adjustable
. iat.es would keep industry in a state
of unrest, because the manufacturer
! always must plan far ahead. Hut
| this theory assumes that changes
will be made arbitrarily and with
1 the purpose of upsetting rather than
preserving tarifl' balances. The aim
of the advocates of tux ?ble rates is,
on the contrary, to counteract the
effects of rapidly shifting conditions
; cd' production abroad, which chal
! long? stability here. A flexible rate
! is from this point of view a safe
; guard to the domestic manufacturer
' and consumer against both under
protection and overprotection.
Mr. Longworth sees what Mr.
i Fordney and others have been un?
willing to see?that, tariff making
is no longer the simple problem it
was a few decades ago. He says:
"Hitherto we have always been a
debtor nation. To-day we are a
! creditor nation. A tariff which
would amount to prohibition of im?
portation would work great damage
not only abroad but here."
We don't want a prohibitive tariff
j or an insufficiently protective tariff.
| Any tariff written while world
j trade and production are as unset?
tled as they are to-day would be
merely provisional in character. It
might become obsolete within a year.
But it takes Congress many months
to enact new tariff laws. With ?
some revisionary power confided to I
the Executive Department the
necessary adjustments can be made
as conditions alter. The rigid
yard stick soon begins to measure
wrong. Convenience and equaliza?
tion therefore demand an elastic
yardstick. Those who want to
cling to the old yardstick seem un?
able to realize the vast changes in
economic relations, American as
well as foreign, which were
brought about by the war.
Bloaters, and Bioaters !
j
Lovers of sea food?which ought \
to form a more important part of j
New York's dietary than it does? |
will regard with gratitude and hope ;
the action of the Federal govern?
ment in suppressing the practice of
"bloating" scallops. This action is
taken on the ground that the bloat?
ing process is a form of adultera- i
tion, as of course it is. It is as j
i truly adulteration to expand a !
scallop with an abnormal quantity :
of water as it is to increase the j
quantity of milk b: '*->e same '
j process.
Whether the bloating impairs the j
wholcsomeness of the shellfish for I
; food may be an open question, ;
j though probably to be answered in
j the affirmative. Certain it is, how?
ever, that the process goes far to
! ward ruining the flavor of the scal
i lop and its attractiveness to the
! taste of any one who knows what
| good food is. In its natural estate I
i the scallop is firm and crisp, de
! liciously sweet and toothsome. '.
Bloated with fresh water, it may
please the uneducated eye by its
! size, and of course increase the !
profits of the marketman ; but?as ?
I the word implies?it is a soft, effcm- ;
j inate, slushy thing, devoid of flavor, :
; and needing to be doctored and dis- :
, ?
; guised with tomatoes and tabasco
iand what not to make it swallow-'
able. i
The Yarmouth bloater is justly i
much esteemed. But its bloating [
has nothing in "common with the vile j
practice to which scallops and
oysters have been subjected. In :
fact, it is the very opposite of it.
The "bloating" of herring or mack?
erel or salmon or sturgeon in good
wood smoko is a commendable j
method of preserving the food with- !
out impairing its flavor, if indeed ;
it docs not add to its piquancy. The ;
"bloating" of shellfish by soaking '
them in fresh water until they be- ?
come dropsical is a sordid device for !
filling the purse by defrauding the j
palate.
The Alimony Club
Ludlow Street jail is our only I
debtors' prison. The condition pro- '.
c?dent to incarceration there is to get [
into contempt by refusing te pay :
one's debts when ordered to pay;
them by the court. This happens
most often to those whose debts con- I
sist of unpaid alimony accounts.
Sheriff Knctt on leaving his office
advocates the abolition of this sys- !
tern, as a relic of a semi-barbarous j
past. Possibly he is right. Yet at \
present, there appears to be no way i
in which the support of an aban- ?
doned or otherwise divorced and de- i
pendent wife can be assured. Few :
husbands like to pay alimony. None '
of them pay it cheerfully. Many of
them will not, pay it at all if they
can help it.
Yet for the preservation of marital
responsibilities it. is necessary that j
some penalty must be imposed upon !
those who violate them. Locked up,
the recreant husband Is more quickly j
brought to a realization of bis obli- !
g?tions. There is no place like jail !
for reflection.
If Sheriff Knott. will suggest some j
substitute for this old fashioned way
of collecting alimony wo shall be for
it. As mailers stand, the present!
method seems the only way.
Who Are the Conspirers?
