Evening star. [volume], May 10, 1925, Image 37

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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[EDITORIAL PAGE 1
NATIONAL PROBLEMS I
SPECIAL FEATURES |
Pvt 2—48 Page*
WAR OGRES LIE BENEATH
ANY EUROPEAN ADVANCE
All Nations Progress Economically,
But Political Trends Continue
to Menace.
BY FRANK H. SIMOXDS.
T N the present article I shall try to
I summarize the impressions of my
I three months' trip abroad, which
JL, ~ carried me to England, Germany,
-• Poland. Czechoslovakia and
France, and my talks with a very
large number of statesmen and jour
nalists in all these countries and sev
eral adjoining states.
Last year, returning from a similar
trip. I wrote that the outstanding Im
pression of Europe at that hour was
the remarkable development of the
sentiment for peace and for economic
, and even political appeasement which
1 discovered in all countries, a senti
ment which contrasted strikingly
with certain situations which I had
fbund in Europe two years before—
that is, in 1923—just before the Ruhr
occupation.
In the current year the same im
pression was not only to be felt, but
I found it to an impressive extent,
even in Germany, which I had not
visited before since the war. It is true
that the election of Hindenburg has
seemed to give the lie to this asser
tion and that it has constituted, as I
wroje last week, the greatest disaster
since the making of peace in 1919.
Nevertheless, for reasons which I shall
set forth presently, it seems to me
that this German vote does not actu
ally contradict the evidence which
every traveler in Germany in the past
six months has testified to.
Out of War State of Mind.
Europe, as I saw it last Winter and
* this Spring, is in many ways inpres
sively out of the war state of mind.
The recovery mentally in England has
been most impressive. For the Brit
ish people the war is no more now
than an evil memory, something to be
forgotten, something the evil conse
quences of which have to be removed,
but the circumstances and emotions
of which are to be dismissed. Men
tally, morally, the British public, next
to Our own, which was infinitely less
affected, has most completely recov
ered’ from, the great struggle. Eco
nomically, by contrast, Britain today
suffers perhaps more than any bellig
erent nation, with the exception of
Russia.
One of the public men who was
closest to events during the war and
the making of peace expressed to me
his view that up to the moment in
• which he spoke his country’, Britain,
W’as the one unmistakably defeated na
tion of the struggle. He was speak
ing hot of any battlefield circum
stance, not of any decision of the
peace conference; what he meant was
that the economic structure of his
country was more terribly shaken by
the conflict and its consequences than
that of any other combatant nation,
and that its recovery would be more
difficult.
In England any visitor must be
atruek by two facts —the enormous
courage and determination with which
the nation has set itself to face a
frightful situation, the industry and
effort which it is applying to the re
construction of the shaken edifice,
and the relatively slow and difficult
task Itself. British recovery is slow,
slower than that of any other country,
for the paradoxical reason that there
is little that the British people can do
In the situation, or, rather, when they
have done all that is humanly possible
(themselves, a great deal more re
mains to be done which is outside of
their power.
Cause of Situation.
Forty-odd millions of people living
!n the restricted area of the British
Islands are dependent for existence
upon their ability to sell coal and man
ufactured articles abroad and buy food
with the proceeds. They could not
live, save as they could sell and buy.
Their food came from abroad in prac
tically a complete sense. But the
war did two things—it destroyed the
capacity of the foreign peoples to buy
British products, thus automatically
depriving vast numbers of British
workingmen of their employment, and
in addition it stimulated production
within these foreign countries of the
things formerly bought from Britain.
For more than five years, then,
Britain has been struggling to re
cover foreign markets, but, mean
while, it has been unable to sell its
coal abroad, its shipping has suffered
alike from American competition and
the absence of foreign freights. There
has been little coal to carry abroad;
there has been an appalling decline
in the market for British-built ships.
Thud,- roughly speaking, Britain has
Buffered acutely from the decrease in
revenue coming from coal, manu
factured goods and shipping returns.
It has been stricken in the main
sources of its income. It has had to
maintain a million and a half of
workingmen in idleness; it has had
to meet the most colossal burden in
taxation ever known, and while the
situation has materially improved, it
remains still a frightful problem.
England, then, alone of the nations
which made the war, is facing the
problem of life or death- It must
find markets for its products; it must
find , homes abroad, for its surplus
population, or it must ultimately col
. lapSe under its burdens. The coal
miners of Britain, for example, are
today, with few exceptions, living
and working for* a subnormal wage,
less than is required for decent living
conditions; but. even on this basis,
the coal trade is rather losing than
making money.
