THE AGE-HERALD
E. W. BARHETT.Edlfot
Entered at the Birmingham, A la.,
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der set of Congress March 3, 1879.
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TELETHONS
Bell (private exchange connecting nil
departments) Main 4900.
I’ure innocence hath never practiced
how
To clonk offence*.
—HhHkeMpenre** Poem*.
BEGINNING THE DAY—O God,
help me to nnk whnt men nre, not
w hat they hnve. Have me from the
Idolatry of wealth. May character
mid not money he my Mtnndnrd. Mny
I not blind my life »%illi icolil. Ma>
I not nell my crown mid my l.oril
for a handful of *llver. In t hrlaf*
name. Amen.—H. M. E.
Pan-American Trade Outlook
The Pan-American conference, held
in Washington 20 years ago, for the
purpose of bringing the relations of
the Latin republics in closer touch
with this country from a commercial
point of view, was not followed up at
the time as it should have been and
consequently little of practical trade
value was accomplished.
More business-like methods were
adopted in connection with the recent
Pan-American financial conference.
As Financial America says, the ac
tion of Secretary of the Treasury Mc
Adoo in appointing permanent com
mittees to carry on the work is looked
upon favorably by the banking and
commercial interests of the United
States and even more so by the Cen
tral and South American delegates
who attended the conference.
There is to be a systematic “follow
up” campaign of education and profit
able results will very probably be at
tained.
The delegates have expressed them
selves as especially pleased with the
appointment of permanent group
committees because of the advantages
that may accrue to their respective
countries through the continued per
sonal contact with private individuals
representing in most cases large con
cerns. Says Financial America:
One of the representatives of this
country at the conference, who form
erly was frankly pessimistic as to
■what the conference would accom
plish. basing Ills cloudy view on the
Inability of the government and busi
ness to agree on shipping as well as
other matters, has had a change of
sentiment since attending the con
ference and observing Its after-effects.
He now believes that business and
government have started a get
together movement, which, while it is
ostensibly to aid laitln American
trade, will effect appreciable better
ment In United Slates Internal trade.
There is a growing sentiment that
the first evidence the better under
standing will he in the government's
attitude on the shipping question.
There has already been hinted a
change of attitude with respect to the
•eason's act and it Is reported that
Steps will be taken with the conven
ing of the next Congress to modify
the law'. It Is also believed possible
that other steps will be taken to make
possible the Interesting of capital In
an American merchant marine.
In addition to the permanent com
mittees constituting a joint high com
mission to consider the establishment
of a gold standard, bills of exchange,
uniform classification of merchandise
and other important matters, appoint
ed by Mr. McAdoo, is a committee to
arrange at some suitable time in the
near future a large excursion of busi
ness men of the United States to Cen
tral and South America.
Certain it is that the outlook for
establishing extensive trade relations
with the southern republics is brighter
now than ever before.
Anthony Comstock
Anthony Comstock, who will cease
to be a postoffiee inspector on June
80, after 40 years of service, occu
pies a unique position as the country’s
best known foe to vice. His activities
as secretary of the New York Society
for the Prevention of Vice began the
same year he was made postoffice in
spector. There are rumors that Mr
Comstock will also be retired from
his secretaryship on a pension. At
the age of 72 he is a poor man and
there is still a mortgage on his mod
ast home.
Although exposed to ridicule anc
and the subject of much good naturec
fun, this tireless crusader command!
respect by his conscientious efforti
to do what ha conceived to be hia
duty. How faithfully he labored, in
spite of criticism and attacks on his
life, is shown by the records of many
cases he prosecuted. He has been
called the “'most aggressive moral
crusader of his time.” In sum
marizing his labors “Who’s Who”
states that he brought 3670 criminals
to justice and destroyed 160 tons of
obscene literature.
Mr. Comstock is a Presbyterian
and early in life took active part in
Y. M. C. A. work. He fought in the
civil war as a member of a Connecti
cut regiment. He was for a while a
grocer’s clerk and a drygoods porter.
In 1868 he caused the arrest and
prosecution of a New York bookseller
on the charge of selling books w'hich
corrupted a young man who was his
friend. He found his lifework then and
has ever since been a terror to vice.