A letter from Jehu Crosby j
Brown, a gentleman of standing,!
written to The Tribune criticizing
its comment on the Tumulty-Wilson
book, says:
"I recall n recen? editorial wherein
it was graciously stated tlint no
doul.it the Tumulty articles were in?
spired by 'a more eminent author
than appeared in print.' The actual
fact (learned within a week from
a cluse intimate of the ex President,
who recently visited him) is that
the ex-President, who is physically
unable to read the papers, ?a as yet
completely unaware of the existence
of these articles."
As i.o the origin of the Tumulty i
articles, it. has been noted that, with- j
out the use of quotation marks, i
in many instances the language is '
identical with that appearing in the
book of Mr. Creel, another intimate ?
of the ex-President. It also has :
been noted that the identity is so |
close that even gross mistakes arel
repeated. If there, was not a com- j
mon inspiration how- did such paral- ,
lei ism occur?
But more interesting is Mr.
Crosby's statement, that the ex- ?
President "is as yet. completely un- |
aware of the existence of these [the
Tumulty] articles"?that an un?
named friend of the. ex-President
recently discovered this when he !
visited him. If this is so, why did
not the friend mention the facts to
the ex-President? If the ex-Presi?
dent is the victim of a conspiracy,
I if those who are close, to him are
making money at the expense of his
fame, why did his caller, as it is to
be gathered, not intervene to pro- ,
tect him or at least to warn him? '.
If the ex-President's condition per- j
mitted talk on other matters it j
surely did on this one of \ .tal con- I
cern to him.
If the Tumulty articles- are un- j
authorized or untruthful, is there |
not some one in the ex-President's
confidence willing to speak publicly
in his behalf? Yet not a syllable
of open repudiation has come.
There is no report ?hat Mr. Tum?
ulty has been shown the door. Thus ?
there are difficulties about accept- !
ing this disclaimer that Mr. Brown ?
submits. But if, as his words sug- '
gest, there is a conspiracy why does j
he not busy himself breaking it up?
History in Newspapers
To the Editor o? The Tribune.
Sir: 1 read with interest in a recent
Tribune the article by the late Henry j
Watterson on journalism. He uttered j
a wholesome truth when he said:
"The newspaper is the history of yes- ;
terday."
When future histories shall be com-'
piled for the instruction of Americans i
their authors should be able to lind
much appropriate matter in the news?
papers of the peripd, the substance of
which could be transferred to their own j
pages.
Short biographies of our great men,;
both past and present, could be pub-j
lished in the press. Extracts from
their writings and speeches also ;
would be beneficial, and no doubt I
highly appreciated by the reading j
public, which is ever looking for that j
which is substantial.
0. W. WEBSTER.
Ithaca, N. Y., Dec. 24, 1921.
Prohibition a Success
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: 1 read with interest articles on '
prohibition in both magazines and
newspapers, and note that seemingly
many are influenced to think that pro- !
kibition is failing. I wish to suggest
that most of the noise on the failure of
prohibition comes either from interest?
ed financial sources, from weaklings or
from evil minded. T believe that the j
abuse of liquor in the last three years,'
although marked, is nothing to what we
would have seen in the same period o?
reaction from the war in the ease of i
no restriction on the consumption of!
liquor. I think that all such powerful!
instruments as The New York Trio- :
une should "lend wholehearted aid to
the suggestion that prohibition is a
success, a necessity and a decided ad- j
vanee. W.U. .M.
Santa Fe, Isle of Fines, W. I., Dec!
17, 1921.
The Knot Agtiin
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Referring to the knotty problem ;
that your correspondents have beer,
discussing, if those who insist that ?
the word "knot" is never used as a
measure of length will refer to "Traut-i
wine" they will find under measures of j
length nautical mile, geographical mile,:
sea mile and knot given as equiva?
lent terms and defined as 6,080.27 feet,
according to the United States Coast
and Geodetic Survey. They will find
the British Admiralty knot, given as,
6,080 feet.
!;' they will turn to William McFce's
"Captain Macedoine's Daughter," page
23, they will read Ike words of the !
chief engineer, "If wo dropped a knot
below our customary two hundred a
day" manifestly a reference to dis?
tance traveled, not miles an hour. And
McFee is a practical man of the yea as
well as an author.
It would Bcem that the case for
"knot" as a measure of length is
proved. GEORGE Y. PAYZANT. i
Isle of Pine-, \V. I., Doc. l.r>, 1921.