Peace Abroad Desired.
Now in this situation all British
effort is obviously directed at insur
ing . peace abroad, at using every
political method to bring about
economic peace. British statesman
ship is seeking reconciliation and ap
peasement in Europe that markets
,mgy be restored, trade regained, that
the national life • may be restored.
The, very thought of another war is
abhorrent to a nation whose exist
ence ’ has been imperiled, not alone
or chiefly during and by hostilities,
buV by tbe aftermath, by the conse
quences of the struggle. And every
thoughtful Englishman realizes that
a n4w war in Europe in any present
time, whether Britain fought or not,
would be well nigh fatal to Britain's
existence, by reason of the Inevitable
reduction of the purchasing power of
the world.
Thus, ever since the peace con
ference we have seen all the efforts of
British statesmanship directed toward
the restoration of peace In Europe,
but so far these efforts have enjoyed
only limited success because of the
peculiar continental conditions, be
cause; while for Great, Britain the
sihgle problem has been the recon
struction of markets and the resto
• ration of the purchasing power of
‘ the > world, the problems of other
flattens have been quite different.
Tffullf now to- France, one is con
frbnted by a curious paradox. Os alL^
the European nations which partici
pated in the World War, France has
economically made the . quickest re
covery, which is a phenomenon
frequently noted in past history. The
war gave France Alsace-Lorraine,
with its vast iron deposits, its potash
beds, its rich agricultural regions. To
be sure the war created a vast dev
astated area in northern France and
for the moment wiped out the richest
industrial area of the republic. But
the French have not only recon
structed this area, but have replaced
an antiquated and patchwork in
dustrial plant by a magnificent
modern establishment.
This reconstruction was done at
enormous cost, and the cost has tem
porarily strained the resources of the
nation. But the solid fact is that
France has regained her lost prov
inces with their vast potential wealth,
replaced her ancient plant, doubled
her productive capacity in many
manufacturing lines, in fact, become
to a certain degree an industrial
nation, whose competition is felt
heavily across the channel. The
Lens coal area, for instance, is pro
ducing more coal than before the war,
producing it more cheaply, and is
equipped with machinery surpassing
anything in any British coal mine.
Completely at Work.
You have a measure of the French
economic situation if you note that
although 2,000,000 working men have
immigrated into France since the
war, the maximum of unemployment
in France in this time has been
60,000 as against more than 1,500,000
in Great Britain and that for months
it has fallen as low as 1,500. France,
then, is completely at work and, by
contrast with Britain, Italy, Germany,
she is exporting more than she im
ports, while the tourist trade brings
in something like $300,000,000 gross,
annually.
The problem for France, then, is not
economic. Her troubles are of two
sorts. First, financial, due to the
strain put upon her resources to raise
$5,000,000,000 for reconstructing the
devastated area and to raise revenue
to carry this and the other gigantic
burdens of the war, and secondly,
her efforts to insure herself against
a new German attack. And of these
two problems the second is, in the
last analysis, the more important.
Nevertheless, it is plain that during
the last five years there has been a
slow but sure drift toward an adjust
ment with Germany. France has no
desire to hold German territory for
itself, would quit all German territory
tomorrow, could there be any new
sure guarantee that as a consequence
France would be assured against any
new German attack. And for the past
year the Herriot government has been
working for such an adjustment, was,
in fact, on the eve of reaching such
an agreement, with British co-opera
tion, when the Hindenburg election
transformed the whole situation.
Security Chief Issue.
Just as for Great Britain the pri
mary and the all-important considera
tion is trade, that for France is se
curiDr. The odd circumstance is that
neitlfer people, speaking in bulk, is
able to understand the situation of the
other, and the British necessity is set
down in France too frequently to
greed, while the French necessity is
told off in Britain as militarism and
chauvinism. Thus in the end all
British policy will be dominated by
the vital necessity to trade abroad in
order to live at home, while all French
policy will concentrate on the neces
sity to be safe at home in order to
exist as a people.
But within these limits there is pre
cisely the same desire for peace in
France and in Britain, the same im
patience and horror with the very
idea of another war, the same utter
absence of any national ambition to
pursue any foreign policy which
might lead to war. Moreover, I found
In Paris—and in unsuspected quarters
—an extraordinary desire to find some
way to come to real peace with Ger
many within the limits of French se
curity.
Situation in Germany.