He has been attacked many times and
along with his hatred of evil he has
shown personal courage of a high or
der.
Appeal to Patriotism
Although the possibility of the Uni
ted States being drawn into the Eu
ropean war seems very remote, Sec
retary of War Garrison is giving
more than ordinary attention to the
work of providing the army with
munitions.
He is worried because several expert
ordnance officers have resigned to ac
cept positions at large salaries offered
by private manufacturers of war sup
plies. Others are about to resign for
the same reason and the Secretary
has conferred with the Attorney Gen
eral to see if there is not some legal
way to restrain these officers when
they are especially needed.
No matter what the ruling of the
department of justice may be, the
President, to whom resignations are
tendered, certainly has the right to
decline to accept them.
In time of peace there is never any
hesitation on the part of the com
mander in chief in allowing an army
or navy officer to leave the service
if there are.no charges against him.
But it is entirely different in time of
war. And a common sense construc
tion should fit the cases of ordnance
officers now.
These ordnance experts or any other
officers of the army should be patri
otic enough to remain w’ith the army
so long as the war department par
ticularly desires them to do so.
Let Secretary Garrison appeal to
the patriotism of ' such officers as
think of resigning and there will be
few if any more resignations. The
United States does not pay large sal
aries as salaries for technically trained
men go, but the pay is ample when
it is considered that officers are ap
pointed for life with a provision for
retirement at 64 years of age on
three-fourths pay.
General Huerta's Detention
The Washington government's long
enduring patience with Mexico does
not mean that it ever becomes indif
ferent to the situation.
The administration is constantly
alert and striking evidence of that
fact was afforded yesterday when fed
eral officers, under instructions from
the United States department of jus
tice, arrested in New Mexico General
Huerta, former dictator of the un
happy republic south of us, on the
charge of conspiring to incite a revo
lution against a country with which
this country is at peace.
Huerta revels in intrigue and revo
lution, but secret service agents from
Washington have had him under
espionage for several months, so as
to cause his detention should he en
deavor to return to Mexico. His latest
organized following is believed to be
typically Mexican—resourceful and
desperate; and had the United States
government allowed him to slip into
Mexican territory he would have made
as much trouble as ever and seriously
retarded any movement toward pacifi
cation of the turbulent republic.
President Wilson, in his last declar
ation to Mexico, made it clear that
peace and order must be restored in
that country in a short time. The
Mexican people are suffering for food
and many of them are starving. When
the Washington government’s pa
tience becomes exhausted, as it prob
ably will be, then will United States
troops invade Mexico for the purpose
of assisting in setting up a stable
government.
The detention of Huerta is regarded
on both sides of the Rio Grande as an
event of far-reaching significance. No
matter whatever else happens the ex
dictator has headed his last revolution
in Mexico.
Truth and Eulogies
Truth-telling is a cardinal virtue,
but the reader is prone to speculate
on the possible consequences of fol
lowing the suggestion of a Santa Fe,
N. M., minister. This reverend gentle
man, at a meeting of the Btate board
of embalmers, advocated shorter fun
erals and rigid adherence to truth ir
pronouncement of eulogies and epi
taphs.
Think of it! Tell the absolute truth
■bout the character of the deceased
The chances are, his bitterest enemy
would not hear to such a thing.
If this demand for veracity is in
sistent the ministers will find them
selves frequently embarrassed. How
would it sound for the eulogy to pro
ceed somewhat along this line:
“Mr. Blank was a good, moral citi
zen, but his unkindness drove his
children from home and worried his
wife into an untimely grave;” or
“Grandma Green was a hard work
ing woman, but she was inclined to
indulge in gossip.”
No, it would never do—although
the statements might be absolutely
truthful. It is far better for the
eulogists to avoid unpleasant refer
ence and confine themselves strictly
to those traits worthy of commenda
tion.
However, an elaborate eulogy of
one notoriously unworthy is worse
than a merciful silence, being a mere
mockery.
Truth is all that has ever been
claimed for it, but at the same time
even a good thing may be injudicious
ly handled. It is also true that silence
has injured fewer than has speech.
Truth, like justice, should be tem
pered with mercy.