J he I owcr
The Taller
(Apologia? t<> Waller <ir la Mate scarcely
needed!)
"Does anybody know," said the
Tatler,
As she nibbled at the peacock pie,
"That that girl was out in the
sunken garden
When the Hunter's moon waa high?
She never, never knew there were
listeners
Who caught every word that she
said, *
And somebody saw when the tall
dark youth
Bent over to kiss her head.
"Moreover, I am told," she con?
tinued.
"By authorities who quite agree,
That when his big motor surged
back to town
The village clock struck three.
I suppose I am very old-fashioned,
But my poor brain absolutely whirls,
i And 1 feel in my deep heart a
! strangeness
At the ways of these modern girls!"
Anchusa.
Tn the pre-Vitus Wildcat Marsden
rlays, or, to bo exact, on January 1. L668,
there were crap shooters, too. And
Mr. Pepys himself went, "to see how
the dice will run good luck in one hand,
for half an hour together, and another
have no good luck at all: to see two
or three gentlemen come in there
drunk, and putting their stock of gold
together, one twenty-two pieces, the
second four, and the tiiird five pieces;
and these to play one with another,
and forget how much each of them
brought, but he that, brought the twen?
ty-two thinks that he brought no more
than the rest: to see the different
humors of gamesters to change their
iuck, when it is bad, how ceremonious
they are as to call for new dice, to
shift their places, to alter their man?
ner of throwing, and that with great
industry, as if there was anything in
it: . . to hear their cursing and
damning to no purpose, as one man
being to throw a seven if he could
and, failing to do it after great many
throws, cried he would be damned if
ever he flung seven more while he
lived, his despair of throwing it being
so great, while others did it as their
luck served almost every throw: . . .
and he offered me also to lend me ten
pieces to venture; but I did refuse,
and so went away."
-
THE DIARY OF OUR OWN SAMUEL PEPYS
December 26?Up, and read a while
in Mr. Pepys's diary, and resolved I
would better imitate some of his
strengths rather than his weaknesses, i
C. Ball the printer come to my desk |
saying, Hurry, which I did, but not j
enough to gladden him.
Certainly the bronchial and thoracicj
conditions of first nighters in New
York is growing to be of equal inter- ?
est with the play itself. Theaters |
should add spray rooms. And a review
might end, "The rest of the cast was \
adequate. Mr. Percy Hammond's trachea ?
gave him some trouble. Mr. Louis V.I
De Foe passed a comfortable night." ;
From a Great Neck Shaver
Friend Frank (.as 1 have come to
think of you): Here is one I fixed up I
i
while they was fixing me up in thei
Pennsylvania and maybe Art Samuels j
would like to put a tune to it and we
could call it the Clean Rag:
You will see your barber wash his!
hands with germicidal soap;
You will see him take a sterilized brush !
from a sanitary envelope;
You will sec him use a special anti- ?
septic shaving cream;
You will see him boil his razor blade
till the tortured vermin scream;
You will see hiin ?raw from its chaste
sheath a pure, unsullied comb;
You will see him wield a towel on
which no coot would feel at home;
You will see why clean, bug-fearing men
from miles around have swarmed
Into the Terminal Barber Shops, where
the Promise is Performed.
Gt. Neck, N. Y. RING W. LARDNER.
Samuel Weiler, whose ideal it was
to practice jollity under the most dis?
advantageous and depressing circum?
stances. . . .?The Sun.
Oh, well, who reads Dickens nowa-:
days'.'
Ki.mor. and the Human Race
"1 abhor wai," says Deb?. "You're not
meant to be cannon fodder." "Ten
years in the penitentiary," says the
Human Race.
"I shall teach all our children that
the earth is fiat," says Voliva. "Ha,;
ha!" says the Human Race. A. S. B.
_ I
The Column Conductors' Union is I
proud that Dobs's first words were a
greeting to Frank L. Stanton, the vet.-:
eran turretoer of The Atlanta Con- !
stitulion, hundreds of whose poems '
Debs had been clipping; but the Poetry
Society feels that a slight has been put:
upon Edgar A. Guest, who leads the I
Optimists' Union, Pollyanna Local No. 4.
There is, to us at least, one new!
thing in "The Married Woman." Mr.
Norman Trevor and the other players,
pronounce "tenets" "teenets." No die-1
tionary in this office permits anything I
but the short "e."
An Old Scrooge of our acquaintance'
says of Christmas gifts that a fair
exchange is virtually impossible.