Now when one comes to Germany,
is the situation different? Economi
cally Germany is better off than Brit
ain and worse off than France. Her
vast industrial plant is far superior
to the British, viewed in the light of
modern equipment. She can produce
coal more cheaply, she can manufac
ture iron and steel more advantageous
ly, her labor can be had at a lower
price. But Germany falls short of
Britain in the field of capital. War and
inflation have destroyed vast amounts
of capital, while her iron districts have
gone to France and Poland and a
third or her coal fields to Poland.
Germany has little unemployment
today because her home market can
still absorb most of her production, she
is able to raise a large but not ade
quate amount of her food supply,
whereas Britain can raise little or
none. But Germany is< importing vast
ly more than she is exporting and this
process cannot go on indefinitely.
She must have capital in large
amounts from America and Britain.
She, too, must find markets abroad,
but she is half way between Britain
and France economically, being far
more self-contained and self-sufficing
than Britain, but much less so than
France.
Factors in Politics.
Now, German politics are dominated
by two factors. Germany has lost a
large area east and west. Most Ger
mans regard the Western loss as per
manent, but will not accept the loss
of Danzig, the Polish Corridor and.
upper Silesia as more than transient.
Germany, all Germans with whom I
talked, regarded the Eastern settle
ment as a deliberate partition of their
country. They believed the nation was
fatally compromised, unless these ter
ritories were recovered, and all Ger
man policy as a result looks to the
reconstruction of the Eastern situa
tion of 1914, save perhaps in the mat
ter of Posen.
Then there is the question of Aus
tria. One must see that Germany be
fore the war was the greatest country
in Europe, economically and political
ly. Now it counts for less in strength
than Poland. Thus, while for the
Briton the question is one of markets
and for the Frenchman of security,
for the German it Is one of national
rehabilitation.'. Sixty-odd millions of
Germans are resolved that Germany
shall again be great—and greatness
for all involves the restoration of
German rule In the lost provinces of
the east and in the union of Austria
with the reich. I do not think I ex
aggerate when I say that 90 per cent
of the German people are ready to go
any length to insure peace with
France and Britain on the basis of the
frontiers laid down In the west at Ver
saiilea, but not 10 per cent are willing
r * (Continued- en. Sixteenth Fkgej
EDITORIAL' SECTION
©he gwratau fitaf
Only Time Can Prove Hindenburg Sincere
In Desire? for Amity, Declares Herriot
BY EDOUARD HERRIOT,
Former Premier of France.
PARIS (by Cable).—Will the election of
Field Marshal von Hindenburg cause a
modification of the security plans on
which France has been working for
more than two months? This question looms
up as one of the most vital importance since
the German election.
It must be understood that I reply with re
serve. The direction of foreign of
France belongs now to M. Paul Painleve, In
whose enlightened wlsdow the United States
may place all confidence, and to M. Aristide
Briand, who, iq too many circumstance** has
proved his liberalism and his attachment to
peace for any one to feel Hie slightest anxiety
about what course he will take.
The world can have faith that both these
men will avoid all imprudent measures, and,
for my part, I am fully reassured to me con
fided in them to a great extent the peace of
Europe.
I find myself furthermore in no position, to
pass an authoritative judgmeitt on the true
intentions of Marshal von Hindenburg.
At the time of the negotiations in London
for the accords which have regulated the irri
tating problem of reparations—during the
month in which I had the good fortune to
work day by day with the eminent Mr. Kel
logg—l became acquainted with Chancellor
Marx. He and I defended with severity the
respective interests with which we were
charged, but this discussion, even though at
certain moments it became very lively, and
even though at certain hours it provoked the
fear of a rupture, gave me the opportunity to
appreciate the democratic character of Chan
cellor Marx and the moral value of his con
science.
Attitude of Van Hindenburg.
What does Marshal von Hindenburg think?
His intimates declare publicly that he will
seek an accord between France and Germany,
an accord founded on the common interests of
the two peoples, and particularly on a rap
prochement of the great industries of the two
countries—a union of iron and coal. They add
that in the opinion of the marshal such a
Franco-German entente is the necessary con
dition to an effective resistance against the
revolutionary forces. They declare finally that
Von Hindenburg would be ready to follow the
security negotiations already undertaken, end
in particular to proclaim the definite renuncia
tion by Germany for all time of any right to
Alsace and Lorraine.
If these declarations are genuine, the new
President of the Reich should follow the exe
cution of the program for security drawn up
during the last few months.