The origin of asphyxiating gas
bombs is traced back 300 years by a
writer in the Paris Temps. The first
man to use asphyxiating bombs, ac
cording to the French view, was a
Gorman named Bernard Yon Galen. He
was born in Westphalia about 1604 in
a prison where his father was serving
a sentence for assassination. Yon
Galen was adopted by an uncle and at
first chose a military career, but late r
became a churchman and in 1660 was
canon of tlie cathedral of Munster, lie
raised an army of cut-throats and bom
barded the city of Munster without
warning. His soldiers, about 20,000 in
number, were hired sometimes to Eng
land and sometimes to France or Ger
| ) iany. Jn 1672 Von Galen besieged
Groningen, using bombs that were the
predecessors of shrapnel. They are de
scribed as having been filled with sul
phur pellets, saltpeter and gunpowdei.
These bombs were used in the day. At
! night the bishop fired huge shells
which opened when they fell and let
l.mse not only scores of bullets and
copper blades, but a substance whose
odor was Insupportable. People at
tack'd by its fumes fled to escape from
being asphyxiated. Von Galen is said
tu have used his incendiary and as
phyxia ting bombs later at Cambria and
Yores. He was overwhelmed with re
morse in the last hours of his life and
attendants looted his palace after his
death.
Pacifists in China did not know which
way to turn when their theories were
put to the test. They failed to see that
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound
of cure.
Bath trains are a luxury of modern
war not enjoyed by soldiers of the past.
Etlll, fighters of other days did not have
t(f spend so much of their time in muddy
ti enches.
Strategists are asking. "Where will the
Germans strike next?" There is no reason
to believe they have given up their designs
on that dear Paris.
A few games of golf with Colonel
House and President Wilson knows all he
wants to know about the internal affairs
of Europe.
Georgia would confer a favor on the
rest of the country by explaining why it
takes her so long to get over a case of
hysteria.
So far the bathing beauties on Amer
ican beaches have been exposed to no
worse aerial attacks than the rays of
old Sol.
The Eden Musee In New York is suf
fering from hard times. The waxworks
business is not what it used to be.
About the best this country can hope for
is that those pesky German submarines
will he more careful in the future.
There's one consoling thought left the
beaten Russians. It's a long, lortg way
from Lembeg to Petrograd.
— —-—..•■— ■
It seems like old times to have Mr.
Bryan speech-making in New York while
delirious thousands cheer.
Despite the prevalence of war, the sol
dier has not yet crowded the girl oft
magazine covers.
Remaining calm when assailed by hie
critics, Earl Kitchener put them at a
disadvantage.
Henry Ford seems determined to mak«
farming one of the most popular out
door sports.
The shortage of beans in Mexico Is dwell
on by the correspondents with painfu
Insistence.
LUKE M'Ll'KU SAYS
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
If most of the June brides could cool
hp well as they can tango there wouU
not be so many divorces next year,
A woman's idea of an Ideal husb&nc
is a husband who is afraid of her.
An old battered, empty tomato car
isn’t worth much. But it is of mori
value than the kiss one woman give!
another w hen they meet on the street
There are a whole lot of ways 1‘
acquire a nice pair of blackened eyes
But one of the hardest wrays to ge
them is to mind your own business am
keep your face closed.
After all. discretion Is merely havinf
sense enough to pick out some guy yoi
know you can lick w hen you start any
thing.
Radium is not the scarcest thing ll
the world. The scarcest thing in tin
world is an employe who does not be
lleve that he knows more than th<
boss.
Why is it that the man who hatei
kissing so much that he hasn't kis*&«
his own wife for six months will tak<
a chance on getting shot trying to kls
some other man’s wife?
Mother is always afraid that the clill
dren will be kidnapped. But fothe
knopws better.
When a 10-year-old boy likes to b
dressed up and always keeps hlmsel
clean, his parents should take him t<
an alienist. ■
Two is matrimony. Three is alimony
- :;v :
<’rop* In iV'nrlhfrn Alnhnma
"We are going to have great crops
in northern Alabama.” said Col. W. W.
Short ridge of Boaz.