As most professional feasters dis-'
covered, Christmas comes but twice a .
year.
The Virility of December
[Front the Franklin (Mass.) Sentinel]
A number cf golf enthusiasts were out on
the litika on Sunday, the delightful December
day beins too strong to bo resisted.
t'p to n late hour last night, four-?
teen elderly contribs had offered
wheezes based on Flapperism and the j
Freedom of Debs.
Still, the eight-column streamer in
yesterday's Call indicated that Mr.
Debs bus Seen, as the National Se?
curity League .might say, the Light.
"Debs. Free," yelled the Call, "Goes to
Capital." F. P. A.
WAITING TO CATCH HIM IN A GOOD NATURED MOOD
Copyright, 1921, ,v> v Vork Tribune (no
Germany's Italian Plot
Political as Well as Economic Domination b\) Berlin to Follow
Germanization of Italy's Industries
As an example of German commercial]
intrigue ainee the ?car Senator Freulinghuy
: ' ?', in a rrc-nt speech in the Senate,
quoted from the "idea Nationale" a re?
markable letter written bji the German
commercial attache at Some to ZiJ.s gov
crnment. The letter, in part, follows:
German Embassy at Rome,
Xo. 1784, General Private.
Rome, -May 25, 1921.
To the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Berlin :
In reply to the invitation coni
::i the circular of May 13 to all com?
mercial attach?s to report to your
ministry as to the situation and our
activity and our commercial develop?
ment abroad, I have the honor to report
as follows:
The figures of German commerce in
Italy show that after the armistice our
trader;; were not inactive in recon?
quering the Italian market compared
with France, England and the United
States and maintaining our supremacy,
but that does not mean that we have
reached the state of your circulars of
August 20, 1920, and August 29, 1920.
Fomenting Discontent
In order that we may create for
ourselves a favorable political situa?
tion, taking advantage of the malcon?
tent of the Italian people, and espe?
cially of the Nationalist and Xittian
parties against the powers of the En?
tente, a political situation which might
in due course be favorable to us when
Germany should be faced by fresh.
complications, it is necessary to
strengthen this discontent in order to
consolidate our situation through eco?
nomic action.
To this end the point at which we
have arrived is only a quarter of the
way. We must create such economic
interests and bonds with Italy that
whatever happens Italy will have to
follow our political had.
First of all, it is necessary that a
systematic supply of German goods be
sent here, even below cost price to a
considerable extent, inundating the
Italian market with German goods, we
will not only have a place sympathetic
to Germany, because, as many of our
agents and commercial representatives
have verified, Italian consumers gladly
accept cheap articles, but we will also
create a situation for Italian industry
which will render any continuation oE
activity impossible. This without doubt
will cause such a crisis that, besides
keeping Italy in constant agitation, will
enable us io become the sole masters
of the peninsular trade, the more so as,
from our information as to French
activity in Italy, it appears that the
French fear the outbreak of a revolu?
tion here which might cause them
similar losses to those suffered in Rus?
sia.
The inclosed ccpy of a report by Sit
Capel Cure, British commercial attach?,
proves that tho British, too, fear the
unstable nature of the soci:.! situa'. ?:
in Italy.
Further, such situation would enabh
us, to purchase the Italian industrie;
at a very low rate, which would be th<
key of the situation, since it would als*
allow us to control trade between Itah
ami the Balkans in such a way that
Italy would not compete with us foi
those markets. (See circular Octobei
30, 1920, regarding Halo-Jugo-Sla.
treaty.) This, of course, will happen a.
soon as Italy i.-> force-.', to close down.
We have before us a varied field ol
development in Italian industry viz
trade in rubber. Fiat, Spa, besides al
the tire factories and motor car engin?
factories, which are already in a slat?
L
of acute crisis on account of,the huge
German stocks of these lines sent to
Italy.
The [Fiat] transaction is on the way
to completion, and Messrs. Cavallini,
Brunicardi, Trombetti and Dante are j
backing it, to whom the Siemens will j
pay a percentage of 4% per cent, as was ?
decided at the meeting held in this em- ;
bassy in September last. The;! we have I
the dyeing trade in Italy, which, though
in :t precarious si ate of di
holds the pron if an as _u
ture, it is, however, necessary that,:
in order to follow out in this branch,
too, the method of peaceful destruction
advised by me, the Italian government
should take precautions to prevent;
the import of coloring matters from
abroad, as otherwise it is certain that
the Italian industry, which it appears
to rae is seeking American capital to
support it, might assume a more solid
position in the peninsula, a position
which it would be more difficult to de- !
stroy.