But only the future will tell if these state
ments are sincere and if these promises can
be kept.
Chancellor Luther, before the Congress of
Commerce and Industry, showed himself, above
all, as preoccupied with the reconstitution of
the economic power of Germany. To this
economic problem he seemed anxious to subor
dinate the political problem. He seemed to un
derstand that the most urgent requirement for
the peace of Europe was stability. He seemed
to maintain for a system of guarantees which
would reassure Germany, as well as France,
and to permit the two peoples to work In peace
at last. He pronounced moderate words.
Gains of Reactionaries.
But here again it is impossible to say what
fate awaits the outspoken intentions of the
chancellor. Beyond doubt, the reactionary
forces of Germany have gained power during
Four Strong Influences Ready to Sway
Senators From Firm Courses, Says Walsh
BY DAVID I-WALSH,
Former Governor of Massachusetts and Recent
United States Senator.
/ / r'r’yHfi two great natural and historical
• • I enemies of all republics are open vio-
I lence and insidious corruption.”
Every thoughtful person who has
had any political experience appreciates the
force of that epigram.
Are there any insidious forces tending to
contaminate the purity of legislation in tho
United States Senate?
There are forces that seek to influence
members of the Senate. Senators are under
constant pressure from various sources to sup
port this or that side of every controversy.
The influences surrounding a Senator at Wash
ing, as he strives to perform his duty, may be
conveniently classified into four groups:
They are: i. strong and sinister organized
propaganda, actuated by purely self-interest;
2, the lobby; 3, the social life, and 4, Executive
pressure.
Pressure by Propaganda.
The average American citizen has no con
ception of the tremendous amount of pressure
at times exerted upon public servants in Wash
ington through propaganda. The propaganda
is not always one-sided, but those Interests
which have the largest pocketbooks and can
pay the largest number of solicitors and the
most expensive printing bills have a decided
advantage.
Hundreds—yes, thousands —of letters, many
of them form letters, pour in upon Senators
from their constituents. It is entirely proper, and
indeed dqpirable, for constituents to keep their
Senator informed of their honest, disinterested
views oa pending legislation. The right of as
sociations and bodies of men and women who
feel that their personal Interests are Involved
openly and squarely to place themselves on
record cannot be denied. But the letters sent
to a Senator are often coercive In their intent.
They frequently demand compliance with the
demands of the authors and carry veiled
threats to make their Influence seem more im
pressive.
’/Grind Private Axes.
Chambers at commerce, social and financial
clubs of various kinds send resolutions demand
ing action favorable to U>p side which some
paid propagandist, five times out of six repre
senting interests which have private axes to
grind, has them.
This practice was little known until recent
ly. It has reached such proportions at times
that the malls pouring into the offices of vari
ous Senators have clogged all the legitimate
business at a Senator’s office.
The worst feature of this is that most of
those who become innocent propagandists have
never read the proposed legislation and have
almost invariably heard only one side of the
question.
The number of insulting letters that com*
to a public man during these propaganda waves
Is surprisingly large. The late Senator Lodge
informed me that one vote which he cast dur
ing the last year of his life, his vote against
sustaining the bonus veto, a question so which
there was * great difference ofoptalon la the
WASHINGTON, D. C„ SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 10, 1925.
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EDOUARD HERRIOT.
the last years. Will these elements be satis
fied with the compliment to their vanity in
volved in the election of Marshal von Hinden
burg? Will they not desire to go further? It
is impossible to say now, just as it was im
possible a few weeks ago to anticipate the re
sult of this election.
It is necessary’ in politics carefully to guard
against prophecies. We cannot say whether
the indications furnished by the German lead
ers at the present hour conform with their pro
found convictions, or whether, they represent
merely a precaution taken to disarm the world
at its suspicions.
Is Germany saying to herself she has de
cidedly had enough of war and she sincerely
wishes to contribute to the work of building
world-wide paths to peace?
Or is she thinking she must at first work
On her economic reconstruction and attract the
foreign capital, of which she has need, in or
der to impose her will the day when she has
regained her material force?
Must Wait and Watch.
Such is the tragic dilemma with which the
entire world is faced. We must wait and
watch. It is particularly necessary to follow
with great care the attitude of the Populist
party. It is necessary to see what results
come from the elections for the Prussian Diet,
scheduled for the middle of June.
The Luther ministry appears anxious to
maintain a position of status quo. We must
AS WALSH SEES SENATE.