"As Is well knowwi the farmers in
<hat part of the state have been diversi
fying for sometime past. As a resOdt
there -was little depression last fall
when the bottom dropped out of the cot
ton market on account of the European
war. Some cotton is always raised, but
along with it are the food crops. The
counties of northern Alabama as a rule
feed themselves.
"I believe this is going to be a par
ticularly prosperous year for the farm
ers and merchants of Marshall county.”
Lrently Improved RiimineMN renditions
"Trade conditions In this territory have
of late greatly Improved." remarked D. P.
Dalrymple. who represents a shoe com
pany with headquarters In St. Louis.
"I ‘work’ the northern half of Alabama,
which includes the Birmingham district,
| for my house. Sales now, I believe, are
j as heavy as was the case a month or so
!previous to the beginning of the war.
Merchants In this locality have recovered
confidence, and are giving advance orders
sufficient to supply the fall demand, which
in all probability will he fully as large
in my line as it was last year.
"Some slackening of trade is reported
in south Alabama, where the merchants
and farmers have not altogether recovered
from the loss Incurred by the depredation
of cotton values last season, hut the re
covery in my* territory has been rapid.
In fact, the shoe business in the Birming
ham district and in other north Alabama
centers is as good as I have known it
to be."
Greek* Heady to Plirlit for America
"Oreaco-Americans of Birmingham have
noted with keen interest the discussion
regarding the number of Gcrrnan-Amer
icans in the United States, their potential
power at the polls and their possible ac
tion should this country and Germany be
come Involved in war,'* said Nick Mitchell,
proprietor of a cafe and one of the well
j known Greeks.
"Of course, I cannot speak for the Ger
mans, htit the Greeks would he ready In
deed to take up arms to defend this coun
try from invasion, in the United States
I estimate that there are 300,000 Greeks.
Of this number at least 200,00 are men.
Kstimating those available for duty uf
160,000, it will he seen how great service
they could render their adopted coun
try. Remember, too, that each of these
men has had two years’ service with the
colors in Greece and while methods in
the Greek army and in the American are,
of course, different, they are trained sol
diers.
"I recall the Mexican crisis when Ameri
can marines took Vera Urns. A number of
Birmingham Greeks had just returned
from serving in the two Balkan wars and
all of them were eager to enlist and serve
against the Mexicans had war come."
\ < onintM In IliiMlnen*
"Ir- comparing present business condi
tions in the south with those of six months
ago a decided contrast is afforded." said
T. K Walker, representing a large con
cern of Brocton, Mass.
"My territory extends through Ala
bama, Georgia and Florida, and I make
tiie southern trip twice a year. When
I was here six months ago I could hardly
interest the merchants in my line, and
it was not without serious misgivings as
to the outcome of my second venture south
since the beginning of war that 1 lef;
home this time. Since then I have been
through Georgia, Florida and a portion
of Alabama. The change that has come
over business in this section since 1 trav
eled south last is indeed surprising. I
have no reason at all to complain as to
sales this year; for the merchants, I be
lieve, have recovered almost altogether
from the depression wrought by war and
the cotton market. At least they are mak
ing heavy orders for future delivery. In
dications look good in the Birmingham
district for excellent sales."
It eg n riling the Millinery Trade
"Trade in expensive and imported
millinery goods will probably not be so
heavy this year as last," remarked 1. T.
Steinberg, who is registered at the
Hillman.
"I represent a large manufacturing
and Jobbing concern-of St. Louis, nnd
we deal largely in both foreign and
domestic millinery goods. Our reports
collected from all sections of the coun
try indicate that while the volume of
business for the coming fall will be as
large as that for the same period of
lust year, tfiere will be a shrinkage in
the money value represented. For one
thing expensive foreign goods will not
he nearly so available this season on
account of the war. Several large con
»erns have dispensed with the service*
of foreign buyers; and my house now
has only one buyer abroad this year as
compared with three last year. One rea
son for this Is that French shops have
greatly decreased their output this
year, and the other is that the de
mand in this country this year is de
cidedly less for the expensive creations
of the Parisian milliner.
"As a result of the falling away in
foreign trade manufacturers here have
greatly increased their output, and al
though somewhat handicapped by a
scarcity in the ‘higher’ dye shades are
nevertheless succeeding in supplying
the trade with an excellent line of do
mestic creations at reasonable prices.