I have had a promise from the Itai
ian cotton spinners of the possibility
of action on their part against possi?
ble provisions of the .alian govern- ;
ment. As authorized by you, for my
part I have promised that any such ac?
tion will be compensated by the dis?
patch of textile machines from Ger?
many at very low prices.
Then, we have at our disposal the
Italian wealth of lignite. The Italians i
do not know how to get the. most, out '
of this, and almost treat it as a thing :
of little value. On the contrary, it is
a matter of 300,000,000 tons, of which,
as I have already reported (sub. n. 178
ND), only 3.000,000 tons per annum
are used, while 115,000.000 tons per
year could be got, as the deposits are
estimated to be more than 35 meters
deep.
The Consortium of Chemical i
ucts of Rerun, the Deutsche Bank and
the Discount Gesellschaft are already
in treaty with various Italian group
Rules for Guidance
As will be seen from this exp ; ??
tion. there is much to do in Italy, but |
action must be guided by the following
lilies, ?n order to avoid clashing with
Palian susceptibility:
1. The Deutsche Italieniscl
should be able to continue to bring its j
influence to bi ?_\
Instructions must be given to the
Deutsche Italienische Vereinig
its bulletins shall be i
attention to ih.e lack of Italian prod
cuts in Italy, the damage r< ulting
from such lack and the attemp
economic penetration on the part ' of !
foreign countries. Such criteria must
also inspire the newspaper cam
of said organization.
2. The setting up in Milan, too, of an
in format ion office a:, the cc
general for G rn my, with the aim of
follow ing the : ; r ni 'V m :nt in north '
Italy and to report to Germ n
lation to these movements the
sity to send German nn
products in order to increase tht
".. A . to fuel, it is ne.
after I he refusal < E 1 ' ?
our offer to collaborate in the de\
nient of the lignite mine3 and for the
supply of the market with fuel
faciliti of German property, which
? ; so sequestrated, our :
With respectful regard.-.
STROHEKER,
The Commercial Councilor.
More Truth Than Poetry
By James J. Montague
The Man of Life Upright
A. ft et
The man of life upright
Who knows not how t<> shirk,
And . ehief deli
In unremitting v.
Who - th; ' quit
Before it's quitting time
D elib e ra t e 1 y c o : a m i t
An economic crime.
That ma
Dese
And tl
vVil
But I .
Th . .... ha?,
The world its head will shake
And say "The guy's a sap!"
The man who is not lax
Though rough may be his vola,
Who paj s hi ;ax
Wit ;i gladness in his soul,
Who cares not for hirr
Who serves not selfish ends,
And freely lends his pelf
To all his needy friends.
That man might hope to find
'Mid rude and warring men
A tranquil p< ace i
Bej ond
But; let's t:i?', common .sense.
For since the w "-.?'?.?l began
There's been nee
Of any sut '. a man.
Curious Zoological Metamorpho?
sis
More ?ggs have been ? id in ( hi
cago than have been laid in the c>;'-:t
try. The hens, apparently, havs
turned bears.
Verbal Change
It is not right of self-deter?n'.na?
tion but of self-exterminationt that
tiie Irish die-hards appear to desire.
No Use
Re iolutions of thrift are promptly
you look at the
post-' 'hristma - mail.
(Co ? ??
Fifty-three Pay Days
; I
Sir: lia. md ln
pa . I that 1 ear
ifty-three pay days? Some
s ;i por?
tion of their wag and the bal
.::.".' .. tl end of each quarter oi
thirteen weeks, They should be care
ent in
n a year of
?. cry fiv?
or si;.; year I927, 1932, 19'.-.
L944, 194! '-'?', 1972, etc.
Brook . . ?'??-! T.
Congress
(Pro tfal/'Wa Evening i'dgrr)
' the Washington
?
? ? tudy the ??
gress, and t that t ey will
learn ' advantage.
i ; . vilegi of all democracies
? fun at their re? :
sa i reperi sentativea
pi de . ai . openings . i> it, ncverthe
[, the Congr? of the United
: i imposing body. It stands
if the will of a pe( -
iv? endured at least
enough to justify self-government and
to promise improvement.
International Clinics
i i t -ago Vaiiy Ji - ?>)
Spain ? ?.!??
their v.-.Hi to or Washington
and have it treated.