“There are forces that seek to in
fluence members'of the Senate. They I
- are: First—Strong and sinister or
ganized propaganda actuated purely
by self-interest. Second—The lobby.
Third—The social life. Fourth—Ex
ecutive pressure.”
“Propaganda has reached such pro
portions that the mails pouring into
the offices of various Senators have
clogged all legitimate business.’’
“As to the lobby, it is an old story.
Washington is lobby ridden. But lam
happy to say that Congress is not, in
my opinion, ‘lobby controlled.’ ”
“Strong men, and the Senate is full
of them, are not interested or influ
enced by ‘tea gossip’ or the prejudices
of society matrons on public ques
tions.’’
“I have seen the most petty means
employed to humiliate Senators who
differ with the White House."
“Scarcely a strong independent char
acter has served in the Senate for any
length of time who has not had Ex
ecutive punishment meted out to him.”
country, resulted in his receiving more insult
ing and offensive letters, many of them from
lifelong political friends, than he had received
prior to that time in his whole public career
of more than $0 years.
I am sorry to say that one of the most dis
heartening daily experiences at a Senator is
that intellgent business men frequently hear
one side at an argument and give that side
their indorsement without stopping to inquire
whether there Js anything to be said on the
other side.
Capital Lobby Ridden.
As to the lobby. His an old story. Wash
ington is lobby ridden. But I am happy to
say that Congress is not, in my opinion, "lobby
controlled.’’ 1
Paid representatives of hundreds of employ
ers’ or employes’ associations, of and
industrial concerns, of religious, racial and
philanthropic group*, of prohibition and anti
prohibition’forces, of tariff harms and farmers,
of business associations (the coal industry alone
haa four such associations), maintain exten
sives suites of offices, a large number of paid
workers and spend millions at dollars to in
fluence Congress.
Efforts to onact legislation to check these
hired men of every special interest have been
of no avail. The lobbyists are unregistered and
unlicensed. Whom they repffsent pr what
they receive, and what it costa to promote the
causes they espouse should be public informa
tion, It is not, and I regret to say I see little
likelihood of any immediate efforts to regulate
strictly "the third house."
To* I doubt if the influence of the lobby hi
if
wait and see if in tha conflict between the
parties it can continue to hold power.
Os one thing we can be sure: That in the
face of so many uncertainties Francs will keep
her sang frold and remain prudent. It is high*
ly important, as was so well emphasized by
M. Briand, that France remain in full accord
with her allies. The intimate entente of Great
Britain and France seems to me more than
ever the essential condition of peace.
We are now celebrating in France the cen
tenary of the death of Comte de Saint Simon,
who so greatly Influenced the movement of
the social ideas of the nineteenth century. In
1814, at the time of the celebrated Congress of
Vienna, this illustrious thinker wrote in col
laboration with Augustin Thierry a remark
able book on tjie "Reorganization of European
Society,” in which he laid the first foundation
for the institution that has become the League
of Nations. In this work the Comte de Saint
Simon proclaimed with energy that the union
of France and England was the necessary con
dition of all peace in Europe.
Just As Sound Now.
These truths are just as sound in 1925 as
they were in 1814. I wish there existed in
Great Britain a profound conviction of this, as
there does in France, and I hope the United
States will help us maintain our hands clasped
in the interest of the establishment of peace.
It was to this end that I worked during my
stay in the foreign office. I had the good for
tune to "be able to safeguard the accord with
Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, and M. Aristide
Briand will, I trust, do better still. I ardently
hope he will be able to terminate successfully
the negotiations I began for a security pact.
Security! France begs for nothing more.
Let nobody imagine she wants always to re
main on the Rhine. She asks only solid guar
antees to prevent the return of terrible events
like those which in 1914 brought her to the
very point of death. We cannot count upon
another miracle of the Marne.
If France had only obtained the treaties of
guarantee for which she had been led to hope
during the negotiations for the treaty of Ver
sailles—ah!—she would feel at ease. But un
happily she is still awaiting these treaties.
Wants Treaty Applied.
France wants only security by the loyal ap
plication of the treaty of Versailles. To allow
this treaty to be questioned in one or another
part would be madness. It would open up a
formidable debate from which war would in
evitably come.
We cannot establish the International mo
rale for which we are working if this morale is
not founded on the integral respect of treaties.
With her wisdom, with her moral authority,
America can greatly help us promote and
achieve the work of justice which we have un
dertaken.