Light colors will predominate in the
millinery styles for autumn wear. Per
haps the most popular shades will be
pink, melon’ red, peach and ’apple’
green."
A IjSACE-liORR AIWE
From the Providence Journal.
In a paragraph of only a few lines the
world is informed that France is now
administering 90 towns and villages in Al
sace. and that the German nomenclature
i in this captured territory has been re
placed by French.
• On the map the Alsatian holdings of the
French forces look small, but they are
’ nevertheless important, and during the
last few days they have been considerably
. increased. The news in this section of
i the area of hostilities has been almost
uniformly in favor of the allies this week.
In Lorraine, also, the Germans have
i been driven back—not much, but enough
1 to awake new courage and enthusiasm In
the attacking army. Every foot of ground
gained in these two former French prov
. Inces is of course peculiarly welcome tc
I the French.
| THERE ARE OTHERS
From the Baltimore Sun.
Thirty years ago West Virginia could
p have settled with Virginia for about
$1,000,000. Now the bill Is over $12,000,000,
| with >$8,000,000 Interest. A man ofTers tc
! pay the bill if given the exclusive saloor
privilege for 10 years. He knows Wesi
» Virginia's thirst and capacity.
1
Gadsden Times-News: The country
hanks in the Gadsden district cann *t
i loan their money to farmers any more
It lias reached the point in Marshall.
DeKalb and Cherokee counties, at least,
where farmers are no longer borrow
ers.
Talladega Daffy Home: President
Wilson iB supposed to be on a vacation,
but we believe it is really an e. euse to
see his first grandchild.
Andalusia Star: If any one has sug
gested better financial plans than Gov
ernor Henderson proposes, they have
escaped our notice. Any way, our opin
ion is indorsed by Alabama bankers,
without a dissenting voice. Bankers are
supposed to know more about our
finances than a few designing politi
cians.
Bullock County Breeze: Every thor
oughbred animal adapted to this locali
ty that is brought into the county, helps
to prepare for the coming of the boll
weevil and to the making of this dead
ly pest an actual blessing in the end
by inducing diversification and better
farming. Hogs and cattle, to be profita
ble, must be handled with care a.id
skill. This will no doubt be discussed
from various stand points tomorrow and
again at the meeting for organizing a
farmers' institute.
Gadsden Evening Journal: It's a
shame that the Associated Advertising
Clubs of America do not operate in the
belligerent nations. If they did, we
might get some truthful statements as
to the progress of the war.
ALIENS \ \ I) THEIR IMMiS
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
There may be nothing of much interest
that one could write about the dog life 1
of .Pennsylvania, but there is considerable '•
that is of importance. For instance, the
Pennsylvania legislature that adjourned a
few' weeks ago passed a bill, which the ;
governor signed, prohibiting aliens from
owning dogs. To some this would look
Uk° ridiculous discrimination, yet it is
based on a condition in the mining regions
that has proved very expensive to the
people and whose adjustment has caused
much perplexity.
It w'ould seem that any man, native or
foreign, should not be denied the privilege
of owning a dog A trained, well-bred dog
Is a very lovable sort of animal, hut in
crowds or herds dogs are a pest, albeit
through no fault of their own. Nearly
every foreigner in the mining districts has
owned his dog, and often cared for it with
more affection than for his own wife, but
thousands of them were not satisfied with
only one dog. Some owned half a dozen or
a dozen—until tin* dog assesor or tax col
lector came round, and then all the dogs
in the community, with rare exceptions,
proved to he ownerless and homeless.
Throughout the night these usually
worthless dogs in packs roamed the coun
tryside. and destroyed many thousands of
sheep The responsibilitly as to owner
ship. although well understood, could
never be definitely placed. Foreigners es
pecially proved wholly unresponsive to the
justifiable complaints of farmers. In some
places sheep husbandry has been wholly
abandoned, because of the thousands of
worthless dogs that killed the flocks. Fin
ally the question came to lie whether the
sheep or the dogs should he protected.
The legislature decided in favor of the
sheep. Hence no alien may now keep a
dog. And the prohibition implies, under
the circumstances, no burden over which
anyone is Justified in raising a holler.
THE A \ \ I AL THAW TRIAL
From the Buffalo Evening News.
Like a book by which the reader has
beer, alternately entertained, bored and
amused, the present chapter of the Thaw
trial brings us over to the last pages and |
an indifferent wonderment as to W'hat the
end wdll be.
If it were not unethical to ’anticipate
the operations of the law, one might ven
ture the guess that the present proceed
ings to determine whether Thaw’, who
was insane when he shot Stanford White,
is sane now. brings us very close to the
end of the tale. The attitude of counsel,
the cut and dried procedure, the offhand
edness with which a jury has been chosen,
indicates that the law is beginning to
share a belief with the public that the
young profligate of years ago. who
wrecked liis life and his family's fortunes
on a chorus girl, has suffered enough for
the crime that was the lamentable climax
of his career.
Incarceration has had a rather whole
some effect upon Thaw. He is described
now as a man whose long absence from
his old influences has removed the
profligacy, the recklessness and the de
sire to shine in a world where the moths
gather. For the sake of his faithful
mother and the sister who has sacrificed
much for him, we believe that people gen
erally will be glad to see him freed from
the law and the lawyers, to take such
place in the world as his self-imposed
handicap will permit.
GROI MDIIOG \MJ SKHK
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
Prof. H. A. Surface, the state zoologist,
replying to a request from a suffering
farmer at Gettysburg, says a sure way to
kill the pestlferoua groundhog Is to smoke
him to death in hla hole with the fumes
of carbon bisulphide.
But what will the people do for a re
liable weather prognosticator In February
If the groundhogs should all be slain?
This Is a calamity ton serioua to he re
garded lightly or Indifferently.
Furthermore, Mr. Surface suggests that.
In measures to get rid of this animal
great care should be taken not to smother
the skunk, one of the farmer’s best
friends. It seems that "Mephitis Meph
Itica" and G. Hog are on quite friendly
terms and willingly put up with each other
In the same hole, though what pleasure
a dignified meteorological mystlfler and
necromancer Is able to find in such Inti
mate association with an ordinary pole
cat is hard to understand.
HARD WATER
From the Youth's Companion.
Do you realize how hard water is when
a boat sails through it at full speed?
Water passing at £0 miles an hour is not
the limpid liquid we are accustomed to
bath in. If you put your arm overboard
from a hydroplane, running £0 miles an
hour, and strike a wave creat, the prob
ability is that you will break your arm
or wrist, because at that speed the water
has not time to give, or even to change
ehape, and striking It la Uka striking so
much metal.
If a swordsman should enter one of
the great hydraulic quarries, where a
stream of water, under enormous head,
is used to wash down hillsides, and at
tempt to cut into one of those streams,
his sword would fly in plects without
being able to penetrate the water. The
stream Is like a bar of iron.
NOW—PASS THE CHEESE! |
CMHPAi&tsi y
—From the St. Louis Republic.
THE GREATEST WAR LOAN ‘
From the New York Times.
FINANCIAL daring is essential to the
success of modern war. Without a
courageous chancellor of the ex
•hequer Great Britain could not hope to
lolve the colossal problems which belong
o her banker, purse carrier and credit
mainstay of all anti-German Europe. Be
tides courage he should have immagina
ion. Reginald McKenna, who succeeded
^avld Lloyd-George as finance minister in
:ht Asquith cabinet, is well endowed with
foth. He has obtained from the House
ff Commons the authorization of a ibk per
•ent war loan, unlimited in amount, ex
•ept by the financial requirements of a
vear of war, and he proposes In the midst
)f war to convert tlie whole British debt
’rom securities bearing 2% and 3W per cent
nto new issues bearing uniformly per
•ent It is an audacious undertaking. The
•hancellor says, in effect: "Any investor
folding £l<x> of the 2Vfe or 3Ve per cent
securities of the British government may
exchange the same for securities bearing
\l/s per cent, provided at the same time
le will lend the government £100 more at
1V*j per cent.