As for Germany, what is the gesture, or,
we might say, the Criterion by which we will
recognize she sincerely wants peace with us. If
she wants to help us construct for the world
a program of life? The answer is simple, I be
lieve. It Germany wants to prove she has a
will to collaborate in the international entente
she must enter the League of Nations under
the very acceptable conditions that have been
offered her. her entry into the league
depends the solution of the problem of security
as well as the solution of the difficulties pend
ing between the allies and ourselves.
I believe that only on the day when Ger
many commits herself on the question of her
admission to the League of Nations will we be
able to judge the importance of the election of
Marshal von Hindenburg.
(Copyright, 1025.)
particularly successful with individual Sena
„ tors. A change has taken place which, the
American people do not yet fully approbate.
The lobby works today through political or
ganizations rather than through the slow, un
certain method of merely dealing with an “or
dinary” Senator. Get the "leaders” interested
in the legislation desired. That is the prudent
way to proceed today. Incidentally, of course,
the individual Senator must be impressed with
the argument for and against “the righteous
ness of the cause.”
t Activities of Social Lobby.
What of the social lobby? Does the social
life of Washington affect a Senator’s official
attitude? To what extent do women in the
homes of men in high official position seek to
influence Senators? Are dinner parties given
to promote special causes and particular can
didates upon which Senators must make de
cisions?
To a limited degree, yes; but not effectively,
for the socially inclined Senator usually, be
cause of his very environment, votes the way
his social friends would vote were they in the
Senate. Strong men, and the Senate is full- of
them, are not Influenced by "tea gossip” or
the prejudices of society matrons on public
questions. That attempts are made through
social activities to influence some Senators is
unquestionably true. However, it is only at
certain periods that one hears of great activity
. in the "social lobby.”
The idea that the social lobby is effective
presupposes'fhat most Senators are active so
cially. The fact is that most Senators never
enter the social life of Washington. I mean
the "gilded” social life. This is chiefly a pre
rogative of the wealthy Senators. To be in
Washington society, as anywhere else, you
must entertain as well as be entertained. This
is expensive. The salary and income of many
Senators forbid it.
The public question that In recent years
stirred the social life of Washington more than
any other that I have observed was the sol
diers’ bonus.
During the discussion of that subject in the
Senate you could not go to a dinner table with
out hearing pretty severe denunciation of those
Senators who supported the bonus. They were
branded as “unpatriotic,” "demagogues” and
“raiders of the public treasury." A Senator
had to have a cast-iron disposition to support
the soldiers' bonus and live through one of
those dinners.: The whole estimate at a man’s
public career seemed to be measured by‘the
social group of Washington according to his
attitude on this one question. The subject was
always discussed with extreme bitterness.
Families Have Influence. 1
Os course, the wives and members of the
family of a Senator who is active socially have
some influence at times on the senatorial vote
of the head of thefamUy.
I recall a conversation a few years ago with
one of the elderly conservative Senators which
■ indicates that social influence in the family
may count fbr something in the halls of Con
gress. It was soon after the war. There had ‘
been a spirited debats and a doss vots in tbs
SeoaftS Mr ths slss ff tb* ptsce-tta» Army. *
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Society News |
IL -1
COUNTRY WILL BE ASKED
FOR VIEWS ON MAIL RATES
Joint Congressional Committee to Visit
Many Cities Investigating Effects of New
Charges—Public Invited to Hearings.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
A great and solemn referendum on
the effect of the new postal rate* will
be held during the Hummer. Impor
tant user* of the mail* In the leading
postal centers of the country will he
given an opportunity to testify as to
their experience with the higher cost
of postage and air such grievances an
have resulted therefrom. The refer
endum, which is the first of Its kind on
record, will take the form of a series
of hearings before the Joint postal
commission of Congress, which func
tioned during the late session while
the fight over the postal pay increase
bill progressed. The commission con
sists of Senators Moses, chairman;
Phipps and McKellar and Representa
tives Griest. Ramseyer and Bell. All
are Republicans except McKellar of
Tennessee, ranking Democratic mem
ber of the Senate committee on post
office affairs, and Representative Bell
ber of the House post office committee,
of Georgia, ranking Democratic mem
ber of the House post office committee.
The Joint commission will assemble
in Washington on July 20. Its first
prospective trip will be to Philadel
phia. Then New York will be visited,
and afterward Augusta, Me., where
there are publishing houses that print
millions of copies of the cheaper grade
of weekly and monthly periodicals. At
lanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Buffalo,
Chicago, Kansas City, Bt. Louis and
St. Paul are now on the commission’s
itinerary. What points farther South
or West than any es these cities will
be visited has not yet been determined.