The ends to he gained in this way are
wo, namely: 1. That the holders of near
y £000,000,000 existing British consols bear
ng 2% per cent, and more than £500,000,
HX) of recent war issues hearing interest
it 3\<z and 3% per cent, shall be protected
igaiiist the depreciation that would take
jlai e in their holdings by reason of a rise
n the prevailing rate of interest, and (2)
iha’ the natural desire on the part of in
vestors to avail themselves of such pre
lection shall he an irresistahie incentive to
nvest in the new loan.
As the prevailing rate of Interest rises
securities bearing lower fixed rates of
Interest fall to a discount. For Instance,
the war loan last year bore 3% per cent
interest. It has since fallen to such a
discount that in the open market it may
be bought to yield 4V'2 per cent. Consols.
Df the old debt, bearing 2VV per cent, had
fallen to about 66ty, at which price the
buyer would get nearly 4 per cent. With
consols on that basis and the last war
loan selling to yield 4V4 per cent, the
government was obliged to increase its
bid for money to at least 4 Vi per cent That
would mean a further fall In the old se
curities If the government sold a new
4V« cent bond at par. why, of course,
nobody would buy consols to yield 4 per
cent or the first war bonds to yield 4VV
per cent; therefore, those issues would
go to a further discount. That would be
unfortunate all around. So Mr. McKenna
has hit upon this scheme of allowing all
tho holders of government securities bear
ing lower rates of interest to exchange
for a new' issue bearing 4Vi per cent, pro
vided they double their investment.
It is a very adroit handling of the di
lemma, if you think of it that way; or It
is very handsome treatment of the hold
ers of old British debt. If you choose to
see It in that light. If the war contin
ues beyond another year, another loan
will become necessary (this one, though
unlimited, is to provide only for the con
version of the old debt and a year's wgx
cost, whatever that may be), and in thtrt **
event the government might have to rals*
its rate of Interest to 5 or 6t4 or 6 per
cent. Then would the whole outstanding
debt be converted again. If so, could
it be done a third time at 7 or 8 per cent? *
Investors who could afford to double their
investment each time would escape thi
loss or depreciation, hut others who could
not afford to double the second or third
time would have to bear the loss. Would
that be fair? These questions are not
answ'erable. They are contingent. And’*
a chancellor who bothered too much about
them would not have the daring to find
the credit necessary to keep Europe up in
war against the Germans.
The amount of conversion possible t*
take place under this scheme is roughly
15,000,000,000. The cost of the war for an
other year w'ill not be less than $5,000,000,
000, according to Mr. McKenna’s estimate.
Therefore, conversion and war budget to- '
gether, the new loan to bear 4Vfe per cent
interest might easily reach the total of
$10,000,000,000. A year ago Great Britain’s
total debt was $3,500,000,000, at an av
erage rate of interest under 3 per cent.
Thus rise both the rate of interest in the
worlc! and the amount of the debt upon
W'hich it is paid.
Not the least remarkable fact about m
this huge new war loan is that it will
be, or is intended to be, wholly subscribed
abroad, meaning, of course, in the United
States, which is the only country left in
the world where foreign nations may sell
their promises to pay. But it will be of
fered to everybody at home, down to
those w'ho can invest only a few shillings
at a time. It is to be a “popular loan.”
That is a wise provision. Of course, many *
who have small bank deposits on which
they receive less than 4^ per cent will
withdraw their money and put it into the
government’s loan That will oblige th#
banks to sell securities in which their de
posits are invested, in order to give the ,
depositors back the money they w'ish to
lend the government at 4V4 per cent. A
great deal of stock exchange liquidation
may have to take place. But that is th*
way in which fixed forms of capital art
converted to liie uses of war.
THE BOND THAT HELD JAPAN
From the Knickerbocker Press.
DURING the darkest hour of the
Chino-Japanese crisis, while the
war party in Japan was unsuc
cessfully laboring night and day to force
the hand of the great peace premier.
Count Okuma; while China seemed to be
driven with her back pressed closely |
against the wall, a brief three-line para- J
graph was given to the China coast news- j
papers. It stated simply that the Hong- j
kong and Shanghai banking corporation |
had decided to head an association of im
portant British and Chinese financial in
stitutions as underwriters of China's do
mestic loan. This little paragraph marked
the end of the Chino-Japanese crisis. Was
it, perhaps, this brief announcement that
suspended the orders which had been
given to the generals and admirals of Nip
pon? Gold had been set in the balance for
peace and against war. Gold, the peace
maker, may well have saved both China
and Japan from dupllcatlg anew the hor
rors daily witnessed from end to end of
Europe.
It must not be supposed that this little
vote of confidence on the part of British
and other bankers in a $12,000,000 proposi
tion, in itself and by itself prevented
Japan from making war on China. It
must not be supposed that Japan as a na
tion desired to make war upon China or
to commit aggression in any manner,
shape or form upon China. It certainly
would be most unfair and unjust—In view
of the information which we are now get
ting from Peking and from Toklo—to say
that China was without friends in the
highest councils of Japan. Quite the con
trary. Indeed, there is reason to believe
that China's beat friend in her hour of
need was Count Okuma, the constitutional
right hand of Emperor Yoshihito. Also
the elder statesmen, visualising more ac
curately then the younger parliamentari
ans Japan's actual situation and her
needs, resisted to the utmost the pressure
put upon them by the military clans, the
force of W'hat we call "Jingoism." The
term "Jingoism" Is English. It came Into
common use less than 60 years ago. Yet
it is a historical fact that the Empress
J’lngo of Japan, who invaded Korea
about 125 or 127 A. D., was wh&t might
be called a feminine embodiment of Jingo
ism. Japanese patriotism has been large
ly militarist from early days. And this
fact should rather enhance than weaken
the credit due to Japan for successfully
overcoming jingoism within her island
shores.
Yet it is also true that the noble peace
premier, Okuma. end hjs wise conferees of
the Genro could hardly have succeeded
in successfully preaching the gospel of
peace but for the fact that Japan’s finan
cial condition makes it Incumbent upon
her to cultivate the good wishes of great
foreign financial houses. Throughout
Japan, there Is a general belief that tea
ation has reached the highest possible
point. It is a fact that Japan has pledged
practically all her available resources In
order to attain her present position in the
world. She must have time in which to
recuperate. She must protect her credit,
it is estimated that 40 per cent of busi
ness incomes In Japan go to maintain im
perial governmental expenditures. It is
asserted that even the municipal debts of'^pr
Osaka, Tokio and Kobe have been pledged
for imperial necessities. Therefore, dur
ing the Chino-Japanese crisis the wise
men of Japan thought It right to impress
upon the more hot-headed juniors the
danger for Japan which lurked within the
question, “What will he the probable at
titude and action of the great foreign
banking houses?"
The paragraph whi^h appeared in the
China coast newspapers toward the close
of April very probably answered that
question. The Hongkong and Shanghai
banking corporation, unrivaled among the
financial houses of the orient, the recog
nized leader in the oriental money market,
was determined to support the credit of
the Chinese republic. It is not too much
to say that, reading between the lines of
this little paragraph, and remembering a
statement made publicly by the chairman
of the Hong Kong and Shanghai banking
corporation in February testifying to the
growing strength and credit of China's na
tional administration, the peace party
among the peerage and people of Japan
was able to cast the necessary oil upon
sorely troubled waters. Japan's wise men
pointed, no doubt, to this gold which was
being put into the scale In favor of China
and of peace. And the decision wag
peace.
There is a lesson in this little incident
for those who sometimes will not or can
not see that bankers have hearts and ***
consciences and high ideals; and that
gold can and does often enter the bal
ance on the side of peace, of humanity
and of juatice.
MADRIGAL
By Edith Ives Woodworth.
I.
She came across the shining hill
Adown a golden lea,
Love lightened In her dewy eyes,
Live piped a melody.
Love led her to a silver space.
Beneath a gray-leaved tree;
Dear heaven! the wind tossed in her
hair,
The sunlight touched her knee.
Ah, unforgotten morn of gold,
O river running free,
I thrilled to see her foam-white foot,
When my love came to me.
II.
Night broods upon the gray-leaved
bough wi
Around the shadowed door. %
O, dark ia yon unlighted hill
And dull the reedy shore.
Nor will she pass upon the plain
Aa or.ee ahe passed before.
Nor evermore her foam-white foot
My starry love of yore.
ft