Rates May Be Changed.
While Congress placed no time limit
upon the new rates, which have been
in effect since April 15, the general
understanding in both House and Sen
ate was that they would be revised
if and when they proved unsatisfac
tory. It is to determine that point
that the forthcoming hearings were
planned. Any and every person, firm
or corporation that uses the United
States mails will be at liberty to come
before the commission and say
whether the higher rates are working
an injury. Publishers of periodicals,
mail-order houses, farm organizations,
newspaper owners and all other ele
ments of the business community
which have a substantial interest in
postal rates will be invited to testify.
Many of these interests, especially
publishers of widely circulated period
ical like farm journals, bitterly op
posed the enactment of the new rates.
They were assured by members of
Congress that they were entitled to
look upon the rates as purely tempo
rary, if after a few months of actual
experience with them it could be es
tablished that the rates involved the
hardships foreshadowed when the
postal pay Increase bill was in the
hopper. There were both Congress
men and postal officials who contended
that some of, the publishers were
creating nightmares for themselves,
and entertained fears destined never
to be realized. By the time the Joint
commission is holding hearings, the
new rates will be more than three
months old. The hearings will be
prolonged into October, w'hen they
will be resumed at Washington. By
that time the commission will be
able to review six full months’ work
Sees U. S., Out of World Polities,
Solving Economic Problems
BY JAMES BROWN SCOTT,
' President American Institute of In
temstional Law.
There is no permanent guarantee of
j material security expressed in terms
■ of armies, navies and economic pres
sure; the only permanent guarantee is
justice expressed in terms of law.
But the justice the world needs is
not the justice of a group of individ
uals or indeed of a group of states. It
is the justice of the civilized world
expressed in rules of law by repre
sentatives of the nations meeting in
conference for this purpose, not in a
single meeting, this year or next year,
but in a series of meetings from time
to time in order to extend the empire
of law, as The Hague conferences
say, and, "to record in an interna
tional agreement the principles of
equity and right on which are based
the security of states and the welfare
of peoples.”
This is the proposal of former Sec
retary of State Hughes, in his recent
speech before the American Society
of International Law. In Mr. Hughes'
opinion, the agreement of the nations
upon the principles of equity and right
should be embodied in a series of proj
ects which, taken together, will sown
a code of international law, and he
therefore advocates the codification of
international law in a series of in
ternational conferences in which all
nations accepting and applying inter
national law are to be represented and
through their representatives take
part in framing this universal law.
Believing that it was the duty of the
United States to take part with the
other nations in codifying the rules of
justice which should control their ac
tions, he was anxious that the United
States should begin to do so at the
easliest possible moment.
These international law conferences
would be in succession to The Hague
peace conferences, but would differ
from them in that elaborate prepara
tion would be made in advance by
scientific bodies, such as the insti
tutes and societies of international
law. While, however, proposing an
agreement upon rules of law through
conferences, Mr. Hughes also favored
the development of law through courts
of justice, especially through the Per
manent Court of International Jus
tice, fortunately established at The
Hague, and ho earnestly urged the ad
herence of the United states to this
court as proposed .by President Hard
ing and President Coolidge, and, had
not modesty prevented, he would; have
said, aa suggested by Secretary
Hughes.
In a word, Mr. Hughes advocated in
his address a law of nations based
upon justice expressed in rules of
law devised by the nations in con
ference assembled, Its interpretation
by the Permanent Court of Interna
tional Justice, and the participation of
the United States in both as a privi
lege and as a solemn duty. The
United States has always favored The
Hague conferences; President Roose
velt called .the second, and a precedent
Is thus at hand for President Coolidge
to call the third of the series, should
he so desire. To render the confer
ence effective the nations could ap
pqflpA national , committees, either
through their legislatures or foreign
smses, to fs tnllisriir themsslves with
A
ing of the rates. Between then and
the assembling of the Sixty-ninth
Congress the commission will formu
late a report, which presumably will
become the basis of recommendations
to Congress either to revise the rates
downward or leave them as they are.
Pay Raise to Stand.
Under no circumstances is there
any intention on the part of either
the congressional commission of the
Post Office Department to tamper with
the increase in pay granted to the
postal employes. This amounts to
188,000,000 a year. It does not begin
to be covered by the increased rates,
according to Postmaster General New,
who estimates that these will produce
not more than $30,000,000 or $40,-
000,000 a year. The resultant deficit
simply has to be added to the annual
deficiency at which the Postal Service
operates. But Uncle Sam is certain
to continue to bear any deficit neces
sitated by keeping up wages of the
postal servants to the point to which
they are now raised. There is no
precedent that anybody in Washing
ton can remember for reducing Gov
ernment pay that once has been
boosted.
Mr. New would like to see the
postal employes who do night work
get more money than day workers
receive. There is understood to be
some differences of opinion among the
employes themselves as to whether
higher pay or a 6%-hour “day" for
night work is preferable. The Post
master General’s belief is that there
ought to be a differential in the form
of more pay.
Several Months Needed.
Postmaster General New is already
comnuting in detail the effect of the
new rates on postal receipts, but he
does not think anything really au
thoritative or significant will be avail
able until receipts for June, Julv and
August are In hand and tabulated.
He expects to be able to submit a
statement based upon them to the
Joint commission's final sessions in
the autumn.
Throughout the country large users
of the mails, especially of postal
cards, discounted the enactment of
higher rates and stocked up on lower
grades of postage for matter that
they could send out before April 15.
The postmaster of New York City
reported that one day, just prior to
April 15, a firm mailed 8,000,000 postal
cards, costing 1 cent each, in order
to avoid sending them out with a lu
cent stamp after April 15. The Post
Office, Department will not be in
position for several months to tell
to just what extent the country at
large took time by the forelock as
the wholesale user of postal cards in
New York did.
Uncle Sam’s postal service, the
biggest business in the world, now'
costs $700,000,000. a year. It em
ploys 360,000 people. It is increas
ing at the rate of about $50,000,000 a
year. By 1929 the Post Office De
partment will be close to a $1,000,-
000,000-a-year concern. The postal
authorities, who also ■will be heard
by the congressional commission, are
naturally anxious that rates shall
be maintained at a point that will re
duce deficits to the minimum.
(Copyright. 1925.)
the subjects included in the program
agreed upon in advance by the par
ticipating nations. When the treat
! ies and conventions agreed upon by
these conferences have been ratified
by the treaty-making power of the dif
ferent countries—then will the world,
indeed, possess the inestimable bless
ing of peace through justice.
(Oopyrlrht, 1825.)
Finances of Germany
Still a Puzzle to Many
That the startling transformations
in German finanoe are still unclear to
certain Americans is the impression
derived from a letter which the Amer
ican commercial attache in Berlin has
received from an irate citizen of the
West, who Is under the Im
pression that money he deposited
some years ago in a German bank
ought to be refunded to him at ita
face value, ills letter run*.
“Dear sir: Your several letters in
answer to my letter relative to my
check for 5,000,000,000 paper marks
and a 100,000,000,000-mark note is re
ceived; also the currency sent me con
sisting of 26,511,161,260 marks. • • *
In your letter you trust I will be sat
isfied with this settlement or return
the marks and get five German paper
marks and 10 pfennigs as the value
of the checks and note. I bought the
check and mark note in good faith,
with the understa'ndiing that the cur
rency for the check was on Jesuit In
the Daermstadter Nation*; Iks.-.k, sub
ject to the and -re c-ititled to
the marks, not their '-aiue at the ex
change rate, and desire that they be
sent. TL'e settlement tendered Is an
ea*7 way of payling debts and seems
inti German way. The balance due
me Is 5,073,488,838,?40 marks. I want
either the paper marks or settlement
at the rate of 10 cents United States
money per 1,000,000,000 paper marks.
Trusting that this matter will be at
tended to without delay, I am, etc."
There are 20,000,000 or more Ger
mans in the same situation. What
they want is not clear—or, rather,
only too clear. What they will get
Is even plainer.
Near East Is Interested
In $500,000 School Gift
Much interest has been aroused in
the Near East by the gift by Bayard
Dodge of $500,000 to the American
colleges in Turkey and elsewhere. In
both Athena and Sofia the establish
ment of institutions modeled efts
Robert College in Constantinople la
contemplated.
Many Greeks and Bulgarians wish
to give their children a more ad
vanced education than that obtain
able in local schools In Athens a
strong committee of leading citizens
has been formed to assist in putting
throngh the scheme. In Sofia the
government Is lending favorable sup
port to the proposal and a fine site
lying at the foot of Mount Vitosha,
a few mile* from the oapitaj, has
been granted for the areetiej es the
accessary buildings. y